Belgium Map

     Belgium has its northern coast on the North Sea. To the north-east is bordered by the Netherlands; to the east are roughly equal borders with Germany and Luxembourg; the longest border, to the southwest, is with France.  Belgium, which split off from France in 1830, has two major language and cultural groups—the Flemings in the north, who speak Dutch and the southern Walloons who speak French.  Belgium is a highly urbanized and industrialized country.  Its capital, Brussels, is the headquarters of both the EU and NATO.