Editing Belgian Blue (section)

== History ==
The breed originated in central and upper [[Belgium]] in the 19th century, from crossing local breeds with a [[Shorthorn cattle|Shorthorn]] breed of cattle from the United Kingdom.{{r|norm|page=256}}  [[Charolais cattle]] possibly were cross-bred, as well.{{r|norm|page=256}} Belgian Blue cattle were first used as a [[Dairy cattle|dairy]] and [[beef]] breed. The modern beef breed was developed in the 1950s by Professor Hanset, working at an [[artificial insemination]] centre in [[Liège Province]]. The breed's characteristic gene mutation was maintained through [[Linebreeding#Domestic animals|linebreeding]] to the point where the condition was a fixed property in the Belgian Blue breed.<ref name=Kambadur /> In 1978, Belgian Blue cattle were introduced to the United States by Nick Tutt, a farmer from central Canada who emigrated to [[West Texas]] and showed the cattle to universities in the region.{{Clarify|date=July 2015}}

The Belgian Blue has been exported to many parts of the world; it is reported to [[DAD-IS]] by twenty-four countries, in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Of these, ten report population data; in 2022 the worldwide population was estimated to be {{val|107875}}.{{r|dad2}}