Brussels Region

Brussels Bruxelles Brussel
Region of Belgium
Brussels Capital Region Région de Bruxelles-Capitale Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
A collage with several views of Brussels, Top: View of the Northern Quarter business district, 2nd left: Floral carpet event in the Grand Place, 2nd right: Brussels City Hall and Mont des Arts area, 3rd: Cinquantenaire Park, 4th left: Manneken Pis, 4th middle: St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, 4th right: Congress Column, Bottom: Royal Palace of Brussels
Flag
Nickname(s): Capital of Europe Comic city
Brussels Show map of Belgium Brussels Show map of Europe
Coordinates: 50°51′N 4°21′E / 50.850°N 4.350°E / 50.850; 4.350Coordinates: 50°51′N 4°21′E / 50.850°N 4.350°E / 50.850; 4.350
Country	Belgium
Settled	c. 580
Founded	979
Region	18 June 1989
Municipalities	List Anderlecht Auderghem / Oudergem Berchem-Sainte-Agathe / Sint-Agatha-Berchem City of Brussels Etterbeek Evere Forest / Vorst Ganshoren Ixelles / Elsene Jette Koekelberg Molenbeek-Saint-Jean / Sint-Jans-Molenbeek Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis Saint-Josse-ten-Noode / Sint-Joost-ten-Node Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek Uccle / Ukkel Watermael-Boitsfort / Watermaal-Bosvoorde Woluwe-Saint-Lambert / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe Woluwe-Saint-Pierre / Sint-Pieters-Woluwe
Government
• Executive	Government of the Brussels-Capital Region
• Governing parties (2014–19)	PS, FDF, cdH; Open Vld, sp.a, CD&V
• Minister-President	Rudi Vervoort (PS)
• Legislature	Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region
• Speaker	Charles Picqué (PS)
Area
• Region/City	161.38 km2 (62.2 sq mi)
Elevation	13 m (43 ft)
Population (1 January 2016)
• Region/City	1,175,173
• Density	7,025/km2 (16,857/sq mi)
• Metro	1,830,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166	BE-BRU
Website	be.brussels

Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality	Population (2016)
France	62,507
Romania	38,690
Morocco	38,274
Italy	32,322
Spain	28,042
Poland	26,399
Portugal	19,791
Bulgaria	11,371
Germany	10,527
Democratic Republic of the Congo	8,846

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, [bʁysɛl]; Dutch: Brussel, [ˈbrɵsəl]), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders (in which it forms an enclave) or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan area with a population of over 1.8 million, the largest agglomeration in Belgium. Brussels is also part of a large conurbation which extends between Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven and Walloon Brabant and is home to over 5 million people.

Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a major centre for international politics and has become the home of numerous international organizations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions (the other administrative centres are Luxembourg and Strasbourg). The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city.