The Kingdom of Belgium is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. This little country has two main linguistic communities: the Dutch-speaking Flemings live in Flanders in the north, the French-speaking Walloons live in Wallonia in the south and both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking live in the capital of Brussels.
Since 1993, Belgium has been a federal state with 6 governments:
- 1 federal government
- 3 regional governments, i.e. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels
- 2 linguistic communities, i.e. the French-speaking and the German-speaking community
The federal state consists of a government and a bicameral parliament. The latter comprises a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. Similarly, the regional governments and the linguistic communities have a council of their own. In practice, it is the Flemish and the Walloon regional governments which hold the most power. Delineating economic policy is the business of these federal governments.
Head of state: King Albert II
Head of government: Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
