Brussels

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Brussels
Bruxelles (French)
Brussel (Dutch)
—  Region of Belgium  —
Brussels-Capital Region[1][2]
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (French)
Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Dutch)
Clockwise from top: The Northern Quarter business district; the Berlaymont of the European Commission; the Royal Palace of Brussels; the Espace Léopold of the European Parliament; the Grand Place

Flag
Emblem
Nickname(s): Capital of Europe, Comic city[3]

Coordinates: 4°21′0″E / 50.85°N 4.35°E / 50.85; 4.35
Sovereign state Belgium
Settled c.580
Founded 979
Region 18 June 1989
Municipalities
Government
 - Minister-President Charles Picqué (2004-)
 - Governor Hugo Nys (acting) (2009-)
 - Parl. President Eric Tomas
Area
 - Region 161.4 km² (62.2 sq mi)
Elevation 13 m (43 ft)
Population (1 November 2008)[4][5]
 - Region 1,080,790
 - Density 6,697/km² (16,857/sq mi)
 - Metro 1,830,000
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 BE-BRU
Website www.portail.irisnet.be

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl]  ( listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏsəl] (help·info)), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region[1][2] (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the de facto capital city of the European Union (EU) and the largest urban area in Belgium.[6][7] It comprises 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels proper, which is the constitutional capital of Belgium, Flanders, the Flemish Community, and the French Community of Belgium.[8]

Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants.[9] The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.[4][5]

Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Its hosting of principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has made the city a polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.[10]

Although historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels became increasingly French-speaking over the 19th and 20th centuries. Today a majority of inhabitants are native French-speakers, although both languages have official status.[11] Linguistic tensions remain, and the language laws of the municipalities surrounding Brussels are an issue of much controversy in Belgium.

History

The most common theory for the etymology of Brussels is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broeksel or other spelling variants, which means marsh (broek) and home (sel) or "home in the marsh".[12] The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus' construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580.[13] The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel. Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island.

The Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles' daughter. Because of its location on the shores of the Senne on an important trade route between Bruges and Ghent, and Cologne, Brussels grew quite quickly; it became a commercial centre that rapidly extended towards the upper town (St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral, Coudenberg, Sablon/Zavel area...), where there was a smaller risk of floods. As it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time (1183/1184). In the 13th century, the city got its first walls.[14]

After the construction of the first walls of Brussels, in the early 13th century, Brussels grew significantly. In order to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the "small ring", a series of roadways in downtown Brussels bounding the historic city centre, follows its former course.

In the 15th century, by means of the wedding of heiress Margaret III of Flanders with Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a new Duke of Brabant emerged from the House of Valois (namely Antoine, their son), with another line of descent from the Habsburgs (Maximilian of Austria, later Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, married Mary of Burgundy, who was born in Brussels). Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished.