Editing Belgium (section)

===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>