Editing Belgium (section)

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Belgium}}
Belgium's strongly globalized economy<ref name="rlY6Y">Belgium ranked first in the KOF [[Globalization Index]] 2009{{cite web|url=http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/|title=KOF Index of Globalization|editor=ETH Zürich|editor-link=ETH Zürich|access-date=2 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531222435/http://globalization.kof.ethz.ch/|archive-date=31 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and its [[transport in Belgium|transport infrastructure]] are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007.<ref name="29KnH">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=Rank Order – Exports|work=CIA – The 2008 world factbook|quote=15[th]: Belgium $322,200,000,000 (2007 est.)|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081004073036/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook//rankorder/2078rank.html|archive-date= 4 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="6qStY">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2087rank.html|title=Rank Order – Imports|work=CIA – The 2008 world factbook|quote=15[th]: Belgium $323,200,000,000 (2007 est.)|access-date=5 October 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081004070323/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook//rankorder/2087rank.html|archive-date= 4 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high [[Gross national product|GNP]] and high exports per capita.<ref name="diplomatbe1">{{cite web|title=Belgian economy|work=Belgium|publisher=Belgian Federal Public Service (ministry) of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation|url=http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019|access-date=12 June 2009|quote=Belgium is the world leader in terms of export per capita and can justifiably call itself the 'world's largest exporter'.|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090615182722/http://www.diplomatie.be/en/belgium/belgiumdetail.asp?TEXTID=49019|archive-date= 15 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.<ref name="CIA">{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Belgium|date=23 September 2021|year=2021}}</ref>

The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind.<ref name="Fitzmaurice" /><ref name="SvlJ5">{{cite web|title=Wallonia in 'decline' thanks to politicians|publisher=Expatica Communications BV|date=9 March 2005|url=http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=17824|access-date=16 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103007/http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=17824|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|The richest (per capita income) of Belgium's three regions is the [[Flemish Region]], followed by the [[Walloon Region]] and lastly the [[Brussels-Capital Region]]. The ten municipalities with the highest reported income are: [[Laethem-Saint-Martin]], [[Keerbergen]], [[Lasne]], [[Oud-Heverlee]], [[Hove, Belgium|Hove]], [[De Pinte]], [[Meise]], [[Knokke-Heist]], [[Bierbeek]].{{cite web
|title    = Où habitent les Belges les plus riches?
|publisher  = trends.be
|year    = 2010
|url     = http://trends.rnews.be/fr/economie/actualite/politique-economique/ou-habitent-les-belges-les-plus-riches/article-1194966031033.htm
|access-date = 15 July 2011
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110827090211/http://trends.rnews.be/fr/economie/actualite/politique-economique/ou-habitent-les-belges-les-plus-riches/article-1194966031033.htm
|archive-date = 27 August 2011
|df     = dmy-all
}}}} One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an [[open economy]] and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the [[Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union]], Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.<ref name="PnEgr">{{cite web|url=http://www.mae.lu/fr/Site-MAE/Politique-etrangere-et-europeenne/Organisations-Economiques-Regionales/L-Union-economique-belgo-luxembourgeoise|title=L'Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise|publisher=Luxembourgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=15 June 2011|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930131538/http://www.mae.lu/fr/Site-MAE/Politique-etrangere-et-europeenne/Organisations-Economiques-Regionales/L-Union-economique-belgo-luxembourgeoise|archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Ougree 16.jpg|thumb|Steelmaking along the [[Meuse]] at [[Ougrée]], near [[Liège]]]]
Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the [[Industrial Revolution]], in the early 19th century.<ref name="erih">{{cite web|title=Industrial History Belgium|publisher=European Route of Industrial Heritage|url=http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=114|access-date=8 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731024244/http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=114|archive-date=31 July 2013}}</ref> Areas in [[Liège Province]] and around [[Charleroi]] rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the [[Sillon industriel|Sambre and Meuse valley]] and made Belgium one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910.<ref name="jwR7A">{{cite book|author=Rioux, Jean-Pierre|title=La révolution industrielle|language=fr|publisher=Seuil|location=Paris|year=1989|page=105|isbn=978-2-02-000651-4}}</ref><ref name="Q0dyY">{{cite web|url=http://www.erih.net/industrial-history/belgium.html|publisher=European route of industrial heritage|title=Industrial History, Belgium|access-date=15 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731104102/http://www.erih.net/industrial-history/belgium.html|archive-date=31 July 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced [[European Potato Failure|famine]] from 1846 to 1850.<ref name="WYx8x">{{cite conference|url = http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Vanhaute.pdf|title = The European subsistence crisis of 1845–1850: a comparative perspective|author1 = Vanhaute, Eric|author2 = Paping, Richard|author3 = Ó Gráda, Cormac|name-list-style = amp|year = 2006|conference = IEHC|location = Helsinki|access-date = 31 May 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111011200315/http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Vanhaute.pdf|archive-date = 11 October 2011|url-status=live|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Gynyt">{{cite book|last1=Vanhaute|first1=Eric|title=When the potato failed. Causes and effects of the 'last' European subsistance crisis, 1845–1850|chapter-format=PDF|access-date=31 May 2011|year=2007|publisher=Brepols|isbn=978-2-503-51985-2|pages=123–148|chapter='So worthy an example to Ireland'. The subsistance and industrial crisis of 1845–1850 in Flanders|chapter-url=http://biblio.ugent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&fileOId=919187&recordOId=359578|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722225255/http://biblio.ugent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&fileOId=919187&recordOId=359578|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

After World War II, [[Ghent]] and [[Antwerp]] experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and [[1979 oil crisis|1979 oil crises]] sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced a serious decline.<ref name="usdepartmentofstate1">{{cite web|title=Background Note: Belgium|publisher=[[US Department of State]], Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs|date=April 2007|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|access-date=8 May 2007|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121042120/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic center of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous [[Flemish Diamond]] area.<ref name="THRZa">{{cite web|title=Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief ''The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective''|language=nl|author=Vanhaverbeke, Wim|url=http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|publisher=Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, [[University of Maastricht]]|access-date=19 May 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314033239/http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|archive-date = 14 March 2007}}</ref>

By the end of the 1980s, Belgian [[macroeconomic policies]] had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. {{As of|2006}}, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP.<ref name="UwQoK">{{cite web|title=The World Factbook—(Rank Order—Public debt)|date=17 April 2007|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html|publisher=CIA|access-date=8 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613005546/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html|archive-date=13 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By {{Nowrap|October 2010}}, this had grown to 8.5% compared to an average rate of 9.6% for the European Union as a whole (EU 27).<ref name="nbb">{{cite web|title=Key figures|publisher=[[National Bank of Belgium]]|url=http://www.nbb.be/pub/00_00_00_00_02/?l=en&t=ho|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430165049/http://www.nbb.be/pub/00_00_00_00_02/?l=en&t=ho|archive-date=30 April 2007|access-date=19 May 2007}}</ref><ref name="jWtuA">{{cite web|title=EurActiv|url=http://www.euractiv.com/en/regional-policy/belgium-makes-place-urban-enterprises-news-500878|work=Belgium makes place for urban enterprises|publisher=EurActiv|access-date=19 March 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110430045610/http://www.euractiv.com/en/regional-policy/belgium-makes-place-urban-enterprises-news-500878|archive-date= 30 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the [[Belgian franc]]. Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999. The standard [[Belgian euro coins]] designated for circulation show the portrait of the monarch (first King Albert&nbsp;II, since 2013 King Philippe).

Despite an 18% decrease observed from 1970 to 1999, Belgium still had in 1999 the highest [[Rail transport in Belgium|rail network]] density within the European Union with 113.8&nbsp;km/1 000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. On the other hand, the same period, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the [[List of motorways in Belgium|motorway network]]. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and 1000 inhabitants amounted to 55.1 and 16.5 respectively and were significantly superior to the EU's means of 13.7 and 15.9.<ref name="panorama">{{cite book|title=Panorama of Transport|publisher=Office for Official Publications of the European Communities|year=2003|isbn=978-92-894-4845-1|url=http://www.uni-mannheim.de/edz/pdf/eurostat/02/KS-DA-02-001-EN-N-EN.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807053511/http://www.uni-mannheim.de/edz/pdf/eurostat/02/KS-DA-02-001-EN-N-EN.pdf|archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Port cranes at Zeebrügge, Belgium 2.JPG|thumb|[[Port of Zeebrugge]]]]

From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's [[biocapacity]] adds up to only 0.8 global hectares in 2016,<ref name="footprintdata">{{cite web|url=http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=255&type=BCpc,EFCpc|title=Country Trends|publisher=Global Footprint Network|access-date=15 November 2019|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808050235/http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=255&type=BCpc,EFCpc|url-status=live}}</ref> just about half of the 1.6 global hectares of biocapacity available per person worldwide.<ref name="TcuGH">{{Cite journal|last1=Lin|first1=David|last2=Hanscom|first2=Laurel|last3=Murthy|first3=Adeline|last4=Galli|first4=Alessandro|last5=Evans|first5=Mikel|last6=Neill|first6=Evan|last7=Mancini|first7=Maria Serena|last8=Martindill|first8=Jon|last9=Medouar|first9=Fatime-Zahra|last10=Huang|first10=Shiyu|last11=Wackernagel|first11=Mathis|date=2018|title=Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018|journal=Resources|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|page=58|doi=10.3390/resources7030058|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Resou...7...58L }}</ref> In contrast, in 2016, Belgians used on average 6.3 global hectares of biocapacity - their [[ecological footprint]] of consumption. This means they required about eight times as much biocapacity as Belgium contains. As a result, Belgium was running a biocapacity deficit of 5.5 global hectares per person in 2016.<ref name="footprintdata" />

Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe. In 2010, commuters to the cities of Brussels and Antwerp spent respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams.<ref name="wxOHJ">{{cite web|work=The Wall Street Journal|author=Fidler, Stephen|date=3 November 2010|access-date=21 June 2011|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/11/03/europes-traffic-jam-capitals/|title=Europe's Top Traffic Jam Capitals|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119085745/http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/11/03/europes-traffic-jam-capitals/|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Like in most small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is handled by a single airport, the [[Brussels Airport]]. The [[port of Antwerp|ports of Antwerp]] and [[port of Zeebrugge|Zeebrugge (Bruges)]] share more than 80% of Belgian maritime traffic, Antwerp being the second European harbor with a gross weight of goods handled of 115 988 000 t in 2000 after a growth of 10.9% over the preceding five years.<ref name="panorama" /><ref name="xrHdp">Another comparative study on transportation in Belgium: {{cite book|title=OECD environmental performance reviews: Belgium|publisher=OECD|year=2007|isbn=978-92-64-03111-1}}</ref> In 2016, the port of Antwerp handled 214&nbsp;million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%.<ref name="IokZW">{{cite web|url=http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/news/port-antwerp-finishes-2016-growth-27-definitive-figure|title=Double record for freight volume|work=port of Antwerp|access-date=23 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223213915/http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/news/port-antwerp-finishes-2016-growth-27-definitive-figure|archive-date=23 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

There is a large economic gap between [[Flanders]] and [[Wallonia]]. Wallonia was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its [[heavy industry|heavy industries]], but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II led to the region's rapid decline, whereas Flanders rose swiftly. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide. [[Flemish Movement|Pro-independence movements]] have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The separatist [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA) party, for instance, is the largest party in Belgium.<ref name="Crisis">{{cite web|title=The Belgian Crisis|url=https://sites.google.com/site/thebelgiancrisis/the-crisis|access-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911185958/https://sites.google.com/site/thebelgiancrisis/the-crisis|archive-date=11 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Divided">{{cite news|title=Belgium: A nation divided|work=Independent|author=John Lichfield|year=2007|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-a-nation-divided-765752.html|access-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531090436/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-a-nation-divided-765752.html|archive-date=31 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Belgium: A History|author=Cook, B.A.|date=2002|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-5824-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9gGAU3InGUC&pg=PA139|page=139|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143714/https://books.google.com/books?id=p9gGAU3InGUC&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{further|Science and technology in Brussels|Science and technology in Flanders|Science and technology in Wallonia}}
[[File:mercator.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gerardus Mercator]]]]

Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century [[Early Modern]] flourishing of Western Europe included [[cartography|cartographer]] [[Gerardus Mercator]], [[anatomy|anatomist]] [[Andreas Vesalius]], [[herbalist]] [[Rembert Dodoens]]<ref name="dQGxf">{{cite web|title=Rembert Dodoens: iets over zijn leven en werk—Dodoens' werken|date=20 December 2005|work=Plantaardigheden—Project Rembert Dodoens (Rembertus Dodonaeus)|language=nl|quote=het Cruijdeboeck, dat in 1554 verscheen. Dit meesterwerk was na de bijbel in die tijd het meest vertaalde boek. Het werd gedurende meer dan een eeuw steeds weer heruitgegeven en gedurende meer dan twee eeuwen was het het meest gebruikte handboek over kruiden in West-Europa. Het is een werk van wereldfaam en grote wetenschappelijke waarde. De nieuwe gedachten die Dodoens erin neerlegde, werden de bouwstenen voor de botanici en medici van latere generaties. ''(...&nbsp;the Cruijdeboeck, published in 1554. This masterpiece was, after the Bible, the most translated book in that time. It continued to be republished for more than a century and for more than two centuries it was the mostly used referential about herbs. It is a work with world fame and great scientific value. The new thoughts written down by Dodoens, became the building bricks for botanists and physicians of later generations.)''|publisher=Stichting Kruidenhoeve/Plantaardigheden|location=Balkbrug|url=http://plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm#dodoens|access-date=17 May 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070610070835/http://www.plantaardigheden.nl/dodoens/over_dodoens/leven_en_werk.htm|archive-date= 10 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="kXPyM">{{cite web|title=Simon Stevin|last1=O'Connor|first1=J. J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E. F.|website=MacTutor History of Mathematics|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland|year=2004|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|quote=Although he did not invent decimals (they had been used by the Arabs and the Chinese long before Stevin's time) he did introduce their use in mathematics in Europe.|access-date=11 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609192011/http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Stevin.html|archive-date=9 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hV1er">{{cite journal|title=Abstract (*)|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–289|quote=The importance of A. Vesalius' publication'' 'de humani corporis fabrica libri septem' ''cannot be overestimated.|doi=10.1159/000013462|pmid=10213829|year=1999|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|doi-access=free}} (*) Free abstract for pay-per-view article by{{cite journal|title=The Low Countries – 16th/17th century|last1=De Broe|first1=Marc E.|last2=De Weerdt|first2=Dirk L.|last3=Ysebaert|first3=Dirk K.|last4=Vercauteren|first4=Sven R.|last5=De Greef|first5=Kathleen E.|last6=De Broe|first6=Luc C.|journal=American Journal of Nephrology|year=1999|volume=19|issue=2|pages=282–9|pmid=10213829|doi=10.1159/000013462|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="vjZwZ">{{cite web|title='A Day Without Yesterday': Georges Lemaitre & the Big Bang|date=24 March 2000|pages=18–19|author=Midbon, Mark|publisher=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]], republished: Catholic Education Resource Center (CERC)|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|access-date=7 June 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070706021420/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0022.html|archive-date= 6 July 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[mathematician]] [[Simon Stevin]] among the most influential scientists.<ref name="jnhYL">{{cite book|title=The Fair Face of Flanders|author=Carson, Patricia|page=136|isbn=978-90-209-4385-6|publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij|year=1969}}</ref>

Chemist [[Ernest Solvay]]<ref name="zHHZT">{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=1135|author=Day, Lance|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}}</ref> and engineer [[Zenobe Gramme]] (École industrielle de Liège)<ref name="ec0kr">{{cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424/page/523 523]|author=Woodward, Gordon|editor1=Lance Day|editor2=Ian McNeil|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-02829-2}}</ref> gave their names to the [[Solvay process]] and the [[Gramme dynamo]], respectively, in the 1860s. [[Bakelite]] was developed in 1907–1909 by [[Leo Baekeland]]. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the [[Solvay Institute of Sociology]], the [[Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management]] and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the [[Université libre de Bruxelles]]. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the [[Solvay Conference]]s on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry.<ref name="VJ9RO">{{cite book|title=Cultures of Creativity: the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize|author=Larsson, Ulf|page=211|isbn=978-0-88135-288-7|publisher=Science History Publications|year=2001}}</ref> A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian, [[Monsignor]] [[Georges Lemaître]] ([[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Louvain]]), who is credited with proposing the [[Big Bang]] theory of the origin of the universe in 1927.<ref name="Eq42c">{{cite web|title=Georges Lemaître, Father of the Big Bang|url=http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]]|year=2000|access-date=9 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117044852/http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

Three [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine]] were awarded to Belgians: [[Jules Bordet]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, [[Corneille Heymans]] ([[University of Ghent]]) in 1938 and [[Albert Claude]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) together with [[Christian de Duve]] ([[Université catholique de Louvain]]) in 1974. [[François Englert]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 2013. [[Ilya Prigogine]] (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1977.<ref name="dXPik">{{cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|publisher=Nobelprize.org|access-date=9 December 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101203102528/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1977/|archive-date= 3 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the [[Fields Medal]]: [[Pierre Deligne]] in 1978 and [[Jean Bourgain]] in 1994.<ref name="AdIxU">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Deligne|title=Pierre Deligne}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011)</ref><ref name="zjTQ6">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Bourgain|title=Jean Bourgain}} (Retrieved 10 November 2011)</ref> Belgium was ranked 24th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}}</ref>