Walloon Brabant (1995 pop. 339,062), 421 sq mi (1,091 sq km), with its capital at Wavre (1995 pop. 29,906).
..... Click the link for more information. . It is officially bilingual (French and Dutch), although French is more widely spoken. Brussels is an important administrative, financial, cultural, commercial, and industrial center and a major rail junction. Much of the administration of the European Union European Community (EC), an economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organizations (with the same member nations) that are responsible for a common foreign and security policy and for cooperation on justice and home affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. takes place in Brussels, and it is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Partnership for Peace, formed in 1994. Twenty-three countries now belong to the partnership, which engages in joint military exercises with NATO. NATO is not required to defend Partnership for Peace nations from attack.
..... Click the link for more information. (NATO). Among its varied manufactures are pharmaceuticals, electronics equipment, machine tools, paper, processed food, and lace.
Points of Interest
The historical nucleus of the city, the medieval and Renaissance Grand' Place, a large square, is the site of the Gothic city hall (15th cent.); the Renaissance-style Maison du Roi or Broodhuis (13th cent.), meeting place of the old States-General of the Netherlands; and a number of rebuilt Gothic guildhalls. Near the Grand' Place is the famous fountain of a small boy urinating, Mannekin-Pis (1619). Other noteworthy buildings include the Collegiate Church of St. Michael and St. Gudule (founded in the 11th cent. and rebuilt in the 13th–15th cent.), which contains many noted Flemish paintings; the Palais de la Nation (parliament building); the Palais de Justice; and the Palais du Roi (royal palace). Brussels is the seat of a university (founded 1834), which in 1970 was divided into two separate institutions, one French-speaking and the other Dutch. There are also excellent art museums and a botanical garden. The rest of Brussels is mostly modern, with contemporary office buildings and broad boulevards that circle the city along its former ramparts.
History
The city was inhabited by the Romans and later (7th cent. A.D.) by the Franks; an oratory was founded there (c.600) by the bishop of Cambrai on an island in the Senne. The city was fortified (c.1100) and became (late 12th cent.) a commercial center on the trade route from Bruges Bruges (br
zh, Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. and Ghent Ghent (gĕnt), Du. Gent, Fr. Gand, city (1991 pop. 230,246), capital of East Flanders prov.
..... Click the link for more information. to the Rhineland. It developed into a center of the wool industry in the 13th cent.
In the 15th cent. the arts flourished and many stately mansions (some still standing) were built. Brussels became (1430) the seat of the dukes of Burgundy and later (1477) of the governors of the Spanish (after 1714, Austrian) Netherlands and was renowned for the luxury and gaiety of its life. In 1561 the Willebroek Canal, connecting Brussels with the Scheldt River, was completed. In the late 16th cent. the city was the center of the duque de Alba Alba or Alva, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duque de
..... Click the link for more information. 's reign of terror.
The city suffered heavily in the wars fought in the Low Countries in the 16th to 18th cent. Brussels changed hands several times in the French Revolutionary Wars French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution and developed into wars of conquest under the empire.
..... Click the link for more information. ; later, during the Waterloo campaign Waterloo campaign, last action of the Napoleonic Wars, ending with the battle of Waterloo. Napoleon I, who escaped from Elba in Feb., 1815, and entered Paris on Mar. 20, soon faced a European coalition.
..... Click the link for more information. (1815), it was Wellington Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman.
Military Achievements
..... Click the link for more information. 's headquarters. From 1815 to 1830 it was, with The Hague Hague, The (hāg), Du. 's Gravenhage or Den Haag, Fr. La Haye, city (1994 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. , the alternate meeting place of the Netherlands parliament. In 1830 it became the capital of independent Belgium. Brussels was occupied by the Germans in World Wars I and II. In 1958 it was the site of a World's Fair. Following constitutional reforms in 1989 and 1993, Brussels became a separate region within a federalized Belgium.
Brussels
French Bruxelles Flemish BrusselCity (pop., 2000 est.: 133,900), capital of Belgium. Part of the Brussels Capital Region (pop., 2000 est.: 959,300), one of the three regions into which Belgium is divided, it lies on the Senne River, a tributary of the Schelde. The village began on an island in the Senne and ultimately became a holding of the dukes of Brabant. In 1530 it became the capital of the Netherlands, which was then under Habsburg control. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815, it became a centre of Belgian rebellion in 1830 and then the capital of Belgium. An important industrial and commercial city, it is the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union.
Brussels
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