Flanders in Belgium

Do they speak Belgian in Belgium? No. Does Belgian culture exist? Does Belgium have many different cultures and cultural influences? Does Belgium exist? Yes, unlike its famous fictitious Belgian inhabitants, like Hercule Poirot, Tintin, Luck Luke or the Smufs. An introduction to Belgium.

Belgium lies in the center of Western Europe. It is a small country (30.518 km²) that is bounded by the sandy beaches of the North Sea and the forests of the Ardennes on the other side. Within maximum two hours (!) you can travel from the centre of Belgium to France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands or Luxembourg. Also the colder northern countries such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark or Iceland, and Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Greece or Portugal are easy to travel to, even by train or by car.

Also politically Belgium lies in the middle of Europe, as Brussels is not only Belgium's capital but also the capital of the European Union. Belgium is called an 'artificial' country as it was constructed as a buffer against France after Napoleons attempts to take over Europe. That is why Belgium consists of a Flemish-speaking North (Flanders) and a French-speaking south (Wallonia). Brussels, lying between Flanders and Wallonia, is bilingual. As if two official languages weren't enough for a small country such as Belgium, there is a small German enclave in the east, a heritage of the Second World War.

Flanders is a prosperous, modern and dynamic society with an enormous cultural heritage. This is reflected by the many museums all over the community and by the architecture in the cities. There are cities like 'Bruges the Beautiful', also known as the Venice of the North, or trendy Antwerp, the port on the banks of the river Scheldt, or Ghent with its lovely medieval castle and a lot of baroque guild houses, or Brussels, with its rich past?