🗺️ Geography
This city is Belgium’s capital and also the main headquarters of the European Union.
Brussels
Belgium became an independent country in this year, after breaking away from the Netherlands.
1830
(16th–18th centuries): Belgium was controlled by powerful European dynasties.
1815: After Napoleon's defeat, Belgium became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Belgium is world-famous for this sweet treat.
chocolate
This Belgian cartoonist created Tintin, the young reporter with his dog Snowy.
Hergé
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and this one.
German
Belgium borders France, Germany, Luxembourg, and this country to the north.
Netherlands
In 1831, this German-born prince became the first King of the Belgians.
Leopold I
The Brussels and Liège types of this griddle-baked treat are sold on streets across Belgium.
waffles
The little blue Smurfs were created by this Belgian cartoonist.
Peyo
Belgium is a constitutional monarchy, and this man has been king since 2013.
King Philippe
Belgium’s short coastline, only about 66 km long, lies on this sea.
North Sea
In 1815, Napoleon was finally defeated in this battle just south of Brussels.
Waterloo
Belgians claim they invented these fried potato sticks, usually eaten with mayonnaise.
fries
The Manneken Pis, Brussels’ most famous little statue, shows a small boy doing this.
urinating
Built for the 1958 World’s Fair, Brussels’ Atomium is a giant model of a crystal of this metal.
iron
This hilly, forested region in southeast Belgium was the setting of the WWII Battle of the Bulge.
Ardennes
The town of Ypres (Ieper) saw some of the bloodiest fighting of this war, which began in 1914 when Germany invaded neutral Belgium.
World War I
In 2016, UNESCO added Belgium’s brewing culture of this drink, including monastery (Trappist) versions, to its heritage list.
a beer
The saxophone was invented in the 1840s by this Belgian instrument maker from Dinant.
Adolphe Sax
Belgium has three regions: Flanders, Wallonia, and this one, where the capital is located.
Brussels-Capital Region
Signal de Botrange, at 694 meters, is Belgium’s highest point, in this high plateau near the German border.
High Fens
Until 1960, Belgium ruled this huge African country, which was first the personal property of King Leopold II.
Congo
In 1912, Jean ___ of Brussels invented the praline, a chocolate shell with a filling.
Neuhaus
René Magritte, who painted a pipe with the words “This is not a pipe,” belonged to this art movement.
Surrealism
In 2010–2011, Belgium went about this many days without a new government, a world record.
541 days