City of Brussels

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region (from which it is separate) and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

City of Brussels Ville de Bruxelles / Bruxelles-Ville (French) Stad Brussel / Brussel-Stad (Dutch)
City and municipality
Panorama of the city centre from the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg
Flag Coat of arms
Location of City of Brussels
City of Brussels Location in Belgium The City of Brussels within Brussels-Capital Region
Coordinates: 50°50′48″N 04°21′09″E / 50.84667°N 4.35250°E / 50.84667; 4.35250
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community French Community
Region	Brussels-Capital
Arrondissement	Brussels-Capital
Government
• Mayor (list)	Philippe Close (PS)
• Governing party/ies	PS - Ecolo / Groen, DéFI - Forward
Area
• Total	33.09 km^2 (12.78 sq mi)
Population  (2022-01-01)
• Total	188,737
• Density	5,700/km^2 (15,000/sq mi)
Postal codes	1000, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1050, 1120, 1130
NIS code	21004
Area codes	02
Website	www.brussels.be

Besides the central historic town located within the Pentagon, the City of Brussels covers some of the city's immediate outskirts within the greater Brussels-Capital Region, namely the former municipalities of Haren, Laeken, and Neder-Over-Heembeek to the north, as well as the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan and the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos park to the south-east, where it borders municipalities in Flanders.

As of 1 January 2024^[update], the City of Brussels had a population of 196,828 inhabitants. The total area is 33.09 km² (12.78 sq mi), which gives a population density of 5,949/km² (15,410/sq mi). As of 2023^[update], there were 75,998 registered non-Belgians in the City. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch).

Territorial history

Historically, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). As the city grew, so did the surrounding villages, eventually forming a contiguous city, though the local governments retained control of their respective areas.

Engraving of Brussels from c. 1610

At the country's independence in 1830, the new members of the Belgian upper class hoped to create a new prestigious residential area in the capital. An official plan for the Leopold Quarter was drawn up in 1838, marking the first major extension of the City of Brussels in its eastern part, following the transfer of a large area of the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. The area was designed to emanate from Brussels Park (located in front of the Royal Palace), and was laid out on a grid in a traditional classical pattern centred around the Square Frère Orban/Frère-Orbansquare.

Shortly afterwards, in 1844, the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan was proposed as a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access from Brussels' city centre to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the towns of Saint-Gilles and Ixelles—then, as now, separate municipalities (local authorities) from the City of Brussels—through whose territories the avenue was to run. After years of fruitless negotiations, the City of Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue, in addition to the Bois de la Cambre itself, in April 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for the separation of Ixelles into two separate areas.

To the east, in 1853, following the bankruptcy of Saint-Josse's municipal administration, the City of Brussels purchased half of this municipality. Nowadays, this is the Squares Quarter, the only part of the Brussels municipality to have the same postal code (1040) as the municipality of Etterbeek. Further east, in 1880, a former military exercise ground and the surrounding land, also located in Etterbeek, were attached to the City to create the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark, an exhibition space commemorating the 50th anniversary of independence. A leisure park and museums were subsequently set up there.

Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones now located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964, 1970, and 1975. However, a few neighbouring municipalities have been merged into the City of Brussels, including Haren, Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek in 1921. These comprise the northern bulge in the municipality. To the south-east is the above-mentioned strip of land along the Avenue Louise that was annexed from Saint-Gilles and Ixelles. Part of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)'s Solbosch campus is also part of the City of Brussels, partially accounting for the bulge in the south-eastern end.

Demographics

Historical population

As of 1 January 2024^[update], the City of Brussels' population was 196,828 inhabitants. The area is 33.09 km² (12.78 sq mi), making the density 5,949/km² (15,410/sq mi).

Taking into account the current municipality, including the former municipalities annexed in 1921 (Haren, Laeken and Neder-over-Heembeek) from 1831:

• Sources: INS: 1806 to 1981 = census; 1990 and later = population on 1 January

Foreign population

The City of Brussels has a large immigrant population, with both the EU and non-European migrant communities outnumbering the native Belgians. Akin to neighbouring Ixelles, Etterbeek and Schaerbeek, the City of Brussels also has a large Muslim population, mainly of North African origin.

As of 2023^[update], taking into account the nationality of birth of the parents, 55.84% of the City of Brussels's population is of non-European origin (predominantly Moroccan, Indian and Congolese), 27.21% is of European origin other than Belgian (mainly French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, and Polish), while 16.94% is solely of native Belgian ancestry. Among all major migrant groups from outside the EU, a majority of the permanent residents have acquired Belgian nationality.

Migrant communities in the City of Brussels with over 1,000 people as of 1 January 2020:

France	9,049
Morocco	7,431
Romania	7,057
Italy	5,175
Spain	4,690
Poland	2,777
Portugal	1,832
Greece	1,758
Netherlands	1,704
India	1,591
Bulgaria	1,573
Germany	1,565
DR Congo	1,511
Turkey	1,389
Guinea	1,309
United Kingdom	1,177

Group of origin	Year
	2023
	Number	%
Belgians with Belgian background	32,916	16.94%
Belgians with foreign background	85,377	43.94%
Neighbouring country	4,194	2.16%
EU27 (excluding neighbouring country)	6,629	3.41%
Outside EU 27	74,554	38.37%
Non-Belgians	75,998	39.12%
Neighbouring country	13,512	6.95%
EU27 (excluding neighbouring country)	28,534	14.69%
Outside EU 27	33,952	17.47%
Total	194,291	100%

Politics

As in every other Belgian municipality, the City of Brussels is headed by a mayor, who should not be confused with the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region or the Governor of Brussels-Capital. The current city council was elected in the October 2018 elections. The current mayor of the City of Brussels is Philippe Close, a member of PS, who is in coalition on the municipal council with Ecolo - Groen, DéFI and Forward.

City of Brussels local election – 14 October 2018

Party
		Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Elected 2018	Change
	PS	19,997	28.38	0.74	17 / 49 (35%)	1
	Ecolo - Groen	11,847	16.81	4.42	9 / 49 (18%)	2
	MR - Open Vld	9,772	13.87	4.02	7 / 49 (14%)	3
	PVDA-PTB	8,159	11.58	10.02	6 / 49 (12%)	6
	cdH - CD&V	6,543	9.29	8.72	5 / 49 (10%)	5
	DéFI	5,317	7.55	0.08	3 / 49 (6%)
	N-VA	2,606	3.70	0.64	1 / 49 (2%)
	Vooruit (Change Brussels)	2,269	3.22	New	1 / 49 (2%)	1
	Vlaams Belang	1,138	1.61	0.59	0 / 49 (0%)	-
	ISLAM (political party)	1,125	1.60	1.30	0 / 49 (0%)	-
	Others	1,694	2.40	1.56	0 / 49 (0%)	-

Environmental policy

Brussels is ranked sixth in the index of cities which are becoming greener fastest as for the year 2022, even though in the past it had a reputation of a "traffic-choked city of high rises and concrete". The authorities released a plan composed of seven steps on how to make the city even more sustainable. Those include introducing "a use-based, circular and low-carbon economy" and making the city "proactive". The city should become a "10-minute city" meaning "making the facilities essential to urban life accessible to every inhabitant in less than 10 minutes". Green spaces should be expanded. The plan includes participation of the population in decision-making and high life level for all.

Culture

Museums

There are many museums in and around Brussels' city centre. On the first Sunday of every month, free entry is granted to many of Brussels' museums.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of museums in the City of Brussels:

• Royal Museums of Art and History :
  • Art & History Museum
  • Horta-Lambeaux Pavilion
  • Halle Gate
  • Museums of the Far East
  • Musical Instruments Museum
• Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium :
  • Oldmasters Museum
  • Magritte Museum
  • Fin-de-Siècle Museum
  • Wiertz Museum
• Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History

Food

Brussels is well known for its food. Brussels sprouts were named after the city. Like most of Belgium, moules-frites, waffles (gaufres), chocolate, French fries, and beer are common there. It is home to one 2-starred and four 1-starred Michelin restaurants.

Honorary citizens

Among the recipients of the honorary citizenship of the City of Brussels are:

Date	Name	Notes
29 June 1945	Dwight D. Eisenhower
12 September 1945	Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
11 October 1945	Charles de Gaulle
16 October 1945	Sir Winston Churchill
16 April 1946	Sir Arthur Coningham
26 May 1982	Simone Veil
5 October 1984	Maurice Béjart
24 April 1985	Gaston Thorn
20 December 2001	José Géal
8 September 2004	Annie Cordy
18 May 2005	José Van Dam
22 June 2005	Marc Sleen
23 September 2005	Alberto Uderzo
24 November 2005
20 December 2005	Dick Annegarn
4 Februari 2006		President of the Order of the Friends of Manneken Pis
22 March 2006	Marcel Hastir
12 June 2006	Henri Vernes
24 June 2006	Bernard Foccroulle
19 October 2006		Compagnon de Saint-Laurent
14 November 2006		President of Miss Belgium
5 May 2007		Manager of the Cirque Royal
7 May 2007		Press officer of the Cirque Royal
17 April 2008	Expo 58 hostesses
12 October 2009	William Vance
24 February 2010	David Susskind (1925–2011)	Belgian Jewish Leader and Peace Activist.
12 May 2011	Stéphane Hessel
22 November 2011	Jean Van Hamme
25 September 2013	Agnès Varda
29 March 2014		Professor and managing director of the
30 October 2015	Grand Jojo	Also known as Lange Jojo
25 March 2016		Puppet from the Royal Theatre Toone
22 September 2017	Arno
27 September 2018	Diane von Fürstenberg

Symbols

Heraldry

Coat of arms of City of Brussels

Coronet A Belgian Count's coronet Escutcheon Gules Saint Michael Or, slaying the Devil Sable Supporters Two lions rampant Or armed and langued Gules each holding a banner: dexter, the arms of the Duchy of Brabant, also those of Belgium, sinister, the arms of the city Compartment A mount vert Symbolism Saint Michael is the patron saint of the city. See: Saint Michael slaying the Devil Previous versions See below

Previous versions
	The Original arms were plain Gules. From the 16th century on, it was customary to put the figure of the city seal representing Saint Michael, first as a shadow then in a more elaborate form. Note: many of the arms of the Seven Noble Houses of Brussels were variants of these arms.
	1730 arms
	Napoleonic arms

Vexillology

Flag of the City of Brussels
	Description: Green and red with at its centre Saint Michael slaying the dragon (Devil). Symbolism: Saint Michael is the patron saint of the city. See: Saint Michael slaying the Devil

See also

• Belgium portal

• Transport in Brussels
• Timeline of Brussels
• Bourgeois of Brussels
• Seven Noble Houses of Brussels
• Guilds of Brussels

References

Footnotes

1. French: Ville de Bruxelles [vil də bʁysɛl] or alternatively Bruxelles-Ville [bʁysɛl vil]; Dutch: Stad Brussel [stɑd ˈbrʏsəl] or Brussel-Stad [ˌbrʏsəl ˈstɑt]
2. The Brussels-Capital Region is usually simply referred to as Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] or [bʁyksɛl] ; Dutch: Brussel [ˈbrʏsəl] ).
3. Brussels is not formally declared capital of the EU, though its position is spelled out in the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Citations

1. "Bevolking per gemeente op 1 januari 2022". Statbel.
2. The Belgian Constitution (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: Belgian House of Representatives. May 2014. p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
3. Demey 2007.
4. "Protocol (No 6) on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies, offices, agencies and departments of the European Union, Consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, OJ C 83, 30.3.2010, p. 265–265". EUR-Lex. 30 March 2010. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
5. "Ville de Bruxelles | IBSA". ibsa.brussels. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
6. "Immigration Office | IBZ".
7. Mierop 1997, p. 2, 6.
8. Douillet & Schaack 2005–2006, p. 3.
9. "Avenue Louise – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural". monument.heritage.brussels (in French). Retrieved 9 September 2024.
10. Mierop 1997, p. 3.
11. Mierop 1997, p. 7.
12. Douillet & Schaack 2005–2006, p. 8.
13. Picavet, Georges (29 April 2003). "Municipalities (1795-now)". Georges Picavet. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
14. "Brussels Capital-Region". Georges Picavet. 4 June 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
15. "Origin | Statbel". statbel.fgov.be. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
16. "2.738.486 inwoners van vreemde afkomst in België op 01/01/2012" [2,738,486 inhabitants of foreign origin in Belgium on 01/01/2012]. Npdata.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
17. "Nationalités | IBSA". ibsa.brussels. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
18. Statistics foreign population in Belgium by municipality (in French and Dutch only)
19. "Origin | Statbel". statbel.fgov.be. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
20. "Résultats officiels des élections communales 2018" (in French). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
21. "PS, Ecolo-Groen et sp.a ouvrent la majorité à Défi à la Ville de Bruxelles" (in French). 20 October 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
22. Ann Hughes, Rebecca (22 December 2023). "10-minute city: How Brussels plans to become a pedestrian-friendly green hub". Euronews. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
23. "Real Food Encyclopedia | Brussels Sprouts". FoodPrint. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
24. 2venturists (10 June 2018). "What to Eat in Brussels Belgium". Venturists. Retrieved 8 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
25. "Brussels 2 Stars MICHELIN MICHELIN Restaurants – the MICHELIN Guide Belgium". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
26. "Ereburgers". opendata.brussel.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 May 2022.
27. "City of Brussels". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
28. "World Jewish Congress".
29. Netherlandish sculpture 1450-1550 by Paul Williamson 2002 ISBN 0-8109-6602-6 page 42
30. Guillaume Des Marez, "L'origine des armoiries de Bruxelles. Première phase: De gueules plain", in: Études inédites, Brussels, 1936, p. 111–113.
31. Louis Robyns de Schneidauer, La couronne comtale de la ville de Bruxelles, in Le Parchemin, Gendbrugge-lez-Gand, 1939 (March–April).
32. (en)Brussels[archive], on the Heraldry of the World website.
33. Netherlandish sculpture 1450-1550 by Paul Williamson 2002 ISBN 0-8109-6602-6 page 42

Bibliography

• Demey, Thierry (2007). Brussels, capital of Europe. S. Strange (trans.). Brussels: Badeaux. ISBN 978-2-9600414-6-0.
• Douillet, Isabelle; Schaack, Cécile (2005–2006). L'avenue Louise et les rues adjacentes (PDF). Inventaire du Patrimoine architectural, Bruxelles-Extensions Sud (in French). Brussels: P. Crahay.
• Eggericx, Laure (1997). Les Boulevards du Centre. Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire (in French). Vol. 20. Brussels: Centre d'information, de Documentation et d'Etude du Patrimoine.
• Mierop, Caroline (1997). L'avenue Louise. Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire (in French). Vol. 19. Brussels: Centre d'information, de Documentation et d'Etude du Patrimoine.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brussels (municipality).

• Official website (in French, Dutch, and English)
• Official tourism website (in French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese)
• Webcam Grand-Place Brussels
• Interactive map