is a federal monarchy in Western Europe. It is a founding member

of the European Union.

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Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres

(11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million

people. Belgium shares borders with France

(620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km) and

the Netherlands (450 km).

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The population of Belgium is divided into three linguistic communities. In the north the Flemings, who constitute more than half of Belgium's population, speak Netherlander. English speakers usually call the Netherlander spoken in Belgium “Flemish” and that spoken in The Netherlands “Dutch,” but in standardized form they are basically the same language

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In the south

TheFrench-speaking Walloons make up about one-third of the country's population. About one-tenth of the people are completely bilingual, but a majority have some knowledge of both French and Flemish. The German-language region in eastern Liege province, containing a small fraction of the Belgian population, consists of several communes around Eupen and Saint-Vith(Sankt-Vith) (see Eupen-et-Ma lmedy

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Belgium is a constitutional , popular monarchy and

a federal parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 40 directly elected politicians and 21 representatives appointed by the 3 Community parliaments, 10

co-opted senators and the children of the king, as Senators by Right who in practice do not cast their vote. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts.

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Elio De Rupo

since 2011

Philippe

King since 20136Prabh Simran Singh & Co.26-05-2014

The King of the Belgians

is the constitutional head of the Belgian state and holds office for life. The duties of the king are laid out by the Belgian Constitution and other laws enforced under it.

As titular head of state, the King plays a ceremonial and symbolic role in the nation. His main political function is to designate a political leader to form a new cabinet after an election or the resignation of a cabinet. In conditions where there is a "constructive vote of no-confidence," the government has to resign and the lower house of Parliament proposes a new Prime Minister to the King. The King is also seen as playing a symbolic unifying role, representing a common national Belgian identity.

Philippe succeeded his father Albert II on 21 July 2013 upon his abdication.

Federal government.

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In addition to three regions and three cultural communities, Belgium also is divided into 10 provinces and 589 municipalities.

The provincial governments are primarily administrative units and are politically weak. A governor appointed by the King presides over each province. Each governor is supported by an elected Provincial Council of 47 to 84 members (depending on the size of the province), which sits only 4 weeks a year.

Municipal governments, on the other hand, are vigorous political entities with significant powers and a history of independence dating from medieval times. Many national politicians originate from municipal political bases; and many often double as mayor or alderman in their hometowns in addition to their federal and regional political positions.

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The Federal State's authority includes justice, defence, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the Belgian Post Group and Belgian Railways. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs. The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income. The federal government employs around 12% of the civil servants.

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Belgium has three official languages, which are (in order

of size of the native speaking population of Belgium)

Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official

minority languages are spoken as well. As no census

exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the

distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages

or their dialects.

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According to international observers, human rights in Belgium are generally respected and the law and the judiciary provided effective means of addressing individual instances of abuse However, some concerns have been reported over the treatment of asylum seekers, prison overcrowding and the banning of full face veils. Capital punishment in Belgium is fully abolished and a prohibition on the death penalty included in the Belgian Constitution.

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The only power which is shared in Belgium is the legislative :

members of parliaments, federal and municipal assemblies are elected by direct elections. All status of govt . i.e State , Centre and Local Govt. Have equal rights.And indeed during the last election due to the number combination no party got enough votes to have an absolute majority and as nobody wants to give an inch to form a coalition government we have this ridiculous situation of a country without a government for more than a year.

Executive: prime minister and ministers are appointed by the king.Judicial: Justices, judges and prosecutors (procurer du roe) are appointed, not elected.

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Central StateCommunity

Govt.

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By:- Prabhsimran Singh , Chetanjeev Singh, Vikram S.Sharma, Dikshant , Agamveer Singh , Vineet , Ishaan B.

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