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The Brussels metropolitan area (known in French as: Région métropolitaine de Bruxelles) is the metropolitan area of Brussels. The metropolitan area covers three regions with an area of 3,377 km 2. The largest cities or towns within the metropolitan area are Brussels, Leuven and Vilvoorde .
Its five times larger metropolitan area comprises over 2.5 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium. It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards the cities of Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven, known as the Flemish Diamond, as well as the province of Walloon Brabant, in total home to over 5 million people.
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Brussels, city, capital of Belgium. It is located in the valley of the Senne (Flemish: Zenne) River, a small tributary of the Schelde (French: Escaut). Greater Brussels is the country’s largest urban agglomeration. It consists of 19 communes, or municipalities, each with a large measure of administrative autonomy. The largest commune—which, like the greater metropolitan area, is named Brussels—contains the historic core of the city and the so-called “European Quarter,” where the institutions of the European Union (EU) are located.
Greater Brussels officially became the Brussels-Capital Region in 1989, during the federalization of Belgium. Along with the much larger regions of Flanders and Wallonia, the Brussels-Capital Region constitutes one of the country’s three main political divisions. As the seat of the EU, Brussels is known as the “capital of Europe,” and its significance as a centre of international governance and business makes Brussels a true global city—a status shared with such metropolises as New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo. Area Brussels-Capital Region, 62 square miles (161 square km). Pop. (2022 est.) Brussels-Capital Region, 1,222,637; Brussels commune, 188,737.
Brussels is the administrative, commercial, and financial heart of Belgium, and the majority of services and institutions of national importance are based in the city. Brussels is, in addition, a major European tourist and cultural attraction, functioning simultaneously as a regional metropolis and an international centre. The last-named role has flourished since the city became host to the European Communities (ultimately succeeded by the EU) as well as to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters.
The city lies just a few miles north of the invisible “language boundary” separating Belgium’s Flemish-speaking region of Flanders in the north from the southern, French-speaking Walloon Region. Brussels is thus surrounded by Flemish territory. Although historically it was a predominantly Flemish-speaking city, at present the majority of residents in the Brussels agglomeration speak French, which is also the preferred language of the city’s growing international labour force. The city is bilingual, and in all spheres of public life Flemish and French are used side by side. Nevertheless, in the 20th century Brussels became the principal venue for political and cultural clashes between Flemings and Walloons. Partly as a result of these conflicts, the Belgian parliament reorganized the country’s structure on the basis of the Flemish, Walloon, and Brussels-Capital regions. Although the Brussels-Capital Region maintains a separate political identity, the city of Brussels also functions as the capital of the Flemish Region and as the capital of the country’s French- and Flemish-language communities.
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Although the average visitor to Brussels might remain unaware of the various governmental powers vested there, the interdigitation of municipal, national, and European politics has contributed to many of the city’s problems. It has, for example, impeded the harmonious development of the city’s spreading built-up areas as well as its public transportation infrastructure, already hindered by an automobile-friendly street plan. Moreover, national and transnational interests have at times taken precedence over the interests of local residents.
There is no question that Brussels is a polarized place. Dilapidated neighbourhoods in the centre-west and west stand in stark contrast to manicured lawns, restored townhouses, and posh suburban villas in the east and southeast. Dated industrial infrastructure lies a few miles from the astringent glass-and-steel administrative district of the EU. Yet, its urban pathologies aside, Brussels is not a city in decay but a place of great vibrancy and multicultural depth—a much more exciting and cosmopolitan place than it ever was during its centuries-long history.
Brussels lies in the Central Plateaus of Belgium. Located between the Atlantic oceanfront of sandy lowlands and polders to the north and the rugged Ardennes highlands to the south, Brussels has long played the role of economic and transportation nexus for the broader region that spans the valleys of the Schelde, Sambre, and Meuse rivers. During the medieval period, Brussels was enclosed by two successive circuits of fortification walls, constructed in the 11th and 14th centuries. The latter circuit, which encompassed the commercially important Senne and a significant escarpment to the east, was roughly in the shape of a pentagon, the trace of which is still visible from the air.
Over time, villages surrounding the pentagon were aggregated, and, together with historic central Brussels, they ultimately constituted Greater Brussels. Today, the metropolitan area of Brussels, girded by a beltway (the so-called grande ceinture), extends beyond the footprint of the 19 communes to encompass a fringe of the province of Flemish Brabant.
Its relative proximity to the North Sea gives Brussels a mild maritime climate, with summer daytime temperatures usually between 68 and 77 °F (20 and 25 °C) and winter temperatures rarely dipping below 32 °F (0 °C). With rain falling on more than half the days of the year on average, Brussels experiences a high mean annual precipitation (more than ...
metropolitan area region core city population metro population LUZ population LUZ area LUZ pop. density 1 Brussels-Capital Region Brussels: 194,291 (2019) 1,789,447 (2006) 1,800,663 (2004) 1,614 km 2: 1116 inhabitants/km 2: 2 Antwerp metropolitan area Flemish Region: 525,935 (2019) 1,200,000 (2006) 1,200,000 (2004) 941 km 2: 972 inhabitants/km 2: 3
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Apr 18, 2024 · Brussels-Capital Region, region, north-central Belgium. The region is coextensive with Greater Brussels, a metropolitan area that contains the capital city of Brussels. The officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region was one of three self-governing regions created during the federalization of Belgium in the 1980s and ’90s; the other two were ...
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Map of Brussels area, showing travelers where the best hotels and attractions are located.
Aug 5, 2019 · Updated on 08/05/19. TripSavvy / Gautier Houba. Brussels is the Capital of Belgium and the European Union. A majority of the Brussels metropolitan area's 1.8 million inhabitants speak French, but Brussels is historically Dutch-speaking.
