Belgium
A federal country, with three official languages and an intense
regional rivalry, Belgium has a cultural diversity that belies its
rather dull reputation among travellers. Its population of around
ten million is divided between Flemish-speakers (about sixty
percent) and French-speaking Walloons (forty percent), with a few
pockets of German-speakers in the east. Prosperity has shifted back
and forth between the two communities over the centuries, and
relations remain acrimonious. The constitution was redrawn in 1980
on a federal basis, with three separate entities: the Flemish
North, Walloon South, and Brussels, which is officially bilingual
(although its population is eighty percent French-speaking).
The north and south of Belgium are visually very
different. Marking the meeting of the two, Brussels , the
capital, is a culturally varied city at the heart of the European
Union. The north , made up of the provinces of West and East
Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg and much of Brabant, is mainly flat,
with a landscape and architecture not unlike Holland.
Antwerp is the second city, a bustling old port with doses
of high art, redolent of its sixteenth-century golden age. Further
south and west are the great historic cities, Bruges and
Ghent , with a stunning concentration of Flemish art and
architecture. Another enjoyable inland Flanders town is the
cathedral city of Mechelen , halfway between Brussels and
Antwerp. The southern reaches of Brabant are
French-speaking, and merge into the Walloon province of
Hainaut - rich agricultural country, scarred by pockets of
industry and boasting the historic city of Tournai . East of
here lies Belgium's most scenically rewarding region, the
Ardennes , an area of deep, wooded valleys, high elevations
and dark caverns.
The Ardennes reach across the border into the northern part of
the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , a verdant landscape of
rushing rivers and high hills topped with crumbling castles.
Diekirch , Vianden and Echternach are perhaps
the three best centres for touring the countryside, and
Luxembourg City itself is at least worth a stop, although
its population of around 80,000 is tiny by capital-city
standards.
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