Facts and figures

Land area: 161 sq km

Population: 970,000

Mayor Freddy Thielemans

Languages: Dutch, French and German
Around 75% of the city’s population speaks French as a first language (the exact number is not known; sensitivity to the issue has prevented a proper census being taken since 1947). English is also widely spoken.

Public holidays 2006:

Jan 1st - New Year’s Day
April 17 - Easter Monday
May 1st - Labour Day
May 25th - Ascension Day
June 5th - Whit Monday
Jul 21st - National Independence Day
Aug 15th - Assumption Day
Sep 27th - French Community Holiday
Nov 1st - All Saints’ Day
Nov 11th - Armistice Day
Dec 25th - Christmas Day

Belgian politics:

Belgium’s political system is defined by the tensions between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia. Around 56% of Belgians are Flemings. Brussels is a separate region where the two communities meet, although it is an 80% Francophone city.

For much of Belgium’s history, French-speakers dominated everything. The country was founded in 1830, but it was not until 1889 that a speech in Flemish was made in the Belgian parliament. Many Flemings felt that they were used as cannon fodder in the first world war, and bitterness about this lingers to this day.

But there has been a significant shift in economic power over the last 40 years. Wallonia’s heavy industry has been in steady decline, and cities like Mons and Charleroi now suffer from unemployment rates of over 30%; Flanders, however, has boomed, particularly in high-tech industries. Flushed by this success—and still embittered by their years as underdogs in Belgian societies—the Flemings have begun to push for ever-greater political autonomy. Five separate re-organisations of the state since the 1970s have devolved more and more powers to the regions (Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels) and left the central government with less to do.

More recently, Brussels particularly and Belgium generally have seen the rise of a nasty brand of immigrant-versus-nativist politics that may well become more common across Europe in the coming decades. On the one hand, Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Belgian citizen of Lebanese origin, and his Arab-European League have agitated for special rights for Muslim Belgians: Arabic as a fourth official language, bilingual education for Arab children, hiring quotas for immigrants. On the other is the Vlaams Blok (VB), which advocates Flemish independence with fiercely anti-immigrant rhetoric. In the general elections of May 2003, Vlaams Blok won 19% of the Flemish vote. By the following year, opinion polls showed the party had over 26% support, making it the largest single party in Flanders. But conventional political parties still refused to go into coalition with the VB, branding it as a racist party. In November 2004, this verdict was endorsed by the Belgian courts, which banned the Vlaams Blok for violating Belgium's anti-racism laws.

This ban could well backfire; within a week the party had re-formed under a new name, Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). To comply with the law, it has stripped some of the more overtly racist elements from its platform, in particular, the call for compulsory repatriation of Muslim immigrants. But the VB remains committed to an independent Flanders, and its anti-immigrant and anti-crime policies are an electoral draw. Many political commentators think that the attempt to ban the party has merely bolstered its appeal to protest voters. Rising inter-racial tensions (partly spilling over from neighbouring Netherlands) could also help the far-right.
Some argue that Brussels is now all that holds Belgium together: because it is a largely French-speaking city situated in Flanders, it makes a break-up of Belgium hard to imagine. One theory is that as the EU grows in importance, Brussels may simply become a self-governing international city—which would then allow Belgium to break up. More likely, however, the Belgians will stick together. For all the grumbling and animosity between the two main language groups, Brussels is a fundamentally peaceful and prosperous place.


Telephone area code:

Country code: +32
Brussels area code: (0) 2
Dial 322 from outside the country and 02 from Belgium, including from inside Brussels.
To make an international call from Belgium: 00 + country code

Currency:

From January 1st 2002, the euro (€) replaced the Belgian franc for cash transactions (€1=BFr40.3399). The euro is divided into 100 cents. Notes come in denominations of €500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins come in denominations of €2 and €1, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.

Click for currency converter.

Business hours:

Office hours are generally Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm. Banks are generally open Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 2-4.30pm. Shops tend to open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. Large department stores stay open until 9pm on Fridays.

Economic profile:

As the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, Brussels provides much of its employment through government. However, services (banking, financial services and tourism) and manufacturing (primarily steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and textiles) play key roles in bolstering the city’s economy. A number of national and multinational corporations have pitched tents here (around 2,000 foreign companies, two-thirds of which are American), and the city attracts over 1,000 business conferences annually. Home of Belgium’s stock exchange and around 60 foreign bank branches, Brussels is the banking and financial capital of Belgium and one of Europe’s most important financial centres.

The high level of language skills in the local population has helped make Brussels a popular base for multinationals. It is usual—indeed, expected—for a receptionist in an office to speak good English, French and Dutch, and the same goes for people in managerial positions. A lesser-known attraction of the Brussels region is the favourable tax rates for expats. Every day they spend out of Belgium is tax-deductible, and they can also opt out of the ruinously expensive social-security contributions demanded by the Belgian state, while still benefiting from the country's excellent health and education services. Property in Brussels is also mysteriously cheap, around half the price (or less) of Paris or London. So while Belgians have to live with some of the highest taxes in the world, foreigners in Brussels tend to feel unusually rich.

Though the Brussels region is second only to London as Europe's most affluent, high unemployment remains a concern, particularly among immigrants. The closure of Sabena, the national airline, and the decision of DHL, a courier service, to relocate from Brussels to Germany, have caused much anguish. As a result, the importance of the European Union to the local economy will only continue to grow.