Brussels

This article is about the Brussels-Capital Region. For the municipality within it, which is the de jure national capital, see City of Brussels. For other places, see Brussels (disambiguation).
"Bruxelles" redirects here. For the Canadian community, see Bruxelles, Manitoba.

Brussels
Region
  • Brussels-Capital Region
  • Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (French)
  • Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Dutch)
Flower Carpet event at the Grand-Place/Grote Markt
Manneken Pis
St. Michael and St. Gudula
Atomium
Basilica of Koekelberg
Royal Palace
Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark
Flag of Brussels
Flag
Official logo of Brussels
Brandmark
Nicknames: 
Capital of Europe,[1][2] Comic City[3]
Brussels is located in Belgium
Brussels
Brussels
Location within Belgium
Brussels is located in Europe
Brussels
Brussels
Location within Europe
Coordinates: 50°50′48″N 04°21′09″E / 50.84667°N 4.35250°E / 50.84667; 4.35250
Country Belgium
CommunityFrench Community
Flemish Community
Settledc. 580
County of Brusselsc. 870
Founded979
City Charter of Brussels10 June 1229
Region18 June 1989
Founded byCharles, Duke of Lower Lorraine
CapitalCity of Brussels
Municipalities
List
Government
 • ExecutiveGovernment of the Brussels-Capital Region
 • Governing parties (2019–present)PS, DéFI, Ecolo; Open Vld, Vooruit, Groen
 • Minister-PresidentRudi Vervoort (PS)
 • LegislatureParliament of the Brussels-Capital Region
 • SpeakerRachid Madrane (PS)
Area
[4]
 • Region/City
162.42 km2 (62.71 sq mi)
Elevation
13 m (43 ft)
Population
 (1 January 2024)[5][6]
 • Region/City
1,249,597
 • Density7,700/km2 (20,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
2,500,000
Demonyms
  • Brusselian
  • fr Bruxellois(e)
  • nl Brusselaar/Brusselse
Demographics
 • Official languagesFrench • Dutch
 • Ethnic groups25.7% Belgian
74.3% others
• 41.8% non-European[7]
GDP
[8]
 • Region/City€96.513 billion (2022)[9]
 • Metro[10]€200.457 billion (2022)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code(s)
42 postal codes
Area code02
ISO 3166 codeBE-BRU
GeoTLD.brussels
HDI (2021)0.953[11]
very high · 1st of 11
Websitebe.brussels

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ⓘ or [bʁyksɛl] ⓘ; Dutch: Brussel [ˈbrʏsəl] ⓘ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region[12][13] (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale;[a] Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest),[b] is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium.[14] The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium[15] and the Flemish Community,[16] but is separate from the Flemish Region (within which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region, located less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south.[17][18] Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century.[19] Nowadays, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch,[20][21] although French is the majority language and lingua franca.[22] Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual. English is spoken widely and many migrants and expatriates speak other languages as well.[22][23]

Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.[24] Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, including its administrative-legislative, executive-political, and legislative branches (though the judicial branch is located in Luxembourg, and the European Parliament meets for a minority of the year in Strasbourg).[1][25][c] Because of this, its name is sometimes used metonymically to describe the EU and its institutions.[26][27] The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of NATO are also located in Brussels.[28][29]

Brussels is the most densely populated region in Belgium, and although it has the highest GDP per capita,[30] it has the lowest available income per household.[31] The Brussels Region covers 162 km2 (63 sq mi) and has a population of over 1.2 million.[32] Its five times larger metropolitan area comprises over 2.5 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium.[33][34][35] It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards the cities of Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven, known as the Flemish Diamond, as well as the province of Walloon Brabant, in total home to over 5 million people.[36] As Belgium's economic capital and a top financial centre in Western Europe with Euronext Brussels, Brussels is classified as an Alpha global city.[37] It is also a national and international hub for rail, road and air traffic,[38] and is sometimes considered, together with Belgium, as Europe's geographic, economic and cultural crossroads.[39][40][41] The Brussels Metro is the only rapid transit system in Belgium. In addition, both its airport and railway stations are the largest and busiest in the country.[42][43]

Brussels is known for its cuisine and gastronomic offer (including its local waffle, its chocolate, its French fries and its numerous types of beers),[44] as well as its historical and architectural landmarks; some of them are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[45] Principal attractions include its historic Grand-Place/Grote Markt (main square), Manneken Pis, the Atomium, and cultural institutions such as La Monnaie/De Munt and the Museums of Art and History. Due to its long tradition of Belgian comics, Brussels is also hailed as a capital of the comic strip.[3][46]

  1. ^ a b Demey 2007.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Capital was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Comic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "be.STAT". bestat.statbel.fgov.be. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Mini-Bru | IBSA". ibsa.brussels. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel". Statbel.fgov.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  7. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Population d'origine étrangère en Belgique en 2020 Archived 2 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine, 8 February 2021
  8. ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  12. ^ The Belgian Constitution (PDF). Brussels: Belgian House of Representatives. May 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015. Article 3: Belgium comprises three Regions: the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region. Article 4: Belgium comprises four linguistic regions: the Dutch-speaking region, the French-speaking region, the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital and the German-speaking region.
  13. ^ "Brussels-Capital Region / Creation". Centre d'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise [Brussels Regional Informatics Center]. 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009. Since 18 June 1989, the date of the first regional elections, the Brussels-Capital Region has been an autonomous region comparable to the Flemish and Walloon Regions. (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.)
  14. ^ The Belgian Constitution (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: Belgian House of Representatives. May 2014. p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015. Article 194: The city of Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the seat of the Federal Government.
  15. ^ Décret instituant Bruxelles capitale de la Communauté française. Brussels, Belgium: Parliament of the French Community. 4 April 1984. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  16. ^ "The Flemish Community". Belgium.be. 24 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  17. ^ Decreet betreffende de keuze van Brussel tot hoofdstad van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: Flemish Parliament. 6 March 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  18. ^ "DE BELGISCHE GRONDWET". senate.be. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  19. ^ Schaepdrijver, Sophie de (1990). Elites for the Capital?: Foreign Migration to mid-nineteenth-century Brussels. Amsterdam: Thesis Publishers. ISBN 9789051700688.
  20. ^ Hughes, Dominic (15 July 2008). "Europe | Analysis: Where now for Belgium?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  21. ^ Philippe Van Parijs (1 March 2016). "Brussels bilingual? Brussels francophone? Both and neither!". The Brussels Times. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019.
  22. ^ a b Janssens, Rudi (2008). Language use in Brussels and the position of Dutch. Some recent findings (PDF). Brussels Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  23. ^ O'Donnell, Paul; Toebosch, AnneMarie. Multilingualism in Brussels: "I'd Rather Speak English". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2008, v. 29 n. 2 p. 154-169.
  24. ^ "Europe | Country profiles | Country profile: Belgium". BBC News. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  25. ^ "Protocol (No 6) on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies, offices, agencies and departments of the European Union, Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, OJ C 83, 30.3.2010, p. 265–265". EUR-Lex. 30 March 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  26. ^ "Spain to ask Brussels for extra year to meet deficit target". Reuters. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  27. ^ Rankin, Jennifer (13 June 2017). "Brussels plan could force euro clearing out of UK after Brexit". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  28. ^ "Secrétariat general". A propos du Benelux (in French). Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  29. ^ "NATO Headquarters". NATO. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Average income in Belgium reached 19,105 euros in 2019. Belgian Federal Government. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  32. ^ "Structuur van de bevolking | Statbel". statbel.fgov.be. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Statistics Belgium; Population de droit par commune au 1 janvier 2008". Archived from the original (excel-file) on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008. Population of all municipalities in Belgium on 1 January 2008. Retrieved on 18 October 2008.
  34. ^ "Statistics Belgium; De Belgische Stadsgewesten 2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008. Definitions of metropolitan areas in Belgium. The metropolitan area of Brussels is divided into three levels. First, the central agglomeration (geoperationaliseerde agglomeratie) with 1,451,047 inhabitants (2008-01-01, adjusted to municipal borders). Adding the closest surroundings (suburbs, banlieue or buitenwijken) gives a total of 1,831,496. And, including the outer commuter zone (forensenwoonzone) the population is 2,676,701.
  35. ^ "Demographia World Urban Areas" (PDF). April 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  36. ^ Van Meeteren et al. 2016.
  37. ^ "The World According to GaWC 2016". GaWC. 24 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  38. ^ "Transportation in Brussels". internations.org. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  39. ^ "Brussels Capital Region". coe.int. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  40. ^ NATO. "Belgium and NATO – 1949". NATO. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  41. ^ "Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum – brusselscard". visit.brussels. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  42. ^ "The Brussels Times – Brussels North is Belgium's busiest train station". Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  43. ^ "Statistics". Brussels Airport Website. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  44. ^ "Gastronomy — Région bruxelloise – Brussels Gewest". be.brussels. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  45. ^ "UNESCO heritage in Brussels". Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  46. ^ "The walls of the comic strip walk in detail". Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.


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