My complex tiny country : Belgium - part 1 - ESL Blogs

Photos of Belgium's capital : Brussels.

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium is situated in Western Europe, between Germany,
the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and the North sea. It covers a area of about 30 500
square kilometers and has a population of about 11.000 000 inhabitants.
In my coutnry there are two main languages, in the northern part, people speak Flemish, in the
south we speak French. In addition, we also have a tiny little part just at the South East of Wallonia
where inhabitants speak German.
The capital of the country, but also of the European Union is Brussels. An officially bilingual (French-
Flemish) city but where most people speak french.
Since a few decades, your country is market by conflics between our two biggest communities,
Flemings ( in blue here on the map) and Francophones ( the beige part). The little purple area is the part of the country where people speak German.
Nowadays, as Flanders became economically more prosperous than Wallonia, some flemish politicians want to split Belgium in 2 parts wich i believe most inhabitants don’t want.
Belgium is known as a country of compromises as it has a very complex policy. King Albert II is at the head of the state but the real leaders of the country are the politicians. We have 4 governments, the Federal one, plus one for each region. It means 60 ministers, more than China or Canada !!! Can you imagine what a problem when they all have to agree on something !!! Not only that, but as they all (+ their employees) get a lavish salary it's not surprising that Belgium is one of the european country where taxes are the highest !!!

To be continue...

Dear friends,

Thanks to each of you who took the time to read and to comment this blog. It's always very nice to see that things we write, even if it's not in good english, appeals members here.

@ Marting, well, we can not say our politic really works and to have 4 different governments doesn't help a all.

@ M.Adaway, I see you have heard about this wonderful city, I won't forget to talk about this in one of my next post.

@ Sami, i could never be a politician Sami, but you might be a good president !!!

@ Expector, hehe, you're right about Brussels, i guess it's because it's also the Eu capital. Yes, when having a visa to enter in EU (called a Shengen visa) you can visit the 27 countires that are members of EU. UK is not part of the Shengen's space, that's why you couldn't go there without having a specific english via.

@ Zulkifli Alinazar, You're absolutely right to govern a county that has as much as minister is just a pain in the neck.

@ Nafis, You're right NAFIS. A constitutional monarchy is one where the power of the king (or the queen) is restrained by the parliament, by laws or by custom. It's what we call a "modern" monarchy.

I hope that, i answered all your questions. Thanks to all.

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Comments

Forget-me-Not June 15, 2011 16:13

Dear Ameur and Karenina,

I am glad you both like this topic. Thanks for your comments. You're both welcome for a visit, i am used to host travelers from the world.
Ameur June 12, 2011 20:01

Great topic dear Manuela,thanks for sharing with us ..I must twitte this article :)

Take care.

Ameur
Forget-me-Not June 10, 2011 7:59

Dear Monika, It seems you have seen the flemish part of the country, who knows why, it's the most touristic part for foreigners. Did you go to the franchophone area ? It's very different. Yes, if you find your photos, let us see them :) Thanks for your comment.
Forget-me-Not June 10, 2011 7:54

Dear Selma, you got it ! Thanks for stopping by.
Monika June 10, 2011 6:44

Thank you for the most interesting facts about your lovely country,dear Manuela.

I'm lucky,because I had a chance to travel twice to Belgium,I sojourned in Bruxelles for a few days,and visited it with a gided tour,very nice indeed,and visited the romantic and nostalgic town of BRUGGE,sooo wonderful!

Not to mention,that we also anchored in Antwerpen(I traveled by boat,through the 'shelde'...)I saw its magnificient cathedral,and the frescos of Rubens!

Your review brought me back to sweet memories about your nice country,thank you once again.

p.s.:...if I happen to find my pictures,I will scan in,and upload here,btw,I have many videos,but in VHS:((
selma June 9, 2011 23:38

Thanks Manuela,

that information is very interesting,

- there is a King,

- it has the highest taxes,

- it seems to has a complex administration

thanks for sharing,,,,,,,,,
Forget-me-Not June 9, 2011 13:39

Dear friends,

Thanks to each of you who took the time to read and to comment this blog. It's always very nice to see that things we write, even if it's not in good english, appeals members here.

@ Marting, well, we can not say our politic really works and to have 4 different governments doesn't help a all.

@ M.Adaway, I see you have heard about this wonderful city, I won't forget to talk about this in one of my next post.

@ Sami, i could never be a politician Sami, but you might be a good president !!!

@ Expector, hehe, you're right about Brussels, i guess it's because it's also the Eu capital. Yes, when having a visa to enter in EU (called a Shengen visa) you can visit the 27 countires that are members of EU. UK is not part of the Shengen's space, that's why you couldn't go there without having a specific english via.

@ Zulkifli Alinazar, You're absolutely right to govern a county that has as much as minister is just a pain in the neck.

@ Nafis, You're right NAFIS. A constitutional monarchy is one where the power of the king (or the queen) is restrained by the parliament, by laws or by custom. It's what we call a "modern" monarchy.

I hope that, i answered all your questions. Thanks to all.
Nafis June 8, 2011 13:42

Wow! very interesting dear Manuela! 60 minister! hahahaha...and it means that your country is also constitutional monarchy, am I right or wrong? ohhhh..I don't know geography well and therefore, didn't know that you are close to Netherland! Ahhh
Zulkifli Alinazar June 8, 2011 12:54

60 ministers ? Fantastic. It's not easy to govern a country, is it ?

The important thing for the people is that all of them get jobs. No unemployment.
Expector Smith June 8, 2011 2:42

Thanks for sharing that!

It seems the capital Brussels is more popular than Belgium - the European Union, the football, the summit, etc. I've beent to France and Italy, but somehow failed to visit your country, and the Nethelands, or Germany, even though I did want to visit all the nearby beautiful countries - I got a France visa, so I was allowed to visit some nearby countries with the visa (but not allowed to visit the UK).

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