Belgium (the Kingdom of Belgium) is a country situated in Northwest Europe. Its area is 30,528 square km and it has population of about 10,500,000 inhabitants. Belgium borders France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The official languages are Dutch, French and German.

The capital and the largest city is Brussels, which is the administrative center of Europe. It is also considered as the actual capital of the European Union as it hosts its major institutions such as the Commission, Parliament and the Council. NATO headquarters is also located in Brussels.

Belgium is divided into three regions - the Flemish Region (Dutch-speaking) further subdivided into five provinces, the Walloon Region (mostly French-speaking) further subdivided into five provinces and the Brussels-Capital Region.

Geographically Belgium can be divided into three main regions - the coastal plain in the northwest, the central plateau (both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin) and the Ardennes uplands in the southeast. The Ardennes is connected to the Eifel in Germany by the High Fens plateau, westward they extends into France.

Although Belgium has no high mountains as the Austrian Alps, it can offer wide range of possibilities to enjoy winter sports including alpine skiing and snowboarding. Rather gentle slopes are good for beginners and family holidays. Besides, there one can have fun going into sledging, cross-country skiing, ice-skating or riding snowmobiles.

Photo: LDH-imagebank/flickr.com (under common licence)