Europe is comprised of many different peoples and cultures that make up many great nations and
Throughout these nations many may have small borders or may be small in size
But actually offer a lot to the world and you're on FTD facts. We are diving into more countries in Europe and
discovering which nations stand out beyond all and today we are looking at the great people and
culture and country of Belgium hey everybody what's going on Dave waffle here welcome to FTD facts the channel or we
While we talk about using the people cultures and places from around the world and that's what we're doing today
Cuz we're talking about the culture and the people of Belgium now
I know probably you guys already have some ideas of what Belgium already is
But we're gonna go diving right into it and find out which ones are right
Which ones are wrong and of course here on the channel?
We take a lot of recommendations for our videos as a matter of fact
This is one that has been recommended by you guys in the past
So we just want to thank all you guys who've recommended Belgium on top of that guys if you like this video keep an eye
Out for our stuff at the end of this video because we've always got some really interesting things about other cultures and people that you
Guys can learn from as well this video has been brought to by Graham really calm
We'll talk about that more at the end of the video so for me here guys
I'm really excited to talk about Belgium because I think it's a really fascinating country. It's very unique
It's got its own rules regulations and its own type of people and one thing that I really like about it
Is it's not really talked about much in the media
So this is quite unique for us to learn about this country and to start this all off
We should take a look at its population for
2017
Census they recorded that they had 11 million three hundred three thousand 52 people
Which actually ranks Belgium to be seventy fifth in the world when it comes to population?
Now when it comes to this population because Belgium is a little bit of a smaller country than others
They have approximately 300 70.3 people per square kilometer and considering we're talking about population
We should probably take a look at the demographics of the country for example when it comes to this population about
97% of the population lives in urban areas
Break it down even further about sixty point seven percent of the people in Belgium identify as Christian
32% classify as irreligion 5.2 percent follow Islam
And two point one follow other religions now
I believe a spread out over a land size of thirty thousand five hundred and twenty eight kilometers Square
Ranking this country to be roughly 37th in the world when it comes to its size
I keep in mind when it comes to its land size about six point four percent of this is actually water
Now when it comes to the land and the water believe it or not belgium actually divides itself up into ten different
Provinces and yes in belgium. They call them provinces
They don't call them states or regions like in other places around the world now one of these that can get very confusing is
Luxembourg because it is a province within Belgium
And it is next to the country of luxembourg like for me example when I was reading about it
I was like well Luxembourg is right beside Luxembourg wait
Is that the country or now the country?
But they're two different things now of these provinces the largest in population is Antwerp with a population size of approximately
1 million eight hundred and thirty six thousand people
However when it comes to land size the province of Luxembourg is actually the largest
Were the land size of four thousand four hundred and forty three kilometers square
So where does Belgium get its name well actually it comes from all the way back in Roman times?
This is because it came from the word Gallia Belgica which was a Roman province which was located in
northeast Gaul of Rome now this was a region that was conquered by Julius Caesar during the Gallic Wars and
After his conquering. They renamed it to balj a witch at that time
It was named after a group of one of the largest tribal Confederacy's within the region now as for the country it officially became
Recognized as a nation on October 4th of 1830 now
This was after it's separated from the Netherlands because while the Catholic people just didn't really want to be part of the Netherlands anymore
So they created their own nation
and they actually created their own form of government creating the kingdom of Belgium and by
1831 the Netherlands unfortunately refused to sign the treaty of eighteen articles now of course after that there were some issues between the two countries
but by 1839 the two countries actually
Signed the Treaty of London and in today's world the kingdom of Belgium still does indeed have a king with King Philip of
Belgium who's been ruling since two thousand and seventeen at speaking about ruling of Belgium we should probably talk about the capital
What is the capital of Belgium well this goes to the city of Brussels now?
This is one very important place within the country first of all it is approximately thirty
2.61 kilometers square and although the city doesn't really have a main date in which it was founded
There are certain buildings and historical moments that actually give us clues to maybe when it was created for example the notre dame du sablon
Cathedral or our Blessed lady of this Alban Church was created in the
1300s and the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Jude ulla began adding towers to the church in
1226 and as a matter of fact there is even indication that a church existed in this area way back to even the
900s but also what makes this city and Belgium important is that it is the main Administration Center and Council for the European Union?
having four of the seven European
Institutions in one city and as well the city itself and country was the founder of the entire European Union
also
It's fascinating to know that Belgium is a country that has the record of having the most castles per square
kilometre out of any country in the world
Currently there are over 400 castles that are open to the public
However if we were to include those and ones that are not open to the public it is estimated that Belgium has over
3,000 castles that is insane, I thought it would go to places like Germany
but nope Belgium gets it and what we should look at which is one of the most popular castles in the entire country is the
Gravenstein castle which is located in east flanders of belgium now. It was built in
1180 with a wooden castle even
Existing as far back as the 9th century
And when it comes to the name of this castle it actually means the castle of the counts in Dutch
and it served as an area for the rulers of the region which were the counts of flanders until the castle was abandoned in the
14th century
And it wasn't until 1893 when the castle was refurbished after the get bought it the year prior
and in today's world it is one of those popular locations when it comes to castles to visit and
Actually they film a lot of TV shows and movies at that castle as well
Now of course if we're going to talk about Belgium and the preservation of old buildings
It should be noted that Belgium has a 13 UNESCO zones and as a matter of fact
They still actually have about
16 on the tentative list and one in particular that we should talk about is the Neolithic Flint mines of spans
now these mines are the largest and earliest Neolithic Flint mines found in all of Europe and
Scientists estimate that they were used around
4400 BC to 2200 BC and it was first rediscovered in
1843 and first excavated by a mining engineer named Alphonse Briard in
1867 and overall these mines cover over 200 hectares and they were inscribed in the year of
2000 and of course we cannot forget about talking about Belgium
Without mentioning the chocolate because they are world famous for their delicious dark good chocolate
It's uh if you ever had dark you know Belgian chocolate
It's so good as a matter of fact the Brussels Airport is actually considered the world's largest chocolate
Selling point out of any place in the world and believe it or not
It wasn't a major industry until about the 19th century and currently to date
It is still one of the most important parts of Belgium's economy
And one of the reasons why Belgium chocolate is known so well around the world is because in Belgium
They actually have rules on their chocolate and one rule in particular is that there is a law on chocolate that states that?
35% has to have pure coca in it in order to keep up with the Belgium standards and prevent other
Ingredients from entering in it and currently at this time
It's it's at one of the fourth largest countries when it comes to exporting chocolate because in
2016 Belgium exported roughly 2.9 billion dollars in the delicious treat making them come in at second in the world
And their chocolate is so important and so amazing that Belgium has many chocolate festivals year round
But the two biggest ones are the ones that are in Bruges and the ones in Brussels
Attracting people from all around the world so what do you think of the country of Belgium?
Pretty fascinating right not just for its chocolate and its progress
But it's great to see what the people of Belgium offer to the world and how they act according to themselves and of course here
on MTV facts
we've probably missed two so many great facts about Belgium and
Actually here on the channel the one thing that we really like to do is not just teach you guys
but we like to learn from you guys so if you guys know any facts about the country be sure to
educate us and the rest of the community down there because that's what we're all about and
Sometimes some of your comments you may get thrown in a part too. However guys
My name is Dave, Wawa
And I really want to thank you guys for taking the time to learn about another great country and culture and people from all around
The world and I think it's fascinating that we learn it and expand our minds to really broaden ourselves and make us better people
of course before you guys get out of here be sure to check out our other videos at the end of this video because we
Got some really great stuff, which we think you guys will enjoy of course. Thank you everybody for recommending us talking about Belgium
We really appreciate that and on top of that this video like I said has been brought to you by Graham lucam now
What is Graham really calm? Well I'm sure you've seen all the ads already on YouTube, but here on its it in fact
We actually do use it
It is totally a free program the link for that is down there in the description box below, and it's great it
Helps improve your own grammar while you type. It's fantastic. I wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't useful to you however
This is the country of Belgium a place that is just different from other European countries
Although having some similar traits as well home of the European Union
Which is one of the strongest forms of currency on the planet a place known for its deep and true flavored chocolate with
Standards that other countries just can't match
this is the people culture and
Country of Belgium a place where every step you take is like biting into something
sweet
What
So thanks for watching guys once again
It's great that you guys are taking the time to learn about other cultures from around the planet Lao the like I said there's other
Stuff that you guys should check out well
This is the time to do it check out some of these videos here
Also check out our new series where we actually
Compare two different countries to find out which one is better although to be honest. We don't actually say which country is better
It's really for you guys, but either way check that stuff out
Don't forget to subscribe and share these videos and until next time
Oh, yeah, leave a comment down there, and we'll see you in the next video. Bye