Belgium comprises 589 municipalities (Dutch: gemeenten, French: communes, German: Gemeinde) grouped into five provinces in each of two regions and into a third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, comprising 19 municipalities that do not belong to a province. The municipalities are the smallest administrative subdivisions of Belgium. A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... Region can be used to mean either: any more or less well-defined geographical area of a country or continent, defined by geography, culture or history in political geography, an administrative subdivision of a country or of the European Union. ... The Brussels-Capital Region (French: R gion de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, German: Region Br ssel-Hauptstadt) or Brussels Region (French: R gion Bruxelloise, Dutch: Brusselse Gewest) is one of the three regions of Belgium. ...
The Brussels-Capital Region is divided into 19 municipalities: Seven municipalities have only one official name which are usable in Dutch and French although the name is Ducth; the other twelve officially have both a Dutch and a French name. ... The Flemish region has 308 municipalities. ... Wallonia has the following 262 municipalities: Categories: ...
History
Before 1830
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Between 1830 and 1977
After Belgium declared its independence in 1830, Belgium was divided into 2.492 municipalities. The number of municipalities changed however until the major reform of 1977 (e.g. in 1928 and after WW2). Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is becoming very long. ...
See also: List of Belgian municipalities before 1977
Merging of municipalities in 1977 and 1983
After municipalities were merged in 1977 (major merging) and 1983 (merging of the municipalities of Antwerp), the number came down to 589. For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ...
Belgium is at a cultural crossroad between the Germanic Europe (with Dutch speakers in the North, the Flemings) and the Romance Europe (with French speakers in the South, the Walloons), which is reflected in its complex institutions and political history.
Belgium is divided into three communities, the Flemish community, the French-speaking community and the German-speaking community, and in three regions: Brussels (mainly Dutch- and French-speaking, with a population of 960,000), Flanders (mainly Dutch-speaking, with a population of 6,000,000), and Wallonia (mainly French-speaking, with a population of 3,300,000).
Belgium was one of the first countries to adopt the euro, the single European currency, in January 1999 and the Belgian franc was completely replaced by euro coins and banknotes in early 2002.
Belgium hosts the headquarters of NATO and a major part of the European Union's institutions and administrations, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and most of the sessions of the European Parliament.
Belgium is one of the few countries in which voting is compulsory; it has one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.
Belgium is composed of the five northern Dutch-speaking provinces of Flanders, the five southern French-speaking provinces of Wallonia (the German-speaking Community is located in the province of Liège along the German border) and the bilingual Capital Region of Brussels.
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