Brussels

Brussels, whose official name is the Brussels-Capital Region, is made up of 19 municipalities in Belgium. One of these, the City of Brussels, serves as the country's capital. This region sits in the central part of Belgium and belongs to both the French Community and the Flemish Community. It is an enclave within the Flemish Region (Flanders) and lies less than 4 km north of the Walloon Region (Wallonia).

What began as a small rural hamlet on the Senne River grew into a major European city-region. After World War II, it became a key hub for global politics, hosting numerous international bodies, along with politicians, diplomats, and civil servants. Brussels functions as the de facto capital of the European Union, housing its main administrative-legislative, executive-political, and legislative institutions (though the EU’s judicial branch sits in Luxembourg, and the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg for part of the year).

The name "Brussels" is often used metonymically to refer to the EU and its institutions. The Benelux secretariat and NATO headquarters are also based there. This region is Belgium’s most densely populated area. While it boasts the highest GDP per capita, it also has the lowest available household income.

Covering 162 km², the Brussels-Capital Region has over 1.2 million residents. Its metropolitan area, five times larger, holds more than 2.5 million people, making it Belgium’s biggest. It is part of a diamond-shaped conurbation that stretches toward Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, and Walloon Brabant, home to over 5 million people in total. As Belgium’s economic center and a top Western European financial hub (home to Euronext Brussels), it is ranked as an Alpha global city.

It is a national and international crossroads for rail, road, and air travel, often seen as Europe’s geographic, economic, and cultural meeting point. The Brussels Metro is Belgium’s only rapid transit system, and both its airport and railway stations are the country’s largest and busiest. Though historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels underwent a language shift toward French starting in the late 19th century. Since its creation in 1989, the Brussels-Capital Region has been officially bilingual in French and Dutch, though French remains the majority language and lingua franca.

The city is increasingly multilingual, with English widely spoken and many migrants and expatriates using other languages. The region is governed by the Dilliès government, a broad bilingual coalition of seven parties. Brussels is famous for its food and gastronomy—including local waffles, chocolate, French fries, and many types of beer—as well as its historic and architectural landmarks, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Key attractions include the Grand-Place/Grote Markt, Manneken Pis, the Atomium, and cultural venues like La Monnaie/De Munt and the Museums of Art and History.

With a long tradition of Belgian comics, Brussels is also hailed as a capital of the comic strip. The most widely accepted theory for the name "Brussels" traces it to Old Dutch words meaning "home" or "settlement" and "marsh" or "fen." Saint Vindicianus, Bishop of Cambrai, first recorded the place in 695, when it was still a hamlet. All municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region have Dutch-origin names, except Evere, which may be Celtic or Old Frankish.

In French, "Brussels" is pronounced with a silent final "s" and the "x" sounded as in "box." In Dutch, it is pronounced with a different vowel sound. French speakers call inhabitants Bruxellois; Dutch speakers call them Brusselaars. In the local Brabantian dialect (Brusselian or Marollian), they are Brusseleers or Brusseleirs.

Originally, the written "x" was pronounced with a "k" sound, but that consonant disappeared in both Belgian French and Dutch, though the French spelling kept the "x." The French pronunciation without the "k" dates only from the 18th century and did not affect traditional Brussels usage. In France, pronunciations with a "k" sound are sometimes heard, but are rare in Belgium. Brussels’ history is closely tied to that of Western Europe. Human settlement traces go back to the Stone Age, with remains and place-names linked to megaliths, dolmens, and standing stones (such as Plattesteen near the Grand-Place and Tomberg in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert).

In late antiquity, Romans occupied the area, as shown by archaeological finds near the current Tour & Taxis site, northwest of the Pentagon (Brussels’ city center). After the Western Roman Empire fell, the region became part of the Frankish Empire. Local legend says the settlement began when Saint Gaugericus built a chapel on an island in the Senne around 580. The official founding is usually set around 979, when Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, moved the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to that chapel.

In 977, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II appointed Charles Duke of Lower Lotharingia, and Charles ordered the construction of the city’s first permanent fortification.