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Updates: 

Cécile Brunel sent me some minor corrections for the postal code ranges by province.

The NUTS code scheme was revised in 2003. The code for Brussels Capital Region changed from BE1 to BE10.

Erratum: In "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries", I gave "Région de Bruxelles-Capital" as the French name of Brussels Capital Region. It should have been spelled with a final e, "Région de Bruxelles-Capitale".

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-01-10. It changes the FIPS codes for Brabant. In 1995, Brabant was split into three province-level subdivisions: Brussels Capital Region, Flemish Brabant, and Walloon Brabant. The FIPS code BE02 continued to apply to all three of those divisions, and I listed it on each of the three lines in the book. Now, that code has been replaced by the codes BE11 for Brussels Capital Region, BE12 for Flemish Brabant, and BE10 for Walloon Brabant.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Belgium, the draft standard showed BXL as the code for Brussels Capital Region. In the final standard, this code has been changed to BRU.

Country overview: 

Short name	BELGIUM
ISO code	BE
FIPS code	BE
Languages	Flemish (nl), French (fr)
Time zone	+1 ~
Capital	Brussels

 

Note: Flemish is the name for Dutch as spoken in Belgium.

Belgium has been independent throughout the 20th century, except during the German invasions of the two World Wars. It has undergone relatively minor transfers of territory in the aftermath of those wars. The provinces trace their origins to nine departments imposed by France in 1795. The regions originated with a constitutional reform in 1967-1971.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Belgien
2. Dutch: België, Koninkrijk België (formal)
3. English: Kingdom of Belgium (formal)
4. Finnish: Belgia
5. French: Belgique, Royaume m de Belgique f (formal)
6. German: Belgien n
7. Icelandic: Belgía
8. Italian: Belgio m
9. Norwegian: Belgia, Kongeriket Belgia (formal)
10. Portuguese: Bélgica, Reino m da Bélgica f (formal)
11. Spanish: Bélgica, Reino m de Bélgica f (formal)
12. Swedish: Belgien
13. Turkish: Belçika, Belçika Krallığı (formal)

Origin of name: 

Called Gallia Belgica by Romans, after an ethnic name

Primary subdivisions: 

Belgium is divided into ten provinces (Flemish: provincies) and one capital region (Flemish: hoofdstedelijke gewest; French: région capitale).

Division	HASC	ISO	FIPS	NUTS	INS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Region	Postal codes
Antwerp	BE.AN	VAN	BE01	BE21	10	1,637,857	2,867	1,107	Antwerp	VLG	2000-2999
Brussels	BE.BU	BRU	BE11	BE10	21	953,175	161	62	Brussels	BRU	1000-1299
East Flanders	BE.OV	VOV	BE08	BE23	40	1,357,576	2,982	1,151	Ghent	VLG	9000-9999
Flemish Brabant	BE.VB	VBR	BE12	BE24	20	1,007,882	2,106	814	Leuven	VLG	1500-1999, 3000-3499
Hainaut	BE.HT	WHT	BE03	BE32	50	1,282,783	3,787	1,462	Mons	WAL	6000-6599, 7000-7999
Liege	BE.LG	WLG	BE04	BE33	60	1,016,762	3,862	1,491	Liege	WAL	4000-4999
Limburg	BE.LI	VLI	BE05	BE22	70	783,927	2,422	935	Hasselt	VLG	3500-3999
Luxembourg	BE.LX	WLX	BE06	BE34	80	243,790	4,441	1,715	Arlon	WAL	6600-6900
Namur	BE.NA	WNA	BE07	BE35	90	438,864	3,665	1,415	Namur	WAL	5000-5999
Walloon Brabant	BE.BW	WBR	BE10	BE31	20	344,508	1,091	421	Wavre	WAL	1300-1499
West Flanders	BE.WV	VWV	BE09	BE25	30	1,125,140	3,134	1,210	Brugge	VLG	8000-8999
11 divisions						10,192,264	30,518	11,783
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. INS: Codes assigned by the National Statistics Institute for the 1991 census. (Brabant was a single province then, coded 20.) Population: 1998-01-01 estimate Postal codes: Belgian postal codes are four digits. Postal codes in the provinces recently formed from Brabant don't correspond neatly to the new province boundaries. Note: postal codes for Belgian addresses can be identified by prefixing them with "B-".

Further subdivisions:

See the Arrondissements of Belgium page.

Belgium is divided into three regions (gewesten, régions). When they were created in 1970, Brabant was divided among all three regions; in 1995, it was split, and now each region contains provincial-level units as shown in the region column in the table above. Here is a list of the regions.

ISO	Region	NUTS	Predominant language
BRU	Brussels Capital Region	BE1	Both
VLG	Flemish Region	BE2	Flemish
WAL	Wallonia	BE3	French

 

Below the provinces, there are 43 arrondissements. Under the arrondissements, there are communes. Before 1977, they were changed often, but the number of communes remained close to 2,500. On 1977-01-01, an act for the amalgamation of communes took effect. The old communes were merged in various ways, creating 589 new and larger communes.

Territorial extent: 

1. There is a cluster of 22 exclaves belonging to Antwerp province inside the Netherlands, about 2 km. from the Belgian border. It constitutes the town of Baarle-Hertog. The maps on this page  show the details.
2. Hainaut is split into two parts by a strip of French territory. The western part is much smaller. Comines is its largest city.
3. Limburg is split into two parts by a strip of Dutch territory. The eastern part is much smaller. It is the commune of Fourons.

Origins of names: 

1. Antwerp: from Germanic anda werpum: at the jetty
2. Brabant: Old High German bracha: new country, bant: region
3. Brussels: Middle Dutch broec: swamp, sele: castle
4. Flanders: possibly from Flemish vlakte: plain, wanderen: wander.
5. Hainaut: Haine River, with German suffix -gau: district
6. Liege: from Latin læticæ: plantations owned by læti (immigrants)
7. Limburg: Germanic lindo: linden, burg: fort.
8. Luxembourg: Germanic luttila: little, burg: fort.
9. Wallonia: land of Walloons, from Germanic walhon: foreigner.

Change history: 

1. 1920-01-20: The Treaty of Versailles granted three German cantons (Eupen, Malmédy, and Saint Vith) to Belgium. Although geographically separated from it, they were annexed to Limburg. Also annexed was a sliver of land which had been neutral territory since the Napoleonic Wars. This was Moresnet, adjacent to Eupen.
2. 1923: Two communes were transferred from East Flanders to Antwerp, constituting all of the present territory of Antwerp west of the Scheldt River.
3. ~1932: Eupen, Malmédy, and Saint Vith transferred from Limburg to Liege.
4. 1962-11-08: Administrative reform law changed numerous boundaries. The arrondissement of Mouscron was created and transferred from West Flanders to Hainaut. The town of Landen was transferred from Liege to Brabant. Fourons was transferred from Liege to Limburg. The arrondissement of Brussels was split into Brussels-Capital, Brussels-Suburbs, and Halle-Vilvoorde. The provinces of East Flanders and Limburg were also affected.
5. 1970: Brussels-Suburbs arrondissement annexed to Halle-Vilvoorde arrondissement. The three modern regions were defined geographically, but not given administrative functions.
6. 1980: Regional governments formed for the Flemish Region and Wallonia.
7. 1989: Regional government formed for Brussels capital region.
8. 1993-11-01: Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union replaced the European Communities, of which Belgium was a member.
9. 1995-01-01: Brabant province divided into Brussels capital region, Flemish Brabant province, and Walloon Brabant province.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Note: the Flemish language is basically the same as Dutch.

1. Antwerp: Amberes (Spanish); Antuérpia (Portuguese); Antwerpen (Dutch, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Swedish); Anvers (French); Anversa (Italian)
2. Brabant: Brabante (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
3. Brussels: Brüksel (Turkish); Bruselas (Spanish); Brussel (Icelandic, Norwegian); Brussel Hoofstadt, Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Gewest (Dutch); Brüssel (German); Bruxelas (Portuguese); Bruxelles (Italian); Bryssel (Danish, Swedish); Brysselin pääkaupunkialue (Finnish); Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (French)
4. East Flanders: Fiandra Orientale (Italian); Flandes Oriental (Spanish); Flandre orientale (French); Flandres Oriental (Portuguese); Itä-Flanderi (Finnish); Oost-Vlaanderen (Dutch); Ost Flandern (German); Östflandern (Swedish); Øst-Flandern (Norwegian); Østflanderen (Danish)
5. Flemish Brabant: Brabante Fiammingo (Italian); Brabante Flamenco (Spanish); Brabante Flamengo (Portuguese); Brabant Flamand (French); Flaamien Brabant (Finnish); flamländska Brabant (Swedish); Flamsk Brabant (Danish); Flämisch-Brabant (German); Vlaams Brabant (Dutch)
6. Flemish Region: Flandre, Région Flamande (French); Região Flamenga (Portuguese); Región Flamenga (Spanish); Vlaanderen, Vlaams Gewest (Dutch)
7. Hainaut: Henao (Spanish); Henegouwen (Dutch); Hennegau (German)
8. Liege: Liège (Danish, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish); Liegi (Italian); Lieja (Portuguese-variant, Spanish); Luik (Dutch); Lüttich (German)
9. Limburg: Limbourg (Danish, French, Norwegian); Limburgo (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
10. Luxembourg: Lussemburgo (Italian); Luxemburg (Dutch, German, Swedish); Luxemburgo (Portuguese, Spanish)
11. Namur: Namen (Dutch)
12. Wallonia: Região Valona, Valónia (Portuguese-Portugal); Valônia (Portuguese-Brazil); Walenland (obsolete-Dutch); Wallonië (Dutch); Wallonie, Région Wallonne (French)
13. Walloon Brabant: Brabante Valão (Portuguese); Brabant Wallon (French); Vallonian Brabant (Finnish); Waals Brabant (Dutch)
14. West Flanders: Fiandra Occidentale (Italian); Flandes Occidental (Spanish); Flandre occidentale (French); Flandres Ocidental (Portuguese); Länsi-Flanderi (Finnish); Västflandern (Swedish); Vest-Flandern (Norwegian); Vestflanderen (Danish); West Flandern (German); West-Vlaanderen (Dutch)

Population history:

Province	1910-12-31c	1930c	1938e	1947-12-31c	1955-12-31e	1961-12-31c	1970-12-31c	1982e	1992-01-01e
Antwerp	968,677	1,173,363	1,254,242	1,281,333	1,362,908	1,443,000	1,533,249	1,577,246	1,610,695
Brabant	1,469,677	1,680,065	1,771,038	1,798,468	1,887,782	2,009,000	2,176,373	2,221,383	2,253,794
East Flanders	1,120,335	1,149,199	1,192,034	1,217,280	1,249,435	1,272,000	1,310,117	1,332,265	1,340,056
Hainaut	1,232,867	1,270,231	1,238,537	1,224,800	1,261,125	1,317,000	1,317,453	1,291,610	1,283,252
Liege	888,341	973,031	972,481	963,851	994,185	992,000	1,008,905	995,576	1,006,081
Limburg	275,691	367,642	416,547	460,446	528,123	572,000	652,547	724,032	755,593
Luxembourg	231,215	220,920	219,566	213,478	216,394	217,000	217,310	222,784	234,664
Namur	362,846	355,965	356,198	356,090	394,125	369,000	380,561	408,741	426,305
West Flanders	874,135	901,588	965,910	996,449	1,032,169	998,000	1,054,429	1,084,380	1,111,557
9 provinces	7,423,784	8,092,004	8,386,553	8,512,195	8,926,246	9,189,000	9,650,944	9,858,017	10,021,997
After each date, c = census; e = estimate