Belgium - Le plat pays

Belgium

Le Plat pays (Lowland)

Belgium since always exerted a great attraction on the tourists, that it is by the cultivated charm of its old middle-class cities, the richness of its artistic treasures or by the beauty of its coastal or mountainous areas. The kindness without prejudices of the inhabitants, like the ease and the cleanliness of the country, return the stay particularly pleasant to.

Destination of holidays or of weekend, Belgium offers a true hospitality. The Grand Duchies of Luxembourg also offer varied impressions: old picturesque cities, charming landscapes and popular traditions of a particular interest.

Geography

Belgium covers a surface of 30 507 km2, which corresponds rather exactly to our area of Normandy, three times less populated (Netherlands: 36 181 km2, Switzerland: 41288 km2).
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with its 2 587 km2, has almost the same surface as the department of the Rhone or the canton of Tessin.
Belgium is located between 49°30 ' and 51°30 ' of latitude N and 2°32 ' and 6°24 ' of longitude E It measures approximately 230 km of north in the south and 290 km of the west in the east.
A the shelter of a chain of dunes, which skirts the coast of the North Sea on 65 km, are fertile grounds gained on the marshes, resembling the Dutch landscape much. More to the east follow the sandier plains, but not less fertile, of the Flanders which limit to the North-East the forests and the heathers little populated of Campine (Kempenland).

In the south of Brussels the landscape becomes more varied and more victim. Sambre and the Meuse form the limit between the flat country and the Ardennes. In spite of their low height (until 700m), they offer holidays full with charm, pretty small small valleys, wild throats and villages idyllic.
Among the many rivers of Belgium we will only mention most significant. The Scheldt (Schelde) takes its source in France; in Ghent (Race) it is joined by the Lily (Leie) and takes importance quickly. In Antwerp (Antwerpen) it is nearly 400 m broad, and it is him which connects this large port to the sea,
the Meuse (Maas) goes down from the Vosges; when it enters to Belgium, it is already a significant river, thanks to water of Semois which drains the south of the Ardennes; and to Namur those of Sambre are added to it. In Liege (Luik), it still takes Ourthe and reaches Holland further.

Population
Belgium counts approximately 10,2 million inhabitants; this corresponds to a density of 332 with the km², against 235 for the Federal German Republic, 185 for Switzerland and 107 for France. Luxembourg counts 422 000 inhabitants, therefore 163 with the km².

Constitution and administration

Belgium (België) and Luxembourg are constitutional monarchies.
the Belgian Parliament is formed d.une Chambre of the Representatives and d.un Sénat. The most significant parties are thesocial ones, the Socialists and the liberals. From the administrative point of view, the country is divided into nine provinces (see chart), managed by provincial governments, composed of permanent deputies elected by the provincial councils, and having at their head a governor.
the Luxembourg Parliament, the House of Commons, counts 56 members; it is assisted d.un Conseil d.Etat. The country is divided into 3 districts: Luxembourg, Diekirch and Esch.

Languages

In Belgium, there are three official languages: French, Dutch, and German, Dutch is the language of the provinces of North; he is spoken by a little more than 55 % of the population.
French is the language of the provinces of the South and the majority of the Inhabitants of Brussels. He is spoken by 44 % about the population. The Walloon patois is more spoken only by approximately 20 % of the Walloons.

Brussels, the capital, is officially bilingual, but with French-speaking majority. One speaks German in the east about the Province of Liege (Eupen, St Vith); a little less than 1 % of the Belgians speak this language.
Presque all the places have a French name and a Flemish name, which very often diverts the foreigners. For the convenience of the French readers of this guide, we will give initially the French name, if it is universally known (like Brussels, Liege, Courtrai, etc), then between brackets the name Dutch or Flemish (Brussel, Luik, Kortrijk, etc).
In Luxembourg, the spoken language, the "letzeburgisch", belongs to the native of the Moselle region family of the dialects franconiens, According to the constitution the official languages are French and German, but the use ended up giving the priority to French.

Economy

In Belgium approximately one the third of the working population is employed in industry, this proportion strongly decreased with the profit of the tertiary sector which occupies almost 70 % of employment. Agriculture, it, counts nothing any more but 3 % of the working population. In Luxembourg, the most significant change of the last years was the spectacular increase in the tertiary sector which made it possible this small country to preserve a good standard of living.
Belgian industry underwent full whip the recession of the iron and steel sector. The extraction of coal ceased since 1992, the production of steel fell to 11Mt textile industry it also was strongly restructured. The many tertiary sector (banks, insurances, tourism, services. ) train from now on the majority of the GDP.
True commercial and human crossroads, Belgium is a feature of union between South and Northern Europe. A formidable communication network (motorways, trains, ports, airports) covers all the country in all the directions. Strongly related to the European Union it shelters considerable its Institutions.
Small quiet countries, Luxembourg are economically prosperous thanks to its privileged tax statute. Although the crisis of the iron and steel sector did not save it, the Grand-Duchy knew to be protected by developing its tertiary sector, this partly thanks to the installation of several European organizations (the Court of Justice, Banque European of Investments.

Religion and popular traditions

Belgium and Luxembourg are to large majority of catholic tradition. The archbishop of Malignant-Brussels (Mechelen-Brussel) is a primacy of Belgium. Luxembourg one is évêché separately.
a characteristic characteristic of Belgium are the many popular festivals. The carnival gives everywhere in Belgium the opportunity to admire superb processions. The many processions, village fairs, beer festivals, military marches are always an occasion for the Belgians to express their good mood.

Constitution and administration