It is a low lying country of about 300m - 500m above sea level. Except for the wooded hills of Ardennes in the South - Eastern part of Belgium, the remainder comprises of the Western extremity of the great European plain, known as the Flanders plain.

In the North - East there is the Campine plateau which is a sandy area as compared to the Geesteland of Germany. It comprises of heaths and pinewoods through which passes the Albert Canal.

The short - coastline has plenty of sand dunes (hills) behind which come the low plains, drained by R. Schelde, its tributaries and canals , being protected by dykes enclosing reclaimed land known as Polder land. This reclaimed land is laid by large farms. Ostend and Knokke are the main town centres. The Ardennes in South are drained by R. Maas.

Rivers

The chief rivers are the Schelde (known as the Escaut in French) and the Maas (most commonly known by its French name, Meuse). The Schelde and Meuse and their tributaries run slowly through the central plateau to the sea in a generally southwest to northeast direction. Both rise in France and are for the most part navigable throughout Belgium. On the Schelde, the principal waterway of Belgium, are the ports of Antwerp and Ghent.

Although the Schelde flows through Belgium, the river meets the sea in Netherlands. The chief tributaries of the Schelde are the Leie (Lys), Dender (Dendre), Zenne (Senne), and Rupel rivers. The Sambre and Ourthe rivers are the main tributaries of the Meuse.

Climate

Belgium has mild oceanic damp climate. It lacks extremes of either temperature or rainfall which is combined with great variability from day to day. The summer, however, are warm 22°C and the winters are moderately cool 4°C with rainfall throughout the year 830 mm.

Land and People

The terrain is low lying except in the Ardennes Mts. in the south. It is crossed by the Meuse and Scheldt rivers and by a network of canals.

Belgium is one of the most densely populated nations in Europe.

Historically, the country comprises two ethnic and cultural regions, generally called Flanders and Wallonia-Flanders embracing the northern provinces of East Flanders, West Flanders. Antwerp, Limburg, and part of Brabant, and Wallonia comprising the remainder of Brabant, Hamaut, Liege, Luxembourg, and Namur. The dividing line runs roughly east-west just S of Brussels.

Dutch is the official language in Flanders, while French is official in the south. The French-speaking people are commonly called Walloons, although the term once referred chiefly to those people in the area of the city of 'Uege who spoke Walloon, a French dialect. Brussels is bilingual, and German is spoken in a small section of Liege province.

About three quarters of the population is Roman Catholic; the balance is largely Protestant, although there are Islamic and Jewish minorities in the cities.

Population

Belgium has a population of about 10 million people with a population density of 300 people per square kilometer.

55.8% of the population represent the Flemings in the north who speak Flemish , a dialect of the Dutch . The rest are "Wallons in the south who speak a dialect of French. Hence Belgium is a bilingual country by law . Brussels is the capital city with over on e million inhabitants of whom the majority are the French speaking.