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Updates: 

Fabien Antoine sent an article that tells of a proposal to rename Antwerp province to Midden-Brabant (Flemish), Brabant central (French).

Update 10 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2012-12-31. It changes the Flemish name of Brussels Capital Region to include the generic term Gewest.

The latest version of the FIPS standard is called "Geopolitical Entities and Codes", published in 2010-04. It shows Belgium divided into three regions, coded as shown under "Further subdivisions" below.

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 Now, that code has been replaced by the codes BE11 for Brussels Capital Region, BE12 for Flemish Brabant, and BE10 for Walloon Brabant.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 It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard).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. Russian: Королевство Бельгия (formal)
12. Spanish: Bélgica, Reino m de Bélgica f (formal)
13. Swedish: Belgien
14. 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	1,744,862	2,867	1,107	Antwerp	VLG	2000-2999
Brussels	BE.BU	BRU	BE11	BE10	21	1,089,538	161	62	Brussels	BRU	1000-1299
East Flanders	BE.OV	VOV	BE08	BE23	40	1,432,326	2,982	1,151	Ghent	VLG	9000-9999
Flemish Brabant	BE.VB	VBR	BE12	BE24	20	1,076,924	2,106	814	Leuven	VLG	1500-1999, 3000-3499
Hainaut	BE.HT	WHT	BE03	BE32	50	1,309,880	3,787	1,462	Mons	WAL	6000-6599, 7000-7999
Liege	BE.LG	WLG	BE04	BE33	60	1,067,685	3,862	1,491	Liege	WAL	4000-4999
Limburg	BE.LI	VLI	BE05	BE22	70	838,505	2,422	935	Hasselt	VLG	3500-3999
Luxembourg	BE.LX	WLX	BE06	BE34	80	269,023	4,441	1,715	Arlon	WAL	6600-6900
Namur	BE.NA	WNA	BE07	BE35	90	472,281	3,665	1,415	Namur	WAL	5000-5999
Walloon Brabant	BE.BW	WBR	BE10	BE31	20	379,515	1,091	421	Wavre	WAL	1300-1499
West Flanders	BE.WV	VWV	BE09	BE25	30	1,159,366	3,134	1,210	Brugge	VLG	8000-8999
11 divisions						10,839,905	30,518	11,783
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4 (superseded). 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: 2010-01-01, compiled from population registers (source [1]). 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	FIPS	NUTS	Predominant language
BRU	Brussels Capital Region	BE11	BE1	Both
VLG	Flemish Region	BE13	BE2	Flemish
WAL	Wallonia	BE14	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.
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.

The UN LOCODE page  for Belgium lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

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. 1946-09-17: Official French spelling of Liege changed from Liége to Liège.
5. 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.
6. 1970: Brussels-Suburbs arrondissement annexed to Halle-Vilvoorde arrondissement. The three modern regions were defined geographically, but not given administrative functions.
7. 1980: Regional governments formed for the Flemish Region and Wallonia.
8. 1989: Regional government formed for Brussels capital region.
9. 1993-11-01: Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union replaced the European Communities, of which Belgium was a member.
10. 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); Антверпен (Russian)
2. Brabant: Brabante (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
3. Brussels: Brüksel (Turkish); Bruselas (Spanish); Brussel (Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian); Brussel Hoofstadt, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk, Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Gewest (Dutch); Hauptstadtregion Brüssel (German); Bruxelas (Portuguese); Bruxelles (Italian); Bryssel (Danish, Finnish, Swedish); Brysselin pääkaupunkialue (Finnish); Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (French); Брюссель (Russian)
4. East Flanders: Fiandra Orientale (Italian); Flandes Oriental (Spanish); Flandre orientale (French); Flandres Oriental (Portuguese); Itä-Flanderi (Finnish); Oost-Vlaanderen (Dutch); Ostflandern (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); Region Flandern (German); Vlaanderen, Vlaams Gewest (Dutch)
7. Hainaut: Henao (Spanish); Henegouwen (Dutch); Hennegau (German)
8. Liege: Liège (Danish, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish); Liége (obsolete); Liegi (Italian); Lieja (Portuguese-variant, Spanish); Luik (Dutch); Lüttich (German); Люттих (Russian)
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); Region Wallonien (German); Valônia (Portuguese-Brazil); Waals Gewest, Wallonië (Dutch); Walenland (obsolete-Dutch); Wallonie, Région wallonne (French)
13. Walloon Brabant: Brabante Valão (Portuguese); Brabant wallon (French); Vallonian Brabant (Finnish); Waals Brabant (Dutch); Wallonisch-Brabant (German)
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); Westflandern (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	1990-01-01e
Antwerp	968,677	1,173,363	1,254,242	1,281,333	1,362,908	1,443,000	1,533,249	1,577,246	1,597,310
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	2,243,026
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	1,331,608
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	1,278,039
Liege	888,341	973,031	972,481	963,851	994,185	992,000	1,008,905	995,576	998,213
Limburg	275,691	367,642	416,547	460,446	528,123	572,000	652,547	724,032	745,034
Luxembourg	231,215	220,920	219,566	213,478	216,394	217,000	217,310	222,784	230,827
Namur	362,846	355,965	356,198	356,090	394,125	369,000	380,561	408,741	421,224
West Flanders	874,135	901,588	965,910	996,449	1,032,169	998,000	1,054,429	1,084,380	1,102,501
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	9,947,782
After each date, c = census; e = estimate

Province	1995-01-01	2000-01-01	2005-01-01	2010-01-01
Antwerp	1,628,710	1,643,972	1,676,858	1,744,862
Brussels	951,580	959,318	1,006,749	1,089,538
East Flanders	1,349,382	1,361,623	1,380,072	1,432,326
Flemish Brabant	995,266	1,014,704	1,037,786	1,076,924
Hainaut	1,286,649	1,279,467	1,286,275	1,309,880
Liège	1,015,007	1,019,442	1,034,024	1,067,685
Limbourg	771,613	791,178	809,942	838,505
Luxembourg	240,281	246,820	256,004	269,023
Namur	434,446	443,903	455,863	472,281
Walloon Brabant	336,505	349,884	363,776	379,515
West Flanders	1,121,135	1,128,774	1,138,503	1,159,366
Total	10,130,574	10,239,085	10,445,852	10,839,905

Sources: 

1. [1] Population résidente de droit au 1er janvier, par année , Statistics Belgium (retrieved 2011-03-31).
2. [2] Territory and Administration in Europe. Robert Bennett, ed. Pinter Publishers, London and New York, 1989.
3. [3] A detailed map of the fragmented enclave of Baarle-Hertog was posted at http://wings.buffalo.edu/philosophy/faculty/smith/baarle.htm (dead link).