If Belgium's spotlight on the European stage is a little dim, it's only because its people are rarely boastful. This slow-burning country has more history, art, food and architecture packed into its tiny self than many of its bigger, louder neighbours.
A rich and bubbling vat of beer, chocolate, oil paint and bureaucrats, Belgium gives off the heady pong of the bourgeoisie. But stir the pot a little and you'll find an 'artificial state' roughly made up of two parts Germanic Flemings to one part Celtic-Latin Walloons.
Divided by pride first and language second, the country's binding agents are a pervasive sense of family and an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit. Visitors, lulled by the locals' friendliness, will probably not even notice the tensions that spark across the Linguistic Divide.
Full country name: Kingdom of Belgium
Area: 30,510 sq km
Population: 10.3 million
Capital City: Brussels
People: 55% Flemish, 33% Walloons (French Latin) and about 10% foreigners.
Language: Dutch, French
Religion: 75% Roman Catholic
Government: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch
Head of State: King Albert II
Head of Government: Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
GDP: US$299.7 billion
GDP per capita: US$29,000
Annual Growth: 2.8%
Inflation: 2.2%
Major Industries: Services, agriculture, chemicals, engineering, metal products, car manufacturing, iron and steel, textiles and food
Major Trading Partners: EU (esp. Germany, France, Netherlands, UK), USA
Member of EU: Yes
