Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the 

European Union and its capital, Brussels,

hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and
the European Council, as well as one of two seats of the European Parliament (the other
being Strasbourg). Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD,
and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels hosts the
headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.[B]
Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. It has very high
standards of living, quality of life,[21] healthcare,[22] education,[23] and is categorized as "very high" in
the Human Development Index.[24] It also ranks as one of the safest or most peaceful countries in
the world.[25]

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Antiquity
o 1.2Middle Ages
o 1.3Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands
o 1.4Spanish and Austrian Netherlands
o 1.5Independent Belgium
 2Geography
o 2.1Provinces
 3Politics
o 3.1Political culture
o 3.2Communities and regions
o 3.3Locus of policy jurisdiction
o 3.4Foreign relations
o 3.5Armed forces
 4Economy
o 4.1Science and technology
 5Demographics
o 5.1Migration
o 5.2Languages
o 5.3Religion
o 5.4Health
o 5.5Education
 6Culture
o 6.1Fine arts
o 6.2Folklore
o 6.3Cuisine
o 6.4Sports
 7See also
 8Footnotes
 9References
o 9.1Online sources
o 9.2Bibliography
 10External links
o 10.1Government
o 10.2General
History
Main article: History of Belgium

Antiquity
Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own
language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third. (...) Of all these, the Belgae are the strongest (...) .
— Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, Book I, Ch. 1

The Belgae were the inhabitants of the northernmost part of Gaul, which was significantly bigger
than modern Belgium. Caesar used the word "Belgium" once, to refer to their region. Gallia
Belgica, as it was more commonly called, became a Roman province as a result of his
conquests. Areas closer to the Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium,
eventually became part of the province of Germania Inferior, which interacted with Germanic
tribes outside the empire. At the time when central government collapsed in the Western Roman
Empire, both these provinces were inhabited by a mix of Frankish tribes and a more Romanized
population.

Middle Ages
During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish Merovingian kings, who
were probably first established in what is northern France. During the 8th century, the kingdom of
the Franks evolved and became the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the
Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms, whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval
political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the Middle Kingdom, later known
as Lotharingia. Only the coastal county of Flanders became part of West Francia, the
predecessor of France. In 870 in the Treaty of Meerssen, modern Belgium lands all became part
of the western kingdom, and in 880 in the Treaty of Ribemont, Lotharingia came under the lasting
control of the Holy Roman Emperor, but the lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier)
between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. In the
13th and 14th centuries, th