home » europe » belgium » geography

geography Belgium

Geography of Belgium

Situated in the north-western part of Europe, The Kingdom of Belgium covers are area of 30 528 square kilometres and features a population of approximately ten and a half millions. Belgium is bordering France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany. The name of the country originates from a Roman province named Gallia Belgica which has inhabited by a mixture of Germanic and Celtic people back in the first century.

The Kingdom of Belgium is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the headquarters of several major international organizations, including that of NATO. The country is divided into three regions, Flemish, Walloon and Brussels and has three language communities, Dutch, French and German-speaking. Geographically, Belgium has three main regions as well, namely the Ardennes uplands which are to the south-east, the coastal plain to the north-west and the central plateau that is part of the Anglo-Belgian Basin.

The plateaus and forested hills in the Ardennes have rugged rocks with caves and gorges, while the coastal plain has polders and sand dunes. The climate in Belgium could be defined as maritime temperate with the lowest temperature being 3 degrees measured in January and the highest temperature being 18 degrees measured in July, or in other words the country has mild winters and cool summers, with many rainy days. As it is densely populated, Belgium has some serious environmental and pollution problems which the country has to deal with.

The Kingdom of Belgium is highly urbanized, with one of the highest population density on the continent. The areas that are most inhabited are that of the Flemish Diamond, followed by the Antwerp-Leuven-Brussels-Ghent districts. Mainly populated by national citizens, Belgium has also members of other nationals like Italians, French, Dutch, as well as Moroccan, Spanish, Turkish and German. The country has two main language regions: the Dutch speaking one to the north and the French Speaking one to the south. There is also a small German speaking community which is located in eastern Wallonia area.The capital Brussels is officially bilingual.