homemaking friendsworld infoglobal etiquette
Offical name
Kingdom of Belgium
Capital
Brussels
Government type
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Language
Dutch, French, German
Area
30,528 sq km
Population
10,379,067 ( 2006 est.)
Currency
euro (EUR)
Religion
Roman Catholic
Time zone
GMT/UTC +1 ()
Country dialing code
32
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Belgium is a Western European country located between France and the Netherlands. The Capital of the country, Brussels, is also known as the ‘Capital of Europe,’ because of having the headquarters of EU and NATO. The most famous statue of Brussels, ‘The Peeing Boy,’ is near the ‘Grand Place.’ The Grand Place is a plaza that the great French writer Victor Hugo praised highly of being the most beautiful plaza in the world. Interestingly, the Peeing Boy has more than 600 clothes that were given to him as a present from numerous people around the world since 1698. Brussels is also the place where actress Audrey Hepburn was born. Another famous tourist spot of Belgium is Antwerp, the second largest city of the country famous for opening the 7th Olympic Games (1920). In Antwerp stands the St. Mary’s Cathedral, which is the largest Gothic church of Belgium. The cathedral was constructed for more than 160 years (1352~1521). The St. Mary’s Cathedral is famous for having many masterpieces of the great Baroque artist, Rubens, including ‘Christ brought down from the cross.’ Belgium is also famous for tasty foods and beverages including chocolate, hard-shell mussel and beers of more than 450 kinds. Especially, the Belgian chocolate brand ‘Godiva’ is famous around the world. Belgians are also proud of ‘Smurf,’ a globally famous cartoon created by a Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford (also known as Peyo).
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