About Belgium

Belgium is a tiny country sandwiched between The Netherlands to the north and France to the South. The official languages are French, Dutch (Flemish) and German, although English is widely spoken.

10.5 million people live in 30,528 square kilometers.The country is divided into Flemish speaking Flanders, to the north, French speaking Wallonia, to the south (with a small German enclave to the East) and the officially bilingual Brussels capital region.

Belgium is known to the outside world for beer, chocolate and lace. It is home to the EU and NATO, a complicated government and a whole lot of red tape.

Contrary to popular belief, there are hundreds of famous Belgians, including: Tintin creator Hergé, musician Jacques Brel and the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax.

Since arriving in Belgium in 2005, I have amassed a collection of useful links to information about Belgium. I share these in the hopes that they will be useful to someone else as well. If you have any others you feel should be added, email me and I will consider any relevant additions.

• Expatica Belgium - useful information for expats in Belgium
• AWAY Magazine - publication for expats in Belgium
• Behive - Art and Culture in Belgium
  
• The Province of Vlaams-Brabant - Information about Flanders
• Flanders Today - A great free newspaper about Flanders in English
  
• Welcome to Wallonia - Walloon tourism info
• Visit Belgium - Belgian tourist info
  
• Very Best Places - Shops and services in Belgium
• Belgian Railway - Timetables and info about rail travel
• De Lijn - Flanders bus service (Dutch only)
  
• VRL News - Flanders news in English
• Brussels Life - Shops, Restaurants and activities in Brussels
• The Bulletin - An English magazine about life in Belgium
• Xpats - News and forums about Belgium
• Anglo Info - Life in Brussels in English
• .be - Belgium's Federal Portal - Loads of governmental information in French and Dutch although English info is limited.
  

If you are renting property in Belgium then the following sites may be useful:

• Anglo Info - French - English Property Jargon
• La Loi Sure Les Loyers - PDF about rental law in Belgium. Great information but only in French.

I have written extensively about my own observations and impressions of Belgium since we arrived here. You can find these writings in the All Things Belgian category of this blog.

I have also written a blog for Expatica Belgium and you can find the archives of these article here.

If you are interested in restaurants in Belgium, and elsewhere, you can also read about my favourite restaurants.