Belgium - My Home Country

Belgium was founded back in 1830 after the revolution against the Netherlands. A temporary government is created and the separation of Belgium and the Netherlands is recognized by the Great foreign Powers.

The Belgian Constitution was created the year 1831.

The Belgian Congress elected Louis of Orleans as the first King of Belgium, but the throne was refused by his father, Louis-Philippe, King of France. The Congress thus offered the Belgian crown to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who lends oath on July 21st, 1831. The Kingdom of Belgium was born.

July 21st is an important date in the history of Belgium as it is the day Belgium became independant and is celebrated each year.

National Symbols:

Our Flag: Black-Yellow-Red

The colors of our flag represent the colors of the old Duchy of Brabant but they also represent (as for I learned at school in the 70's):

• Black stands for our coal mines
• Yellow stands for gold from our former African colonies
• Red stands for blood poured at the time of the revolution

However, while making a search on the Internet, I found different explanations. I don't know which one is the right one but I tend to believe my teacher.

Our National Moto: Strength Trough Unity

Our National Anthem: The Brabançonne (pronunciation: brabansonn)

Our Emblem: the Lion

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Our country is located in Western Europe, between the Netherlands, France, Great Duche of Luxemburg, Germany and the North Sea; has a surface of about 12,000 square miles and counts approximately 11 million inhabitants.

Our climate is "moderate"... but you have to learn that it rains often, the weather is changeable ; which means that if the sun shines today, tomorrow might be rainy and cold.

Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Belgium's king is Albert II (of Saxe Cobourg Gotha, cousin of Elizabeth II of England) and our prime minister is: until now, Yves Leterme is still our Prime Minister even while elections occured on June 13th, 2010 and that Bart De Wever got the most votes.

Here's our King Albert II.

Update 2010: the government is in the process or reviewing the constitution and our King is at the risk of becoming a simple representative person of our country.

Like Switzerland, Belgium has three national languages:

• Dutch (green and blue)
• French (red and blue)
• German (+/- circle)

Our French is similar to the Swiss one and sometimes the French spoken in France: we often make use of old French expressions (which are considered as "Belgicisms" by Frenchmen).

For instance, unlike Frenchmen we say "seventy" and "ninety" and not "sixty-ten" and "eighty-ten" but like Frenchmen we say "four-twenty" and not "eighty".

Our Dutch is definitely different from the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands. "Dutch-speaking" Belgians make use of Flemish dialects and each part of the supposed Dutch-speaking area speaks a different dialect. This often leads into one Fleming doesn't understand what another Fleming says... As a matter of fact, Dutchmen don't understand Flemish.

Although we have to speak at least Dutch and French, our education system is not harmonized in the country. Indeed, in Brussels, our capital, we learn necessarily French and Dutch ; however, in Wallonia we have the option to learn Dutch or English as a second tongue. Needless to say that, because Dutch isn't a popular neither a worldwide spoken language and Flemish spoken nowhere on Earth, Walloons opted to learn to speak English; which is the first language spoken in the world.

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Belgian politics is quite complicated as well, lol. We have numerous politic parties but 8 are the main ones:

• Liberals: MR for the French part and VLD for the Flemish one
• Socialists: PS (French) and SP (Flemish)
• Democrats (former Social-Christians): CDH (French) and CDV (Flemish)
• Ecologists: Ecolo (French) and Groen! (Flemish)

Besides those parties, Belgium counts many small parties such as FN (nationalists), MCC (Citizens' Movement for Change), NVA (separatists), Vlaams Belang (Flemish extremists), Lijst Dedecker (right) ; PTB, PVDA, PSL, LSP, BUB (left) and many others (but there are too many of them to make an accurate list).

Needless to say that it's really hard to make a vote. However, Walloons tend to vote for the socialists (who became capitalists overtime) and Flemish tend to vote for CDV or VLD or else for NVA.

Update January 2011: Today is the 228th day that Belgium doesn't have a government. Former government is requesting extended powers in order to not have our country sent to financial markets's blacklist. In any way, don't believe that not having a government bothers Belgians: new taxes have been created as it seems that there's no need of any kind of government to create such things.

For a country as small as ours, we have three sorts of governments: the Federal one, three regional governments as well as three different community authorities: Flemish, Walloon and German.Hmmm... many ministers that cost us a lot of money - that is also why we are amoung the most taxed citizens in the world just after Denmark.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

We have a powerful social security system. However, many people tend to cheat the system which makes it become if not less powerful, at least more expensive than it used to be.

I'm going to explain how it works; however, since it is quite complicated and long, I will make a summary of our advantages.

We make a difference between employees and workers.

Employees work in an office, in a store (sometimes they are considered as workers); workers work in the building field or as bus drivers, etc. There are also a few additional categories such as those that have a fix job in a ministery, in municipalities, self-employed, etc. We aren't going to cover their categories.

Employees: paid once a month, get paid holidays including full monthly salary and an additional amount of money, get an end-of-year prime and some get a 13th and even a 14th month!, whenever they're sick, they get paid for an entire month by the company they work for, etc.

Workers: paid twice a month, get a "A savings of holidays" which covers their monthly salary + an additional amount; get an end-of-year prime, whenever they're sick, they get paid during the first week by the company and after this period, they get paid by the "incapacity insurance".

Whenever we would become jobless, we can get a monthly amount from the State, this amount ranges around 60% of our gross monthly salary minus 10% taxes. For single parents, conditions are different: they get up to 40 euro/day (6 days a week). Most jobless can't get their 60% for more than 12 months (sometimes only 6) but single parents aren't normally concerned.

We do not need to subscribe to an extra health insurance as we basically are covered up to 80 or 90% but some of us still subscribe to this type of insurance as they thus would have nothing to pay whenever they go to the hospital.

Belgians don't have to wait for weeks before having an appointment with any doctor. Health is for anyone and everyone. But we are free to see a private doctor or go to a private hospital if we want to.

Most hospitals in Belgium are part of our Universities (like Erasmus which is from the Free University of Brussels or Saint-Luc which is from the Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve).

We also have a large number of Health Centers and never have to wait to get an appointment.

Photo: University of Brussels - Ixelles Wikimedia Commons - Author: Roby - "Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 Belgium"

Belgium is amoung the three founders of the European Union - formerly called Benelux and with the adjunction of additional countries over the years, EEC.

I grew up between European employees. It was funny to meet all those people from the 9 European countries (at the time I was a child, the EEC counted only 9 countries).

The year 1989, time came to make a decision on which town would become the European capital. People did not have the opportunity to express their opinion by referendum and our capital became capital of Europe. Prices tripled in 24 hours; which implies that many people were obliged to leave Brussels in order to be able to pay the rent of their home or flat or simply to be able to afford the purchase of a home.

In 2002, we entered the Euro zone and had to forget about our beloved franc in favour of the new money. Many bank employees working in the international payment departments lost their job. Depending on the size of the bank, it was up to 200 employees/bank.

Photo: the European Flag Wikimedia Commons

We have several different types of schools. Let's start by the basics:

• Children from 2.5 to 6 years old go to the Kindergarten schools (often included into elementary schools).
• Kids aged from 6 to 12 years go to elementary schools.
• Teens from 12 to 18 go to the secundary schools.

Our notion of College, Lyceum and Atheneum isn't the same as those in France, in UK and in the US.

After secundary school, those that want to keep studying have two options: whether High School or University. A physician or a professor can only study in an University but an architect can come whether from a High School or an University. A regent (school teacher) comes from a High School; a school professor comes from an University. Teaching quality is equivalent in Universites and High Schools.

There are different types of schools such as Municipality Schools (Public Schools), schools of the State (Public Schools), Catholic schools and Private schools. There's also the European School for the kids whose parents work for the EU administration.

Most secundary Schools of the State are called "Royal Atheneums + their name" ; i.e. "Athénée Royal de Nivelles".

Besides those genres, we have both Flemish and French-speaking schools.

Complicated, eh?

• Average speed in towns: 50 kph
• In some areas such as schools 30 kph
• From 50 to 70 kph on ring roads
• 90 kph on main roads without divider
• 120 kph on at least two same direction lines main roads with divider and highways

• Brussels: buses, tramways, metro and trains
• Wallonia: buses, tramways (in some towns) and trains
• Flanders: buses, tramways and trains

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Music:

Jacques Brel ; Toots Thielemans (jazzman) ; Salvatore Adamo ; Frederic François ; Annie Cordy ; Christophe Willem ; The Cousins (famous for their tune "Killiwatch") ; Lara Fabian ; Django Reinhardt (Gypsy jazz guitarist)...

Cinema:

Agnès Varda ; Nathasha Amal ; Grâce de Capitani ; Henri Garcin ; Marianne Basler ; Cécile de France ; Benoit Poelvoorde ; Jean-Claude Vandamme...

Arts:

René Magritte (painter) ; James Ensor (painter) ; Victor Horta (architect) ; Peter Bruegel (painter) ; Peter Paul Rubens (painter)...

Authors:

Christine Ockrent ; Georges Simenon (Maigret) ; Marguerite Yourcenar ; Hergé (comic strips Tintin) ; André Franquin (comic strips Gaston Lagaffe) ; Willy Vandersteen (comic strips Spike and Suzie); Marcel Marlier & Gilbert Delahaye co-authors of "Debbie" (aka Martine)...

Sports:

Eddy Merckx (cycle) ; Jacky Ickx (cars) ; Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin (tenniswomen)...

Religion:

Sister Emmanuelle ; Father Damien (Blessed Damien of Molokai)

International Celebrities from Belgium, whether born here or having Belgian parents:

Audrey Hepburn (British actress born in Ixelles, Brussels) ; Arnaud de Borchgrave (American journalist) ; Pierre Culliford aka Peyo (the Smurfs) ; Johnny Hallyday (a French singer whose father was Belgian) ; Liz Clairborne (fashion designer)...

Photo: Blessed Damien of Molokai Wikimedia Commons