Spreading out from the southern shore of the North Sea
is the small kingdom of Belgium, a historic buffer zone between Europe's Latin
and Germanic civilizations. Occupying the southern rim of the Rhine-Meuse-Schelde
delta, it shares with The Netherlands a strategic location on Western European
trade routes. This has helped Belgium become one of the world's most advanced
and prosperous commercial and industrial nations. Belgium has an area of 11,784 square miles (30,520
square kilometers). It is bounded by the North Sea on the northwest, The
Netherlands on the north and northeast, Germany on the eaast, Luxembourg on the
southeast, and France on the south and southwest. The country's greatest extent,
from the North Sea to the Germany-Luxembourg border, is about 180 miles (290
kilometers). Its width ranges between about 35 miles (56 kilometers) in the west
and 140 miles (225 kilometers) in the east.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |