Brussels

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, [bÊ?ysÉ›l]; Dutch: Brussel, [ˈbrÊ?sÉ™l]), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium, the French Community of Belgium, and the Flemish Community. The region has a population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan area with a population of over 1.8 million, the largest in Belgium.

Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a major centre for international politics and has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the de facto capital (or one of three capitals including Luxembourg and Strasbourg) of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions. The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are also located in Brussels.

Fishmarket

Fishmarket (Luxembourgish: Fëschmaart, French: Marché-aux-Poissons, German: Fischmarkt), also spelt Fish Market, is a street in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg, that shares its name with the neighbourhood directly surrounding it. It lies in the eastern part of the Ville Haute quarter.

Fishmarket was historically the centre of the city. Built at the junction of two Roman roads, it was the site chosen as the heart of Luxembourg Castle. The name is derived from its use as a marketplace for the sale of fish, along with markets for various agricultural produce (such as cheese), the trade of which was the foundation for Luxembourg's early economy.

Fishmarket is the home of several buildings and institutions of national importance:

Coordinates: 49°36′40″N 6°08′02″E / 49.611°N 6.134°E / 49.611; 6.134

.brussels

.brussels is a generic top-level domain for Brussels, Belgium.

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City of Brussels

The City of Brussels (French: Ville de Bruxelles [vil dÉ™ bÊ?ysÉ›l] or alternatively Bruxelles-Ville [bÊ?ysÉ›l vil], Dutch: Stad Brussel [stÉ‘d ˈbrÊ?sÉ™l] or Brussel-Stad) is the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the de jure capital of Belgium.

The City of Brussels is a municipality consisting of the central historic town and certain additional areas within the greater Brussels-Capital Region, namely Haren, Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek to the north, and Avenue Louise and the Bois de la Cambre park to the south.

On 1 January 2015, the City of Brussels had a total population of 175,534. The total area is 32.61 km² which gives a population density of 5,464 inhabitants per km². As of 2007, there were approximately 50,000 registered non-Belgians in the City of Brussels.

Territorial history

At first, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day small ring. As the city grew, the surrounding villages grew as well, eventually growing into a contiguous city, though the local governments retained control of their respective areas.

Brussels (disambiguation)

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium which includes the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium.

Brussels may also refer to:

Places

Belgium

Canada

United States

Other uses

Belgium

Coordinates: 50°50′N 4°00′E / 50.833°N 4.000°E / 50.833; 4.000

Belgium (ⁱ/ˈbÉ›ldÊ’É™m/; Dutch: België  [ˈbÉ›lÉ£ijÉ™]; French: Belgique  [bÉ›lÊ’ik]; German: Belgien  [ˈbÉ›lÉ¡iÉ™n]), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts several of the EU's official seats and as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of about 11 million people.

Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish community, which constitutes about 59% of the population, and the French-speaking, mostly Walloon population, which comprises 41% of all Belgians. Additionally, there is a small group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area, and bordering Germany.

Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. Its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of government.

History of Belgium

The history of Belgium stretches back before the origin of the modern state of that name in 1830. Belgium's history is intertwined with those of its neighbours: the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg. For most of its history, what is now Belgium was either a part of a larger territory, such as the Carolingian Empire, or divided into a number of smaller states, prominent among them being the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and Luxembourg. Due to its strategic location and the many armies fighting on its soil, Belgium since the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) has often been called the "battlefield of Europe" or the "cockpit of Europe." It is also remarkable as a European nation which contains, and is divided by, a language boundary between Latin-derived French, and Germanic Dutch.