A rich and bubbling vat of beer, chocolate, oil paint and bureaucrats, Belgium gives off the heady pong of the bourgeoisie. But stir the pot a little and you'll find an 'artificial state' roughly made up of two parts Germanic Flemings to one part Celtic-Latin Walloons. Divided by pride first and language second, the country's binding agents are a pervasive sense of family and an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit. And if Belgium's spotlight on the European stage is a little dim, it's only because its people are rarely boastful. This country has more history, art, food and architecture per square centimetre than many of its bigger, louder neighbours.

Full name : Kingdom of Belgium
Capital : Brussels (pop: 980,000)
Area : 30,518 sq km
Population : 10.4 million
People : 55% Flemish (of Teutonic origin), 33% Walloons (French Latin) and about 10% foreigners.
Language : Flemish, French and German. Most Belgians also speak English.
Religion : 75% Roman Catholic
Government : constitutional parliamentary monarchy
Prime Minister : Guy Verhofstadt

GDP : US$322.3 billion
GDP per head : US$31,100
Growth rate : 1.5%
Inflation rate : 2.8%
Major industries : Services, agriculture, chemicals, engineering, metal products, car manufacturing, iron and steel, textiles and food
Trading partners : EU (esp. Germany, France, Netherlands, UK), USA
EU member : yes
Euro-zone member : yes