Facts about Brussels
The mayor of Brussels, Adolphe Max (1869-1939), became famous for resisting abuses at the hands of German forces.
Brussels also has more commuters coming mainly from Flanders, closely followed by commuters from Wallonia (and far smaller numbers of commuters from the Netherlands and France), than local employment.
The Belgian Revolution began with a riot in Brussels in August 1830 and led to the establishment of an independent, Roman Catholic and neutral Belgium, with Brussels as its capital.
Brussels is served by Brussels Airport, located in the nearby Flemish municipality of Zaventem, and by the much smaller Brussels South Airport, located near Charleroi (Wallonia), some 30 miles (50km) from Brussels.
The Brussels capital region had a population of 1,031,215 in 2007, for 161.382 kmІ which gives a population density of 6238 inhabitants per square kilometer.
On May 29, 1985, at the final of the 1985 European Cup tournament, football hooligans caused the collapse of a retaining wall at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, killing 39 people.
The Brussels Region is neither a province, nor does it belong to one.
The Brussels-Capital Region is divided into 19 municipalities, of which the City of Brussels is the largest and most populous.
Today, the settlement of Brussels is effectively most often synonymous with the more recently established Brussels-Capital Region, which is one of Belgium's three regions.
Brussels is famous for being home to many Belgian comics characters, including The Smurfs, Largo Winch, Tintin, and Lucky Luke to name a few.
Meanwhile, Brussels hosts two of the main institutions of the European Union—the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.
Being the de facto European capital, the economy of Brussels is heavily dominated by regional headquarters of multinationals, by European institutions, by the still heavily (over)populated Belgian administrations, and by related services.
During World War II, the German army bombed Brussels from May 10, 1940, and took control of the city on May 18.
Brussels also has its own port on the Willebroek canal located in the northwest of the city.
Saint Vindicianus, also a bishop of Cambrai, is said to have died in the neighborhood of Brussels.
Within Brussels, the unemployment rate is higher than in the other Belgian regions (above 20 percent in 2008).
Throughout Brussels, (also nicknamed Comic City) there are many murals, frescos, and even statues celebrating the city's many cartoon heroes.
The European Parliament, also has a parliamentary chamber in Brussels (the other plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg, and its administrative headquarters are in Luxembourg).
The historical indigenous language of Brussels were Brabantian dialects particular to Brussels and related to Dutch.
Charles V (1500-1558) was declared King of the unified Spain, in 1516, in the Cathedral of Saint Gudule in Brussels.
The Place Royale and Brussels Park was built at this time, as was much of the upper town.
Brussels was first mentioned when Bishop Saint-Gery of Cambrai settled a chapel on a small island there around 695 C.E.
Brussels lies just north of the “language boundary” that separates Flanders region in the north, where the Flemish variant of Dutch is spoken, from the French-speaking Walloon region in the south.
The first two Low Countries Protestant martyrs died at the stake in Brussels in 1523, the first of many.
The Willebroek canal, linking Brussels with the port of Antwerp, was dug in 1561.
Due to this, some countries have three ambassadors present in Brussels: the normal bi-lateral ambassador, the EU-ambassador, and finally the NATO-ambassador.
The founding of the county of Brussels was attributed to Lambert I of Leuven, count of Leuven around 1000.
The Zenne was notorious for being one of Belgium's worst polluted rivers, since all effluents from the Brussels Capital Region went into it without treatment.
Artists, including Rogier van der Weyden (1400–1464), and craftsmen, produced paintings, wooden sculptures, large historical tapestries, plate, jewelry, that were exported from Brussels.
The name Brussels comes from the old Dutch Bruocsella, which means marsh (bruoc) and home (sella) or "home in the marsh."
Huge Flemish protests against “Frenchification” took place in Brussels in 1961 and 1962.
Brussels became the princely capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished.
The founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, because Charles, Duke of Lower Lotharingia (953–993), transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gery chapel in Brussels.
A constitutional reform enacted on December 24, 1970, created a Flemish region, a Walloon region, and the Brussels region.
Brussels is officially bilingual, French, and Dutch, although about 85 percent to 90 percent of the population are French-speakers (including migrants), and about 10 percent to 15 percent are Dutch-speakers.
Brussels is also the capital of both the French Community of Belgium and of Flanders.
Brussels is also the political seat of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Western European Union (WEU) and EUROCONTROL, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation.
The Francophone Democratic Front appeared in 1964, to resist perceived Flemish interference in Brussels municipal affairs.
Close to the North Sea, Brussels has a mild, moderate climate, with summer temperatures usually between 68°F and 77°F (20°C and 25°C), and winter temperatures rarely below 32°F (0°C).
The Brussels metro dates to 1976, but underground lines known as premetro have been serviced by tramways since 1968.
Today, all Brussels dialects are on the verge of extinction, although there are some attempts at revival.
A satellite campus of the Universitй Catholique de Louvain, called CL-Brussels, which hosts the faculty of medicine, is located in Brussels.
Within the region, 99 percent of the provincial competencies are assumed by the Brussels regional institutions.
The land area of Brussels totals 62.5 square miles (162 square kilometers).
The City of Brussels in the Brussels-Capital Region is the capital of a nation divided along linguistic lines, resulting in a cultural divide as well.
Due to the method of federalization, and because the municipalities did not take part in the merger that affected municipalities in the rest of Belgium, the public institutions in Brussels offer a bewildering complexity.
Brussels has grown from a seventh century chapel into a metropolis of over one million inhabitants.
In 1695, Brussels was attacked by troops of King Louis XIV of France, one of a series of invasions.