| | Geographic Coordinates: | 50 50 N, 4 00 E | | Location: | Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands | | Area: | total: 30,528 sq km
land: 30,278 sq km
water: 250 sq km | | Area - comparative: | about the size of Maryland | | Land boundaries: | total: 1,385 km
border countries: France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km | | Coastline: | 66.5 km | | Terrain: | flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast | | Elevation extremes: | lowest point: North Sea 0 m
highest point: Signal de Botrange 694 m | | Capital: | 10 provinces (French: provinces, singular - province; Dutch: provincies, singular - provincie) and 3 regions* (French: regions; Dutch: gewesten); Brussels* (Bruxelles) capital region; Flanders* region (five provinces): Antwerpen (Antwerp), Limburg, Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders), Vlaams-Brabant (Flemish Brabant), West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders); Wallonia* region (five provinces): Brabant Wallon (Walloon Brabant), Hainaut, Liege, Luxembourg, Namur
note: as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a complex division of responsibilities |
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