Belgium (2nd Edition)

Belgium (2nd Edition) is the Belgium volume in the "Nations of the World (New Edition)" series published by Social Sciences Academic Press, written by Ma Shengli, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and published in December 2016. Belgium is located in northwestern Europe. Though small in territory and population, it is a highly developed industrialized country; composed of language regions and regions, it is a distinctive federal state. Its capital Brussels hosts more than 700 international institutions, including the EU and NATO, and is thus called the "capital of Europe." This book, revised and expanded from the first edition, provides a comprehensive and systematic account of Belgium's physical geography and administrative divisions, population, ethnic groups and language disputes, religion, customs and urban landscapes, and traces in chronological order from antiquity to the present Belgium's independence in 1830, the two World Wars, the royal crisis, ethno-linguistic conflicts and federal reform. The political section covers the constitution, the king, the federal government, parliament, judiciary and party organizations; the economic section covers agriculture, energy and industry, famous enterprises, transport, finance, taxation and foreign trade; it also introduces military defense, social security and healthcare, education and science, literature and art, press and publishing, and sports, as well as Belgium's relations with the United States and NATO, with the EU and neighboring countries, with Russia and Eastern Europe, and with African countries, concluding with a dedicated chapter on the development of Belgium-China relations. The book opens with a preface by the Belgian Ambassador to China, Michel Malherbe.