Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in the Low Countries of Northwestern Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France and the North Sea. On 30,689 square kilometres it has a population of more than 11.8 million. Brussels is the capital and largest metropolitan region, and other major cities include Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège and Bruges.

Ipsos ranks Belgium No. 9 in its Happiness Index 2026, a survey of 29 countries. In the World Happiness Report data, Belgium's score for 2025 was 6.926, its fourth rise in a row, Statbase notes, and DataStats places its 2025 life-satisfaction score 13th of 151 countries.

Belgium became independent in 1830 after the Belgian Revolution and was the first country in continental Europe to industrialise. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with three highly autonomous regions, Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels-Capital, and Dutch-, French- and German-speaking communities. As one of the six founding members of the European Union, it hosts in Brussels the seats of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.

Sources of this text: Wikipedia · Ipsos · Statbase · DataStats