Government

Country name

Conventional long form: Kingdom of Belgium
Conventional short form: Belgium
Local long form: Koninkrijk Belgie/Royaume de Belgique
Local short form: Belgie/Belgique

Government type

Federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch

Capital

Brussels

Administrative divisions

10 provinces (French: provinces, singular - province; Dutch: provinces, singular - provincie) and 3 regions* (French: regions; Dutch: gewesten); Antwerpen, Brabant Walloon, Brussels* (Bruxelles), Flanders*, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaams-Brabant, Wallonia*, West-Vlaanderen

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

Independence

4 October 1830 (a provisional government declares independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King Leopold I ascends to the throne)

National holiday

21 July (1831) ascension to the Throne of King Leopold I

Constitution

7 February 1831, last revised 14 July 1993; parliament approved a constitutional package creating a federal state

Legal system

Civil law system influenced by English constitutional theory; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations