The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO /ˈneɪtoʊ/; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord; OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signe…
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, [bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Brussel, [ˈbrʏsəl]), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is the capital and largest city of Belgium and the de facto capi…
The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.
The Battle of Passchendaele, also referred to as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917,…
Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen [ˈvlaːndərə(n)], French: Flandre) today normally refers to the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium. It is one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. Historically, the name referred to a region l…
The Heysel Stadium disaster (pronounced: [ˈɦɛizəl]; Dutch: Heizeldrama) occurred on 29 May 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a collapsing wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final bet…
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO; simplified Chinese: 上海合作组织; traditional Chinese: 上海合作組織; pinyin: Shànghǎi Hézuò Zǔzhī; Russian: Шанхайская организация сотрудничества (ШОС), Shankhayskaya organizatsiya sotrudnichestva), or Shanghai Pact, …
Brussels Airport (IATA: BRU, ICAO: EBBR) (also called Brussel Nationaal/Bruxelles-National/Brussel-Zaventem (Brussels National)) is an international airport 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2014, almost 22 milli…
The Second Battle of Ypres was a battle of the First World War fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915 for control of the strategic Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium, following the First Battle of Ypres the previous autumn. It marked the first mas…
Manneken Pis ( [ˌmɑnəkə(m) ˈpɪs] ; "Little man Pee" in Dutch; French: le Petit Julien) is a landmark small bronze sculpture in Brussels, depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain's basin.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's Allied Command Operations. Since 1967 it has been located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons, but it had previously been loc…
The First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November) was a First World War battle fought around Ypres, in western Belgium during October and November 1914. The battle took place as part of the First Battle of Flanders (French: Première Bataille des …
Wallonia (French: Wallonie [wa.lɔ.ni], German: Wallonie(n), Dutch: Wallonië [ʋaːˈloːni.ə], Walloon: Walonreye Walloon pronunciation: [walɔ̃ʀɛjɜ]; Luxembourgish: Wallounesch) is the predominantly French-speaking southern region of Belgium. It is gov…
The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbour at Antwerp. In order to reach it…
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, and of the Spa 24 Hours and 1000 km Spa endurance races.
The Malmedy massacre (1944) refers specifically to a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors near Malmedy, Belgium, during World War II.
The Atomium is a building in Brussels originally constructed for Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak, it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall. Its nine 18 m (59 ft) diameter sta…
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Dutch for Catholic University of Leuven, but usually not translated into English) (Dutch pronunciation: [katoˈlikə univɛrsiˈtɛit ˈløːvə(n)], listen ), also known as KU Leuven or University of Leuven, is a Dutch-s…
Westvleteren (Dutch: Brouwerij Westvleteren) is a brewery founded in 1838 at the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Vleteren, Belgium, not far from the hop-producing town of Poperinge.
The Grand Place (French, pronounced: [ɡʁɑ̃ plas]; also used in English) or Grote Markt (Dutch, pronounced [ˌɣroːtə ˈmɑrkt]) is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two larger edifices, the city's Town Hall, and …
Miranda Castle (French: Château Miranda), also known as Noisy Castle (French: Château de Noisy) is a 19th-century castle in Celles, province of Namur, Belgium, in the region of the Ardennes.
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the Br…
The Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest ; French: Région flamande) is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Fland…
Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World’s Fair (Dutch: Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling, French: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles), was held from 17 April to 19 October 1958. It was the first major World's Fair after World War …
Brussels in Belgium is considered the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter.
The King Baudouin Stadium (French: Stade Roi Baudouin, Dutch: Koning Boudewijnstadion) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. It was inaugurated on 23 August 1930. Crown Prince Leopold attended the opening ceremony. Located in the Heyse…
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern e…
Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA), also called Charleroi Airport or Gosselies Airport, (IATA: CRL, ICAO: EBCI) is an international airport located in Gosselies, a part of the city of Charleroi, 46 kilometres (29 mi) south of central Brussels, …
The Université catholique de Louvain (UCL, French for Catholic University of Louvain, but usually not translated into English) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve, which was expressly built to house the…
Rock Werchter is a Belgian annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, since 1976. It is one of the five biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe (the other four being Exit, Sziget Festival, the Glastonbury Festival and …
Chimay Brewery ("Bières de Chimay") is a beer brewery in Chimay, southern Hainaut, Belgium. The brewery is located in the Scourmont Abbey, a Trappist monastery, and is one of the ten breweries worldwide that produce Trappist beer. They make three wi…
The Belgian Grand Prix (Dutch: Grote Prijs van België; French: Grand Prix de Belgique; German: Großer Preis von Belgien) is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of Belgium was held in 1925 at the Sp…
The Battle of Liège (French: Bataille de Liège) was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until 16 August when the last fort surrendered.
Ghent University (Dutch: Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 41,000 students and 9,000 staff members. The current recto…
Belgium is a federal state located in Western Europe, bordering the North Sea. Belgium shares borders with France (556 km), Germany (133 km), Luxembourg (130 km) and the Netherlands (478 km).