The Kingdom of Belgium is a federal state in Western Europe. It is located on the North Sea and borders the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Belgium has about 11.3 million inhabitants (2016) on an area of 30,688 square kilometers - with 373 inhabitants per square kilometer, Belgium is thus one of the most densely populated states. Belgium's level of urbanization is the highest in Europe at nearly 98 percent. The city of Brussels is the capital and seat of the Belgian royal family as well as the center of the largest agglomeration. Other major large cities include Antwerp, which as a municipal administrative unit is also the country's largest city, and Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges and Namur.

Since independence in 1830 and constitutionalization in 1831, Belgium has been a constitutional hereditary monarchy (see also Belgian monarchy). The north of the country with the Flemings is Dutch-speaking, the south with the Walloons French-speaking territory (see Flemish and French Community). The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual, but the majority is Francophone. Standard German and West Middle German dialects are widespread in the German-speaking area in East Belgium (cf. German-speaking Community).

Source: Wikipedia