Geography Quiz Arcade

Belgium 🇧🇪

Belgium is a country in Europe with a population of 11,685,814. Its capital is Brussels. The official currency is EUR, and the main languages are Dutch, French, German.

Quick facts

  • Capital: Brussels
  • Continent: Europe
  • Population: 11,685,814
  • Area: 30,528 km²
  • Density: 383 people per km²
  • Currency: EUR
  • Languages: Dutch, French, German
  • ISO code: BE

Where Belgium sits

Belgium 🇧🇪 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Brussels. It covers 30,528 square kilometres — 137th in the world — and is home to about 11,685,814 people, 81st globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Belgium compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Belgium sits closest to Haiti and Jordan. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Lesotho and Armenia.

At 383 people per square kilometre it is about 6.4 times the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Dutch is an official language in 3 countries here, among them Netherlands and Suriname. The EUR is shared with 25 other countries, including Andorra, Austria and Croatia, and 22 others.

To see Belgium next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Belgium

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and also the de facto capital of the European Union, home of the European Commission. For the flag, it uses the same colours as Germany's, but standing upright (vertical) with black at the flagpole.

The flag of Belgium: black, yellow and red

🇧🇪 The flag is three equal vertical stripes of black, yellow and red. The colours come from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant: a yellow lion with red claws and tongue on a black shield. The vertical design was based on the flag of France.

Region and neighbours

Belgium is a country in Western Europe, on the North Sea between France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, divided into Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south and the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle. It shares land borders with 4 countries: France, Luxembourg, Germany and Netherlands.

Three facts about Belgium

  1. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German.
  2. Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries, and mussels with fries is a national dish.
  3. Belgium was one of the six founding members of the European Union.

Sources: Wikipedia: Belgium, Wikipedia: Flag of Belgium, Wikipedia: Brussels, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Belgium

Quizzes that include Belgium

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Belgium those are:

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Read more about Belgium

Nearby countries

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Belgium flag?

The flag of Belgium is three equal vertical stripes of black, yellow and red. The colours come from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant: a yellow lion with red claws and tongue on a black shield. The vertical design was based on the flag of France.

Which countries border Belgium?

Belgium shares land borders with France, Luxembourg, Germany and Netherlands.

How can I remember the capital of Belgium?

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and also the de facto capital of the European Union, home of the European Commission. For the flag, it uses the same colours as Germany's, but standing upright (vertical) with black at the flagpole.