Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.7 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 383/km2 (990/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish, which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area, or more generally the Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education.
The minister-president of Flanders is the head of the Flemish Government, which is the executive branch of the Flemish Region and Flemish Community.
Aalst is a city and municipality in the province of East Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located on the Dender River, about 31 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Brussels. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade, Meldert, Moorsel and Nieuwerkerken; it is the tenth largest city by population with 90.068 inhabitants. Aalst is crossed by the Molenbeek-Ter Erpenbeek in Aalst and Hofstade. The current mayor of Aalst is Christoph D'Haese, from the New-Flemish Alliance party. The town has a long-standing folkloric feud with Dendermonde, north along the same river, which dates from the Middle Ages.
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a Dutch and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engineering Campus, Brussels Health Campus, Brussels Technology Campus and Brussels Photonics Campus.
Michel de Ghelderode was an avant-garde Belgian dramatist, from Flanders, who spoke and wrote in French. His works often dealt with the extremes of human experience, from death and degradation to religious exaltation. He wrote plays and short stories, and was a noted letter writer.
Benoît Poelvoorde is a Belgian actor and comedian.
Henri Leys, Hendrik Leys or Jan August Hendrik, Baron Leys was a Belgian painter and printmaker. He was a leading representative of the historical or Romantic school in Belgian art and became a pioneer of the Realist movement in Belgium. His history and genre paintings and portraits earned him a European-wide reputation and his style was influential on artists in and outside Belgium.
Peter Benoit was a Flemish composer of Belgian nationality.
Arthur Achiel Albert, Knight Blanckaert, known by his stage name Will Tura, is a Belgian artist considered as the most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Famous in Flanders and the Netherlands, Tura is a singer, musician, composer and songwriter. Nicknamed the Emperor of the Flemish Song, he released hundreds of singles and albums that cover a wide array of styles, and continued to tour into the 2010s.
Tone Brulin was a Belgian playwright and stage director; drama teacher from Belgium.
Herman Louis Cesar Teirlinck was a Belgian writer. He was the fifth child and only son of Isidoor Teirlinck and Oda van Nieuwenhove, who were both teachers in Brussels. As a child, he had frail health and spent much of his time at the countryside in Zegelsem, with his paternal grandparents. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature six times.
Marcel Michel, Baron Poot was a Belgian composer, professor, and musician.
Brusselian is a Dutch dialect native to Brussels, Belgium. It is essentially a heavily-Francisized Brabantian Dutch dialect that incorporates a sprinkle of Spanish loanwords dating back to the rule of the Low Countries by the Habsburgs (1519–1713).
Steven Vanackere, is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Reform in the Leterme II government. He is the son of Leo Vanackere, who, following a political career as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate of Belgium, became the Provincial Governor of West Flanders in 1979. His grandfather, Remi Wallays, had also been a senator and had been a former Mayor of Wevelgem.
Paul Collaer was a Belgian musicologist, pianist, and conductor of Flemish background who was born in Boom and died in Brussels. Through concerts and radio broadcastings, he played an important role in the popularization of 20th century music in Belgium. An early proponent of period instruments practice, he dedicated his last years to ethnomusicology.
Jelle Florizoone is a Belgian actor and dancer. He is best known for his roles as Pim in the film North Sea Texas (2011) and Rick in the children's series ROX (2011–2015).
Salva (Salvador) Sanchis is a Spanish dancer, choreographer and dance teacher.
Undercover is a Belgian-Dutch Dutch-language crime drama television series starring Tom Waes, Anna Drijver and Frank Lammers. The plot revolves around a story inspired by real-life events, where undercover agents infiltrate a drug kingpin's operation in Limburg, a Flemish province bordering the Netherlands. The infiltration is executed by two agents, Bob Lemmens and Kim de Rooij, who are posing as a couple at the campground where the drug kingpin spends his weekends.
Events in the year 1930 in Belgium.
