Belgium Government

What is the capital of Belgium?

Country Name	Belgium
Full Country Name	Kingdom of Belgium
Local - Long	Royaume de Belgique (French)/Koninkrijk Belgie (Dutch)/Koenigreich Belgien (German)
Local - Short	Belgique/Belgie/Belgien
Etymology- history of name	the name derives from the Belgae, an ancient Celtic tribal confederation that inhabited an area between the English Channel and the west bank of the Rhine in the first centuries B.C.
Government Type	federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Capital Name	Brussels
Capital - geographic coordinate	50 50 N, 4 20 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight Savings Time	+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Independence	4 October 1830 (a provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King LEOPOLD I ascended to the throne)
National Holiday	Belgian National Day (ascension to the throne of King LEOPOLD I), 21 July (1831)
Constitution	history: drafted 25 November 1830, approved 7 February 1831, entered into force 26 July 1831, revised 14 July 1993 (creating a federal state) amendments: "revisions" proposed as declarations by the federal government in accord with the king or by Parliament followed by dissolution of Parliament and new elections; adoption requires two-thirds majority vote of a two-thirds quorum in both houses of the next elected Parliament; amended many times, last in 2019

Belgium Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Belgium Government and Politics

Who is the president of Belgium?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: King PHILIPPE (since 21 July 2013); Heir Apparent Princess ELISABETH (daughter of the monarch, born 25 October 2001) head of government: Prime Minister Alexander DE CROO (since 1 October 2020); Deputy Prime Ministers Vincent Van QUICKENBORNE, Vincent VAN PETEGHEM, Frank VANDENBROUCKE, Pierre-Yves DERMAGNE, Petra DE SUTTER, Georges GILKINET (all since 1 October 2020), David CLARINVAL (since 15 July 2022) cabinet: Council of Ministers formally appointed by the monarch elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary and constitutional; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch and approved by Parliament
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Belgium dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Legal System:	civil law system based on the French Civil Code; note - Belgian law continues to be modified in conformance with the legislative norms mandated by the European Union; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Legislative Branch:	description: bicameral Parliament consists of: Senate or Senaat (in Dutch), Senat (in French) (60 seats; 50 members indirectly elected by the community and regional parliaments based on their election results, and 10 elected by the 50 other senators; members serve 5-year terms) Chamber of Representatives or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers (in Dutch), Chambre des Representants (in French) (150 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 26 May 2019 (next to be held on 31 July 2024) Chamber of Representatives - last held on 26 May 2019 (next to be held on 31 May 2024); note - elections coincided with the EU elections election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - N-VA 15%, VB 12%, PS 12%, MR 12%, CD&V 8.3%, Open VLD 8.3%, Ecolo 15%, SP.A 6.7%, CDH 3.3%, PVDA-PTB 8.3%; seats by party - N-VA 9, VB 7, PS 7, MR 7, CD&V 5, Open VLD 5, Ecolo 9, SP.A 4, CDH 2, PVDA-PTB 5; composition as of January 2024 - men 34, women 26, percent of women 43.3% Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party - N-VA 16.7%, VB 12%, PS 13.3%, CD&V 8%, PVDA-PTB 8%, Open VLD 8%, MR 9.3%, SP.A 6%, Ecolo 8.7%, Green 5.3%, CDH 3.3%, Defi 1.3%; seats by party - N-VA 25, VB 18, PS 20, CD&V 12, PVDA+PTB 12, Open VLD 12, MR 14, SP.A 9, Ecolo 13, Green 8, CDH 5, Defi 2; composition as of August 2023 - men 86, women 64, percent of women 42.7%; note - total Parliament percent of women 42.9% note: the 1993 constitutional revision that further devolved Belgium into a federal state created three levels of government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a complex division of responsibilities; this reality leaves six governments, each with its own legislative assembly; changes above occurred since the sixth state reform
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Constitutional Court or Grondwettelijk Hof (in Dutch) and Cour Constitutionelle (in French) (consists of 12 judges - 6 Dutch-speaking and 6 French-speaking); Supreme Court of Justice or Hof van Cassatie (in Dutch) and Cour de Cassation (in French) (court organized into 3 chambers: civil and commercial; criminal; social, fiscal, and armed forces; each chamber includes a Dutch division and a French division, each with a chairperson and 5-6 judges) judge selection and term of office: Constitutional Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates submitted by Parliament; judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 70; Supreme Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates submitted by the High Council of Justice, a 44-member independent body of judicial and non-judicial members; judges appointed for life subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; regional courts; specialized courts for administrative, commercial, labor, immigration, and audit issues; magistrate's courts; justices of the peace
Regions or States:	3 regions (French: regions, singular - region; Dutch: gewesten, singular - gewest) Brussels-Capital Region, also known as Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Dutch), Region de Bruxelles-Capitale (French long form), Bruxelles-Capitale (French short form); Flemish Region (Flanders), also known as Vlaams Gewest (Dutch long form), Vlaanderen (Dutch short form), Region Flamande (French long form), Flandre (French short form); Walloon Region (Wallonia), also known as Region Wallone (French long form), Wallonie (French short form), Waals Gewest (Dutch long form), Wallonie (Dutch short form) note: as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a complex division of responsibilities; the 2012 sixth state reform transferred additional competencies from the federal state to the regions and linguistic communities
Political Parties and Leaders:	Flemish parties: Christian Democratic and Flemish or CD&V [Sammy MAHDI] Forward [Melissa DEPRAETERE] (formerly Social Progressive Alternative or SP.A) Groen or Green [Nadia NAJI and Jeremie VANEECKHOUT] (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens) New Flemish Alliance or N-VA [Bart DE WEVER] Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats or Open VLD [Egbert LACHAERT] Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) or VB [Tom VAN GRIEKEN] Francophone parties: Ecolo (Francophone Greens) [Jean-Marc NOLLET and Rajae MAOUANE] Francophone Federalist Democrats or Defi [Francois DE SMET] Les Engages [Maxime PREVOT] (formerly Humanist and Democratic Center or CDH) Reform Movement or MR [George-Louis BOUCHEZ] Socialist Party or PS [Paul MAGNETTE] Workers' Party or PVDA-PTB [Raoul HEDEBOUW]
International Law Organization Participation:	accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	ADB (nonregional members), AfDB (nonregional members), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-9, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Jean-Arthur REGIBEAU (since 17 September 2020) chancery: 1430 K Street NW, Washington DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 333-6900 FAX: [1] (202) 338-4960 email address and website: Washington@diplobel.fed.be https://unitedstates.diplomatie.belgium.be/en consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Michael ADLER (since 15 March 2022) embassy: 27 Boulevard du Regent [Regentlaan], B-1000 Brussels mailing address: 7600 Brussels Place, Washington DC 20521-7600 telephone: [32] (2) 811-4000 FAX: [32] (2) 811-4500 email address and website: uscitizenBrussels@state.gov https://be.usembassy.gov/

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