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Belgium, whose official name is the Kingdom of Belgium, is a densely populated country not much larger than the state of Maryland. It covers an area of 11,781 square miles (30,519 square kilometers), bounded on the north by The Netherlands, on the west by France, and on the east by Germany. The tiny nation of Luxembourg lies to the south. This strategic location has earned Belgium the sobriquet, "crossroads of Europe." Brussels, its capital city, is just a three-hour drive to The Hague, the capital of The Netherlands, and Paris, and the capital of France....
