Editing Belgium (section)

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Demographics of Belgium|Belgians}}
[[File:Population density in Belgium.png|350px|thumb|Population density in Belgium by [[Arrondissements of Belgium|arrondissement]]]]

[[File:00 Bruxelles - Mont des Arts.jpg|thumb|Brussels, the capital city and largest metropolitan area of Belgium]]

As of 1 January 2024, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,763,650.<ref name=population/> The population density of Belgium is {{convert|383|/km2|abbr=on}} as of January 2024, making it the [[List of countries and dependencies by population density|22nd most densely populated]] country in the world, and the [[Area and population of European countries|6th most densely populated]] country in [[Europe]]. The most densely populated province is [[Antwerp province|Antwerp]], the least densely populated province is [[Luxembourg (Belgium)|Luxembourg]]. As of January 2024, the [[Flemish Region]] (Flanders) had a population of 6,821,770 (58.0% of Belgium), its most populous cities being [[Antwerp]] (545,000), [[Ghent]] (270,000), and [[Bruges]] (120,000). The [[Walloon Region]] (Wallonia) had a population of 3,692,283 (31.4% of Belgium), its most populous cities being [[Charleroi]] (204,000), [[Liège]] (196,000), and [[Namur]] (114,000). The [[Brussels-Capital Region]] (Brussels) had a population of 1,249,597 (10.6% of Belgium), existing of [[List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region|19 municipalities]], its most populous cities being the [[City of Brussels]] (197,000), [[Schaerbeek]] (130,000), and [[Anderlecht]] (127,000).<ref name=population/>

In 2017 the average [[total fertility rate]] (TFR) across Belgium was 1.64 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1; it remains considerably below the high of 4.87 children born per woman in 1873.<ref name="zNyvS">{{citation|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=BEL|title=Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last two centuries|author=Max Roser|date=2014|work=[[Our World In Data]], [[Gapminder Foundation]]|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811110505/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=BEL|url-status=live}}</ref> Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years.<ref name="r40EE">{{citation|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/|title=World Factbook Europe: Belgium|work=[[The World Factbook]]|date=3 February 2021|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109104644/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belgium/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Migration ===
{{As of|2007}}, nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship,<ref name="HhLsk">This number evolved to 89% in 2011. {{cite web|title=Population par sexe et nationalité pour la Belgique et les régions, 2001 et 2011|language=fr|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/natact/beletr/|author=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=31 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031222719/http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/natact/beletr/|archive-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970), [[Morocco|Moroccan]] (80,579), [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] (43,509), Spanish (42,765), [[Turkish people|Turkish]] (39,419) and German (37,621).<ref name="uWPjZ">{{cite web|title=European Migration Network—Annual Statistical Report on migration and asylum in Belgium (Reference year 2003)—section A. 1) b) Population by citizenship & c) Third country nationals, 1&nbsp;January 2004|date=April 2006|author=Perrin, Nicolas|others=Study Group of Applied Demographics (Gédap)|pages= 5–9|publisher=Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Interior—Immigration Office|url=http://www.dofi.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/belgian%20migration%20point/punt%208%20Belgian%20Statistical%20Report%20on%20Asylum%20and%20Migration%202003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025224/http://www.dofi.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/belgian%20migration%20point/punt%208%20Belgian%20Statistical%20Report%20on%20Asylum%20and%20Migration%202003.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref><ref name="O7sup">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021008133014/http://ecodata.mineco.fgov.be/mdn/Vreemde_bevolking.jsp De vreemde bevolking]. ecodata.mineco.fgov.be</ref> In 2007, there were 1.38&nbsp;million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. Of these, 685,000 (6.4%) were born outside the EU, and 695,000 (6.5%) were born in another EU Member State.<ref name="7g7jl">[http://www.emploi.belgique.be/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28772 L'immigration en Belgique. Effectifs, mouvements et marche du travail] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331120203/http://www.emploi.belgique.be/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=28772|date=31 March 2012}}. Rapport 2009. Direction générale Emploi et marché du travai</ref><ref name="f3GT2">{{cite web|title=Structure de la population selon le pays de naissance|language=fr|url=http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/paysnaiss/|author=Belgian Federal Government|access-date=31 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825030522/http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/structure/paysnaiss/|archive-date=25 August 2012}}</ref>

At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8&nbsp;million ''new Belgians''.<ref name="npdata.be">[http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm BuG 155 – Bericht uit het Gewisse – 01 januari 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120908042303/http://www.npdata.be/BuG/155-Vreemde-afkomst/Vreemde-afkomst.htm|date=8 September 2012}}. npdata.be (1 January 2012).</ref> Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000<ref name="npdata">[http://www.npdata.be/BuG/159-Verkiezingen-2012/Verkiezingen-2012.htm BuG 159 – Bericht uit het Gewisse – 7 mei 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126102459/http://www.npdata.be/BuG/159-Verkiezingen-2012/Verkiezingen-2012.htm|date=26 January 2013}}. npdata.be (7 May 2012).</ref> are from non-Western countries (most of them from [[Morocco]], [[Turkey]], and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]]). Since the modification of the [[Belgian nationality law]] in 1984, more than [[Demographics of Belgium|1.3&nbsp;million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship]]. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are [[Italian Belgians]] and [[Moroccans in Belgium|Moroccan Belgians]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inca-cgil.be/informazioni-sul-belgio/|title=Informazioni sul Belgio - Sede INCA-CGIL in Belgio|access-date=18 March 2023|language=it|archive-date=27 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127034148/http://www.inca-cgil.be/informazioni-sul-belgio/|url-status=live}}</ref> 89.2% of inhabitants of [[Turkish people|Turkish]] origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people.<ref name="npdata" />

[[Statistics Belgium|Statbel]] released figures of the Belgian population in relation to the origin of people in Belgium. According to the data, as of 1 January 2021, 67.3% of the Belgian population was of ethnic Belgian origin, and 32.7% were of foreign origin or nationality, with 20.3% of those of a foreign nationality or ethnic group originating from neighbouring countries. The study also found that 74.5% of the [[Brussels|Brussels-Capital Region]] were of non-Belgian origin, of which 13.8% originated from neighbouring countries.<ref name="Demographics2020">{{cite web|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/population/origin|title=Diversity according to origin in Belgium|date=16 June 2021|work=Statbel.fgov.be|access-date=18 May 2024|archive-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218104221/https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/population/origin|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Largest cities
|country      = Belgium
|stat_ref     = Numbers according to the Belgium's National Register,<ref>{{cite web|title=Statistiques de population: Chiffres de population au 1er janvier 2023|url=https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/population/statistiques-de-population/|publisher=Belgium's National Register|language=fr|access-date=2023-02-13|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20231129195331/https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/population/statistiques-de-population/|url-status=live}}</ref> (1 January 2023)
|list_by_pop  = 
|div_name     = 
|div_link     = Regions of Belgium{{!}}Region

|city_1 = Antwerp
|div_1 = Flanders
|pop_1 = 536,079
|img_1 =  Stadsgezicht van Antwerpen vanaf het MAS 30-05-2012 15-29-35.jpg

|city_2 = Ghent
|div_2 = Flanders
|pop_2 = 267,709
|img_2 = Gent vanuit Meestentoren1.JPG

|city_3 = Charleroi
|div_3 = Wallonia
|pop_3 = 203,245
|img_3 = Charleroi - place Charles II.jpg

|city_4 = Liège
|div_4 = Wallonia
|pop_4 = 194,877
|img_4 = Liege View 03.jpg

|city_5 = City of Brussels
|div_5 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_5 = 192,950

|city_6 = Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek
|div_6 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_6 = 130,422

|city_7 = Anderlecht
|div_7 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_7 = 124,353

|city_8 = Bruges
|div_8 = Flanders
|pop_8 = 119,445

|city_9 = Namur
|div_9 = Wallonia
|pop_9 = 113,174

|city_10 = Leuven
|div_10 = Flanders
|pop_10 = 102,851

|city_11 = Molenbeek-Saint-Jean{{!}}Molenbeek-Saint-Jean/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
|div_11 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_11 = 97,610

|city_12 = Mons, Belgium{{!}}Mons
|div_12 = Wallonia
|pop_12 = 96,055

|city_13 = Aalst, Belgium{{!}}Aalst
|div_13 = Flanders
|pop_13 = 89,915

|city_14 = Mechelen
|div_14 = Flanders
|pop_14 = 88,463

|city_15 = Ixelles/Elsene
|div_15 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_15 = 88,081

|city_16 = Uccle/Ukkel
|div_16 = Brussels-Capital Region{{!}}Brussels
|pop_16 = 85,706

|city_17 = La Louvière
|div_17 = Wallonia
|pop_17 = 81,293

|city_18 = Sint-Niklaas
|div_18 = Flanders
|pop_18 = 81,066

|city_19 = Hasselt
|div_19 = Flanders
|pop_19 = 80,299

|city_20 = Kortrijk
|div_20 = Flanders
|pop_20 = 78,841

}}

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Languages of Belgium}}
{{bar box
|float = right
|title = Estimated distribution of primary languages in Belgium
|bars =
{{bar percent|[[Dutch language|Dutch]]|DarkSlateGray|59}}
{{bar percent|[[French language|French]]|DarkSlateGray|40}}
{{bar percent|[[German language|German]]|DarkSlateGray|1}}
}}
[[File:Brussels signs.jpg|thumb|[[Bilingual]] signs in Brussels]]
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well.<ref name="Ethnologue-16thEd">{{cite book|chapter=Languages of Belgium|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=sixteenth|editor=Lewis, M. Paul|publisher=[[SIL International]]|location=Dallas, Texas, U.S.|year=2009|pages=1,248|isbn=978-1-55671-216-6|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|access-date=27 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429095334/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their [[dialect]]s.<ref name="gkqeP">{{cite news|title=Surviving in Babel? Language rights and European integration|journal=Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets|volume=1|author=de Witte, Bruno|editor=Rainey, Anson F.|publisher=Brill|year=1996|isbn=978-90-04-10521-8|page=122}}</ref> However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. An estimated 60% of the Belgian population are native speakers of Dutch (often referred to as [[Flemish people|Flemish]]), and 40% of the population speaks French natively. French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons.{{efn|Native speakers of Dutch living in Wallonia and of French in Flanders are relatively small minorities that furthermore largely balance one another, hence attributing all inhabitants of each unilingual area to the area's language can cause only insignificant inaccuracies (99% can speak the language). Dutch: Flanders' 6.079&nbsp;million inhabitants and about 15% of Brussels' 1.019&nbsp;million are 6.23&nbsp;million or 59.3% of the 10.511&nbsp;million inhabitants of Belgium (2006); German: 70,400 in the German-speaking Community (which has [[Municipalities with language facilities|language facilities]] for its less than 5% French-speakers) and an estimated 20,000–25,000 speakers of German in the Walloon Region outside the geographical boundaries of their official Community, or 0.9%; French: in the latter area as well as mainly in the rest of Wallonia (3.321&nbsp;million) and 85% of the Brussels inhabitants (0.866&nbsp;million) thus 4.187&nbsp;million or 39.8%; together indeed 100%.}}

The total number of native Dutch speakers is estimated to be about 6.23&nbsp;million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while native French speakers number 3.32&nbsp;million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.{{efn|Flemish Academic Eric Corijn (initiator of [http://www.charta91.be/ Charta 91]), at a colloquium regarding Brussels, on 2001-12-05, states that in Brussels 91% of the population speaks French at home, either alone or with another language, and about 20% speaks Dutch at home, either alone (9%) or with French (11%)—After ponderation, the repartition can be estimated at between 85 and 90% French-speaking, and the remaining are Dutch-speaking, corresponding to the estimations based on languages chosen in Brussels by citizens for their official documents (ID, driving licenses, weddings, birth, sex, and so on); all these statistics on language are also available at Belgian Department of Justice (for weddings, birth, sex), Department of Transport (for Driving licenses), Department of Interior (for IDs), because there are no means to know ''precisely'' the proportions since Belgium has abolished 'official' linguistic censuses, thus official documents on language choices can only be estimations. For a web source on this topic, see e.g. [[#General|General online sources: Janssens, Rudi]]}}<ref name="britishcouncil">{{cite web|title=Belgium Market background|quote=The capital Brussels, 80–85 percent French-speaking,&nbsp;...|publisher=[[British Council]]|url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-belgium.htm|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-date=22 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122233056/http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-information-background-belgium.htm|url-status=dead}}—Strictly, the capital is the municipality [[Brussels|(City of) Brussels]], though the Brussels-Capital Region might be intended because of its name and also its other municipalities housing institutions typical for a capital.</ref> The [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]] is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the [[Wallonia|Walloon Region]]; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community.<ref name="German-speaking_Community">{{cite web|title=The German-speaking Community|publisher=The German-speaking Community|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530023348/http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1263/2264_read-27181/|archive-date=30 May 2007|url-status=dead}} The (original) [http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/ version in German language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529215057/http://www.dglive.be/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-84/186_read-448/|date=29 May 2007}} (already) mentions 73,000 instead of 71,500 inhabitants.</ref><ref name="sTtZw">{{cite web|title=Citizens from other countries in the German-speaking Community|publisher=The German-speaking Community|url=http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1408/2267_read-27184/|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628233901/http://www.dglive.be/EN/Desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1408/2267_read-27184/|archive-date=28 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="UMYYg">{{cite web|title=German (Belgium)—Overview of the language|publisher=Mercator, Minority Language Media in the European Union, supported by the [[European Commission]] and the [[University of Wales]]|url=http://www.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/user/merwww/index.pl?rm=lang_detail;id=112;lang=1|access-date=7 May 2007|archive-date=11 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511181257/http://www.aber.ac.uk/cgi-bin/user/merwww/index.pl?rm=lang_detail%3Bid%3D112%3Blang%3D1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ofCHC">{{cite web|title=Belgique • België • Belgien—La Communauté germanophone de Belgique|work=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde|language=fr|date=19 April 2006|author=Leclerc, Jacques|publisher=Host: Trésor de la langue française au Québec (TLFQ), [[Université Laval]], Quebec|url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueger.htm|access-date=7 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503050229/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/AXL/europe/belgiqueger.htm|archive-date=3 May 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

Both [[Belgian Dutch]] and [[Belgian French]] have [[Cognate|minor differences]] in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak [[Dutch dialects|dialects of Dutch]] in their local environment. [[Walloon language|Walloon]], considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct [[Romance language]],<ref name="yBPue">According to [[Le Petit Larousse]], Walloon is a dialect of the [[langue d'oïl]]. According to the ''Meyers grosses Taschenlexikon''</ref><ref name="S2M27">{{cite book|author=Jules, Feller|title=Notes de philologie wallonne|publisher=Vaillant Carmanne|location=Liège|year=1912}}</ref> is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of [[Picard language|Picard]],<ref name="Ethnologue-15thEd">Among Belgium native German speakers many are familiar with the local dialect varieties of their region, that include dialects that spill over into neighboring Luxembourg and Germany.{{cite book|chapter=Languages of Belgium|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=Fifteenth|editor=Gordon, Raymond G. Jr.|publisher=[[SIL International]]|location=Dallas, Texas, U.S.|year=2005}} (Online version: [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE Sixteenth edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051203231327/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE|date=3 December 2005}})</ref> are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French.

===Religion===
[[File:Bruxelles - Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg (5).jpg|thumb|[[Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Brussels|National Basilica of the Sacred Heart]] in [[Koekelberg]], Brussels]]
{{Main|Religion in Belgium}}
The [[Constitution of Belgium]] provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice.<ref name="MarshallCavendish2009">{{cite book|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2009|author1=Loopbuyck, P.|author2=Torfs, R.|name-list-style=amp|volume=4|title=The world and its people – Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands|isbn=978-0-7614-7890-4|page=499}}</ref> Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism.<ref name="01gjU">{{cite web|url=http://www.euresisnet.eu/Pages/ReligionAndState/BELGIUM.aspx|title=State and Church in Belgium|website=euresisnet.eu|date=31 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717143131/http://www.euresisnet.eu/Pages/ReligionAndState/BELGIUM.aspx|archive-date=17 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the reigns of [[Albert I of Belgium|Albert&nbsp;I]] and [[Baudouin I of Belgium|Baudouin]], the [[Belgian royal family]] had a reputation of deeply rooted Catholicism.<ref name="MarshallCavendish2009"/>

Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday [[church attendance]] was 5% for Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels,<ref name="oLN9X">{{cite web|url=http://www.brusselnieuws.be/artikel/met-uitsterven-bedreigd-de-brusselse-kerkganger|language=nl|title=Churchgoers in Brussels threatened with extinction|website=Brusselnieuws.be|date=30 November 2010|access-date=4 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111123150/http://www.brusselnieuws.be/artikel/met-uitsterven-bedreigd-de-brusselse-kerkganger|archive-date=11 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998).<ref name="DSDy4">[http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=3932PEIJ Kerken lopen zeer geleidelijk helemaal leeg – Dutch news article describing church attendance in Flanders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127203507/http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=3932PEIJ|date=27 November 2010}}. Standaard.be (25 November 2010). Retrieved 26 September 2011.</ref> Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture.<ref name="MarshallCavendish2009" />

According to the Eurobarometer 2010,<ref name="Special Eurobarometer 393">''[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf Eurobarometer Biotechnology report 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430163128/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf|date=30 April 2011}}'' p.381.</ref> 37% of Belgian citizens believe in God, 31% in some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% do not believe in any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to [[Christianity]], with [[Catholicism]] being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non-religious people comprised 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions.<ref name="EB2015">{{cite book|title=Eurobarometer 437: Discrimination in the EU in 2015|publisher=European Commission|url=http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp?headers=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V11&previousmode=table&stubs=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V294&study=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfStudy%2FZA6595&V294slice=1&mode=table&v=2&weights=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V499&V294subset=1+-+12&analysismode=table&gs=7&V11slice=AT&top=yes|access-date=15 October 2017|via=[[GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences|GESIS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015202418/http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp?headers=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V11&previousmode=table&stubs=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V294&study=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfStudy%2FZA6595&V294slice=1&mode=table&v=2&weights=http%3A%2F%2F193.175.238.79%3A80%2Fobj%2FfVariable%2FZA6595_V499&V294subset=1+-+12&analysismode=table&gs=7&V11slice=AT&top=yes|archive-date=15 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium, accounting for 65% of [[Belgians]].<ref name="EUROBAROMETER">{{citation|title=Discrimination in the EU in 2012|work=[[Eurobarometer|Special Eurobarometer]]|year=2012|series=383|page=233|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf|access-date=14 August 2013|publisher=[[European Commission]]|location=European Union|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202023700/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf|archive-date=2 December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Syna_Bruxelles-2.JPG|thumb|upright=0.7|Interior of the [[Great Synagogue of Brussels]]]]
In the early 2000s, there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium. The [[Jewish Community of Antwerp]] (numbering some 18,000) is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where [[Yiddish]] is the primary language of a large Jewish community (mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel). In addition, most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education.<ref name="2n62d">Ghiuzeli, Haim F. [http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48207 The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192659/http://www.bh.org.il/database-article.aspx?48207|date=29 October 2013}}. Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People</ref> There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country.
A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered to be a more religious region than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious and that 36% believed that God created the universe.<ref name="50wwA">Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organization for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine {{Nowrap|22 November}} 2006 p. 14 [The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious'. More precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] sense or in some [[afterlife]]], or both.</ref> On the other hand, Wallonia has become one of Europe's most secular/least religious regions. Most of the French-speaking region's population does not consider religion an important part of their lives, and as much as 45% of the population identifies as irreligious. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border.

[[File:Great Mosque of Brussels.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Mosque of Brussels]], former seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium]]
A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population (628,751 people) is [[Islam in Belgium|Muslim]]. Muslims constitute 23.6% of the population of [[Brussels]], 4.9% of [[Wallonia]] and 5.1% of [[Flanders]]. The majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as [[Antwerp]], Brussels and [[Charleroi]]. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering 220,000.<ref name="hbvl.be">[http://www.hbvl.be/Archief/guid/voor-het-eerst-meer-marokkaanse-dan-italiaanse-migranten.aspx?artikel=e2214650-9013-4207-8139-68ab46554b87 Voor het eerst meer Marokkaanse dan Italiaanse migranten] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118063203/http://www.hbvl.be/archief/guid/voor-het-eerst-meer-marokkaanse-dan-italiaanse-migranten.aspx?artikel=e2214650-9013-4207-8139-68ab46554b87|date=18 January 2014}}. hbvl.be. {{Nowrap|21 May}} 2007</ref><ref name="XcRNH">{{cite web|url=http://www.npdata.be|publisher=Npdata.be|title=Moslims in België per gewest, provincie en gemeente|date=18 September 2015|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090217/http://www.npdata.be/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Health===
{{Main|Healthcare in Belgium}}
[[File:UZA ziekenhuis.jpg|thumb|University Hospital of Antwerp]]
The Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years.<ref name="CIA" /> Since 1960, life expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months per year. Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, [[neoplasm]]s, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death (accidents, suicide). Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age 44.<ref name="Corens2007">{{cite journal|journal=Health Systems in Transition|volume=9|year=2007|title=Belgium, health system review|author=Corens, Dirk|url=http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/96442/E90059.pdf|issue=2|access-date=23 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523162634/http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/96442/E90059.pdf|archive-date=23 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Healthcare in Belgium]] is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals. Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories (of patients and services) so-called 3rd party payment systems exist.<ref name="Corens2007" /> The Belgian health care system is supervised and financed by the federal government, the Flemish and Walloon Regional governments; and the German Community also has (indirect) oversight and responsibilities.<ref name="Corens2007" />

For the first time in Belgian history, the first child was euthanized following the 2-year mark of the removal of the euthanization age restrictions. The child had been euthanized due to an incurable disease that was inflicted upon the child. Although there may have been some support for the euthanization there is a possibility of controversy due to the issue revolving around the subject of assisted suicide.<ref name="cnn">{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/17/health/belgium-minor-euthanasia/index.html|publisher=CNN|title=Belgium euthanasia: First child dies - CNN.com|date=17 September 2016 |access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210045348/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/17/health/belgium-minor-euthanasia/index.html|archive-date=10 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Excluding assisted suicide, Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and one of the [[suicide rate by country|highest suicide rates]] in the [[developed countries|developed world]] (exceeded only by Lithuania, South Korea, and Latvia).<ref name="dVw5w">{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en|title=GHO {{!}} By category {{!}} Suicide rate estimates, age-standardized - Estimates by country|website=WHO|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=18 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018170407/http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.MHSUICIDEASDR?lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Education===
{{Main|Education in Belgium}}
[[File:2011-09-24 17.42 Leuven, universiteitsbibliotheek ceg74154 foto4.jpg|thumb|The Central Library of the [[KU Leuven]] University]]
Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.<ref name="Hofman_Hofman_Gray_Daly">{{cite book|title=Institutional context of education systems in Europe: a cross-country comparison on quality and equity|first1=Roelande H.|last1=Hofman|first2=W. H. A.|last2=Hofman|first3=J. M.|last3=Gray|first4=P.|last4=Daly|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|year=2004|isbn=978-1-4020-2744-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|pages=97, 105|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143715/https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|url-status=live}} Extracts: [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=97}} p. 97], [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=105}} p. 105]</ref> Among [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in [[postsecondary education]], at 42%.<ref name="NCES_Tbl-388">{{cite web|title=Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country – Chapter 6. International Comparisons of Education, data: 2002|work=Digest of Education Statistics—Tables and Figures|year=2005|publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]], [[Institute of Education Sciences]] (IES), [[US Department of Education]]|url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|access-date=6 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605120831/http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|archive-date=5 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over [[functional illiteracy]].<ref name="Ethnologue-15thEd" /><ref name="UNDP">{{cite web|title=I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices&nbsp;... —5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS|work=Human Development Indicators|pages=172–173|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP)|year=2000|url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025222/http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=6 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Programme for International Student Assessment]] (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average.<ref name="OECD_PISA-2006">{{cite web|title=Range of rank on the PISA 2006 science scale|publisher=[[OECD]]|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|access-date=27 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229020307/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|archive-date=29 December 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Education is organized separately by each community. The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.<ref name="De-Meyer_Pauly_Van-de-Poele">{{cite web|title=Learning for Tomorrow's Problems – First Results from PISA2003|page=52|publisher=Ministry of the Flemish Community – Education Department; [[University of Ghent]] – Department of Education, Ghent, Belgium (Online by [[OECD]])|access-date=27 February 2011|year=2005|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|author1=De Meyer, Inge|author2=Pauly, Jan|author3=Van de Poele, Luc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428094513/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|archive-date=28 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mirroring the structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal]] and the [[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic parties]], the educational system is segregated into secular and religious schools. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly [[Catholic school|Catholic branch]] education, is organized by religious authorities, which are also subsidized and supervised by the communities.<ref name="De-Ley">{{cite web|title=Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version)|author=De Ley, Herman|publisher=Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Center for Islam in Europe), [[Ghent University]]|year=2000|url=http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|access-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref>