Editing Geography of Belgium (section)

==Area==
[[File:Belgium RegProv.png|300px|thumb|Map of Belgian regions and provinces.]]

Belgium has an area of 30,689 km² (11,849 sq mi), with {{cvt|16901|km²}} or 55.1% for the [[Walloon Region]], {{cvt|13626|km²}} or 44.4% for the [[Flemish Region]], and {{cvt|162|km²}} or 0.5% for the [[Brussels Capital Region]].<ref name=land>[https://statbel.fgov.be/en/land-use-according-land-register Land use according to the land register], STATBEL</ref>

Its land area is 30,494 km² (11,774 sq mi) or 99.36%, and its water area is 195 km² (75 sq mi) or 0.64%. Belgium has also 3,454 km² (1,334 sq mi) of sea territories in the [[North Sea]]; including this, its total territory is 34,143 km² (13,183 sq mi).<ref>[https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/environment/land-cover-and-use/land-use Land use], STATBEL</ref>

By [[Provinces of Belgium|provinces]], the area (of 30,689 km²) is distributed as such:<ref name=land/>
* [[Luxembourg (Belgium)|Luxembourg]]: {{cvt|4459|km²}}
* [[Liège Province|Liège]]: {{cvt|3857|km²}}
* [[Hainaut Province|Hainaut]]: {{cvt|3813|km²}}
* [[Namur Province|Namur]]: {{cvt|3675|km²}}
* [[West Flanders]]: {{cvt|3197|km²}}
* [[East Flanders]]: {{cvt|3007|km²}}
* [[Antwerp Province|Antwerp]]: {{cvt|2876|km²}}
* [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]]: {{cvt|2427|km²}}
* [[Flemish Brabant]]: {{cvt|2118|km²}}
* [[Walloon Brabant]]: {{cvt|1097|km²}}

For the purpose of total area, the [[Brussels-Capital Region]] should also be included, though no longer a province since the Brabant was split. 

On 29 May 2000, 2,000 square meters were granted by the [[Netherlands]] to Belgium (a piece of land in [[Zelzate]] along the [[Ghent–Terneuzen Canal]]).

Compared to other countries, Belgium is 44% larger than [[Wales]] in the [[United Kingdom]] and about the size of [[Maryland]] in the [[United States]]. Belgium is actually used as an [[List of unusual units of measurement#Other countries|unusual unit of measurement]] in comparing country sizes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sizeofbelgium.com/pmwiki.php |title=A Web Site the Size of Belgium : Home Page |access-date=2010-04-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221223914/http://www.sizeofbelgium.com/pmwiki.php |archive-date=2010-02-21 }}</ref>

In November 2016, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to cede small, uninhabited parcels of land to reflect a change in course of the river [[Meuse]] (or Maas, in Dutch). The land swap is to take effect as of 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/29/belgium-and-the-netherlands-agree-to-swap-land-to-restore-border|title=Belgium and Netherlands agree to swap land to simplify border|agency=Reuters|date=2016-11-29|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-08-04|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>