The kingdom of Belgium was founded after the 1830 revolution, but the history of the area – the southern part of the Low Countries (also sometimes referred to in their entirety as the Netherlands) – dates back to pre-Roman times.
Belgium also gained the district of Eupen-and-Malmédy and the commune of Moresnet from Germany, thus adding 984 sq km/380 sq mi of territory, which in 1925 were made part of the province of Liège.
Since 1945 Belgium has been a major force for international cooperation in Europe, being a founding member of the Benelux Economic Union in 1948, the Council of Europe, and the European Economic Community (now the European Union), whose administrative headquarters are in Brussels.
Belgium is one of the few countries that has compulsory voting, thus having one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.
Belgium does not have elections similar to presidential elections, where only one person can be elected; rather, seats in the parliament, city council or similar are elected, the occupants of which then vote who gets to be prime minister, mayor, governor, etc.
A controversial amendment declared that Belgium consists of three cultural communities (the Flemish Community, the French-speaking community and the German-speaking Community) and three economic regions (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels) each to be granted a significant measure of political autonomy.
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