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Belgium
Lana Jessica
Royaume de Belgique
Belgium Capitol : Brussels ( largest city)
 Official Languages: Dutch,French and
German
 Government: Federal Parliamentary
Constitutional Monarchy
King- Albert II
Prime Minister-Elio Di Rup
 Independence: Declared from the
Netherlands 21 July 1831
 Population: Est.2012 11,041,266
Life in Belgium
•
Belgium is not a homogeneous country with one national identity. As such, it is
therefore difficult to give a general overview that applies to all Belgians. Each
area will have its own particularities. The three predominant cultures are: 1) in
north, Flanders - primarily Dutch, 2)in the south, Wallonia - primarily French and
3) the northeast - primarily German influenced. The following are brief aspects
that are applicable to all areas.
Belgian Family Values
o Family plays a central role in most Belgians' lives.
o The obligation to the family is a person's first priority.
o Many people remain in the town in which they were raised, which creates
close extended families.
• Appearances Matter
o Appearances are important to Belgians.
o They can often be seen washing the pavement or steps in front of their house
or even sweeping the street.
o Cleanliness is a matter of national pride.
o Belgians take great pride in their houses. To have overgrown hedges or
untidy gardens would disgrace the family and insult their neighbours.
o Belgians take pride in their personal appearance too. They dress well and are
concerned with the impression they make on others
Belgian cuisine
• Belgian cuisine is widely varied with significant regional
variations while also reflecting the cuisines of neighbouring
France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is sometimes said
that Belgian food is served in the quantity of German
cuisine but with quality of French food.[1][2] Outside the
country, Belgium is best known for its chocolate and beer.
• Belgian cuisine traditionally prises regional and seasonal
ingredients, leading to distinctive dishes like Carbonade
flamande in Flanders or couque biscuit of the town of
Dinant.
• Belgians typically eat three meals a day, with a light
breakfast, light or medium sized lunch and large dinner.
Religion
• Christianity, in particular Catholicism, is the biggest
religion in Belgium with about 57% of the population
adhering to the Catholic Church, 1.7% to
Protestantism, and 0.3% to Orthodox Christian
Churches in the 2000s. Belgium has a separation
between the Church and State, and freedom of
religion. Consequently, the State cannot force someone
to adhere to a certain religion nor can it ask someone
to which he or she adheres. The second largest religion
is Islam with 6% of the resident population being
Muslim, or even 8.1% as of 2011 (considering all the
immigrant people with Islamic background).
Geographic Features
•
•
Belgium is a federal state located in Western Europe, bordering the North Sea.
Belgium shares borders with France (620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148
km) and the Netherlands (450 km). Belgium comprises the regions of Flanders,
Wallonia and Brussels.
Belgium has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west, the
central plateau, and the Ardennes uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain
consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or
below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are
protected by dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The
second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth,
slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways.
Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small gorges. The third
geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a
thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into
northern France and in Germany where it is named Eifel. This is where much of
Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the Signal de Botrange is
located in this region at only 694 meters (2,277 ft). Belgium has relatively few natural
lakes, and none of any great size.
Why is French spoken here?
The second-most spoken primary (Belgian) language, used
natively by almost 40% of the population, is French. It is the
official language of the French Community (which, like the
Flemish Community, is a political entity), the dominant
language in Wallonia (having also a small Germanspeaking Community) as well as the Brussels-Capital
Region. Almost all of the inhabitants of the Capital region
speak French as either their primary language (50%) or as
a lingua franca (45%).There are also many Flemish people
who speak French as a second language. Belgian
French is in most respects identical to standard, Parisian
French, but differs in some points of vocabulary,
pronunciation, and semantics.
Belgium Fashion Week 2013
Christian Wijnants
Anthony Vaccarello
Belgium Fashion Week 2013
Models present a creation by Belgian designer Raf Simons as part of his Fall-Winter 2013-2014 women's ready-to-wear fashion show
for French house Dior during Paris fashion
Peter Philips
"Makeup, like fashion, is a nonstop moving
organism, so textures and formulas evolve,"
"I just need to update it with time."
Born in Antwerp in Belgium, Peter
Philips was the global creative
director of Chanel Make-up.He had
range of trend-setting collections
has recently included the 2009 sellout nail polish colour Jade Le
Vernis - a bottle of which was
reportedly resold on eBay for $100.
—don't forget the waiting-list-only
temporary tattoos from the recent
Spring show.
Chanel’s cotton candy Marie-Antoinette
The Chanel 2013 resort collection held at
the Palace of Versailles was all about
Marie-Antoinette. The collection was a
joke, but the poppy MarieAntoinette makeup with cotton candy
colored wigs and the interlocking c’s on
some of the model’s cheeks were
immediately trending on all beauty
blogs. The pinks in the collection became
the main theme in the Chanel beauty
resort collection with a beautiful rose
petal blush, a pink lip stick and a soft pink
nail polish stressing the freshness of the
rebellious young French queen.
Belgian Celebrities Audrey
Hepburn
I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best
calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I
believe in being strong when everything seems to
be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the
prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another
day and I believe in miracles
Actress, fashion icon, and
philanthropist Audrey
Hepburn was born on May 4,
1929, in Brussels, Belgium. At
age 22, she starred in the
Broadway production of Gigi.
Two years later, she starred in
the film Roman
Holiday (1953) with Gregory
Peck. In 1961, she set new
fashion standards as Holly
Golightly in Breakfast at
Tiffany's. Hepburn is one of
the few actresses to win an
Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and
Academy Award.