什么是比利时

法语作Belgique

法兰德斯语作Belgi?

欧洲西北部王国。面积30,528平方公里。人口约10,268,000（2001）。首都︰布鲁塞尔。居民大部分是法兰德斯人和瓦隆人。北半部操法兰德斯语（通行於比利时的荷兰语）的法兰德斯人占人口一半以上，住在南半部操法语的瓦隆人略超过1/3。语言︰荷兰语、法语和德语（官方语）。宗教：天主教（90%）、伊斯兰教和新教。货币︰欧元。比利时可划分为几个地理区，东南部是森林密布的亚耳丁高地，延伸到默兹河以南，包括比利时最高点波特伦奇山（海拔694公尺）。中比利时是个肥沃地区，须耳德河的支流穿越其间。下比利时包括西北部低平的法兰德斯平原以及多条运河。滨海法兰德斯滨临北海，农业欣欣向荣。主要的北海港口是奥斯坦德（Oostende），但是靠近须耳德河河口的安特卫普贸易量更大。天然资源稀少，所以从进口的原料制造商品在经济上扮演重要的角色，该国也高度工业化。政府形式是联邦君主立宪制，两院制。国家元首是国王，政府首脑为总理。

古时比利其人（塞尔特人一支）已在该地定居。西元前57年凯撒征服该区，在奥古斯都时代设为罗马帝国的贝尔吉卡行省。後来被法兰克人征服，分裂为几个半独立的公国，包括布拉班特和卢森堡。15世纪末，尼德兰领土（未来的比利时是其一部分）逐渐统一并落入哈布斯堡王室手中。16世纪成为欧洲商业中心。现代比利时的基础是建立在1579年的乌得勒支联盟之後南部信奉天主教的各省与北部诸省分裂。1801年政府被法国人推翻和吞并。1815年再被并入荷兰王国，1815年成为独立的尼德兰王国。1830年公民暴动过後，成立独立的比利时王国。在利奥波德二世统治下在非洲取得大片土地。第一次和第二次世界大战时都曾被德军占领，曾是突围之役的发生地。内部不和导致在1970年代和1980年代制定许多法令，根据语言分布情况创立三个几乎自治的区域：法兰德斯（法兰德斯语）、瓦隆（法语）和布鲁塞尔（双语）。1993年这三个自治区组成联邦。现为欧洲联盟的一员。

Belgium

FlemishBelgi?Kingdom, northwestern Europe. Area: 11,787 sq mi (30,528 sq km). Population (2000 est.): 10,249,000. Capital: Brussels. The population consists mostly of Flemings and Walloons. The Flemings, more than half the population, speak Flemish (Dutch) and live in the northern half of the country; the Walloons, about one-third of the population, speak French and inhabit the southern half. Languages: Dutch, French, German (all official). Religions: Roman Catholicism (90%), Islam, Protestantism. Monetary unit: euro. Belgium can be divided into several geographic regions. The southeast consists of the forested Ardennes highland, which extends south of the Meuse River valley and includes Belgium's highest point, Mount Botrange (2,277 ft, or 694 m). Middle Belgium is a fertile region crossed by tributaries of the Schelde River. Lower Belgium comprises the flat plains of Flanders in the northwest with their many canals. Maritime Flanders borders the North Sea and is agriculturally prosperous; the chief North Sea port is Oostende, but Antwerp, near the mouth of the Schelde, has much greater trade. Belgium has minimal natural resources, so the manufacture of goods from imported raw materials plays a major role in the economy, and the country is highly industrialized. It is a monarchy with a parliament composed of two legislative houses; the chief of state is the monarch, and the head of government is the prime minister. Inhabited in ancient times by the Belgae, a Celtic people, the area was conquered by Caesar in 57 BC; under Augustus it became the Roman province of Belgica. Conquered by the Franks, it later broke up into semi-independent territories, including Brabant and Luxembourg. By the late 15th century the territories of the Netherlands, of which the future Belgium was a part, gradually united and passed to the Habsburgs. In the 16th century it was a center for European commerce. The basis of modern Belgium was laid in the southern Catholic provinces that split from the northern provinces after the Union of Utrecht in 1579 (see Netherlands). Overrun by the French and incorporated into France in 1801, it was reunited to Holland and with it became the independent kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. After the revolt of its citizens in 1830, it became the independent kingdom of Belgium. Under Leopold II, it acquired vast lands in Africa. Overrun by the Germans in World Wars I and II, it was the scene of the Battle of the Bulge. Internal discord led to legislation in the 1970s and 1980s that created three nearly autonomous regions in accordance with language distribution: Flemish Flanders, French Wallonia, and bilingual Brussels. In 1993 it became a federation comprising the three regions. It is a member of the European Union.