Since the Middle Ages, Belgium’s central location near several major rivers has meant that the area has been relatively prosperous, connected commercially and politically to its bigger neighbours.
The country as it exists today was established following the 1830 Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had incorporated the Southern Netherlands (which comprised most of modern-day Belgium) after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
The name chosen for the new state is derived from the Latin word Belgium, used in Julius Caesar’s “Gallic Wars”, to describe a nearby region in the period around 55 BCE.
Belgium has also been the battleground of European powers, earning the moniker “the Battlefield of Europe”, a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both world wars.