Is Belgium really the “flat land” sung about in Jacques Brel’s famous chanson, the image that many people conjure up when they think of the small state in Western Europe?

The answer is – like so often – a clear “yes and no”.

In his song, Brel mainly evokes West Flanders, with its wide plains along the coast and inland, where fields, canals, and ruler-straight roads dominate the landscape. There, the image of flat expanses is indeed accurate. But for the whole country, the description does not hold.

Much also depends on perspective: for a Swiss person, accustomed to alpine peaks, Belgium appears quite flat. A Dutch person, however, whose homeland lies largely at or even below sea level, perceives Belgium as partly mountainous.

Flanders

Northern Belgium, Flanders, is indeed largely flat. The region owes its topography mainly to the sea and the great rivers. For thousands of years, this was a coastal swamp and floodplain, only made usable through diking and drainage. The coastal polders, today fertile farmland, are still protected by a network of canals, sluices, and dikes. Only a few elevations, such as the Kemmelberg in West Flanders at around 150 meters, rise above the otherwise gentle relief. The constant sea wind and wide horizons shape not only the landscape but also the region’s way of life.

Wallonia

The south of the country, Wallonia, looks very different. It largely rests on the geologically ancient bedrock of the Ardennes, formed more than 300 million years ago. The Ardennes are a low mountain range with a varied landscape: deep, sometimes rocky gorges carved by rivers such as the Meuse, Ourthe, Lesse, or Semois; densely forested ridges, and open plateaus. Here lies the high plateau of the Hautes Fagnes, with the Botrange as Belgium’s highest point (just under 700 meters), where the climate is harsh, with snow often covering the ground for several months. This is also where most of the country’s ski areas are found.

Transitions

Between the extremes of Flanders and Wallonia lies a transitional zone of gentle hills, such as in Hesbaye or Brabant, and broad river valleys along the Meuse, Sambre, and Scheldt. Places like Namur or Dinant, framed by cliffs and waterways, make it strikingly clear that Belgium is far more than level fields.

Conclusion

About one third of Belgium consists of upland terrain, the rest being mostly flat to gently rolling. The image of the “flat land” therefore applies only in part – while the rest offers a diversity of landscapes, ranging from maritime plains to rocky river valleys to rugged high moors. Belgium thus bridges not only Germanic and Romance Europe, but also sea and mountains – though, across the border in northern France, the land soon becomes flat again.

This topic often causes confusion. It can generally be very simplified: Belgium lies between the Netherlands in the north and France in the south. The language border between Dutch and French runs horizontally through the centre of Belgium. The capital Brussels, in the centre of the country, is bilingual.

Capital (Brussels): Belgian French and Belgian Dutch

As the Belgian capital, centrally located in Belgium, Brussels (1.2 million inhabitants) is officially bilingual. Around 80% use Belgian French in everyday life, 20% Belgian Dutch.

North Belgium (Flanders): Belgian Dutch

Flanders (6.8 million inhabitants), the northern region of Belgium, predominantly speaks Dutch. However, the variety spoken there, Belgian Dutch, differs from Standard Dutch in pronunciation, vocabulary, and some grammatical aspects.

One key difference is pronunciation – Belgian Dutch is softer and more melodic than the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands. In addition, many words differ. French and local dialects have influenced Belgian Dutch vocabulary and expressions. Grammar remains largely the same, but some sentence structures and informal speech patterns differ.

Despite these variations, Belgian and Dutch speakers understand each other well.

Belgian Dutch is often misleadingly called Flemish (Vlaams). In the narrower linguistic sense, however, “Flemish” only refers to the two dialects of West Flemish and East Flemish.

South Belgium (Wallonia): Belgian French

In Wallonia (3.7 million inhabitants), the southern region of Belgium, French is the dominant language. While largely similar to Standard French, Belgian French has unique vocabulary, pronunciation, and historical influences.

Pronunciation differences are minor but noticeable. Belgian French is clearer and slower, sometimes with a slight melodic intonation. A key distinction is in vocabulary. Some words in Belgian French come from Walloon, a historic Romance language spoken in the region, as well as from Dutch influences.

Despite variations, mutual comprehension between Belgian and French speakers is seamless.

East Belgium: German

East Belgium (80,000 inhabitants), known as the German-speaking Community of Belgium, consists of a small but distinct population of German speakers.

The German spoken in East Belgium is very close to Standard German but has some regional dialectal influences. The local dialects, collectively called Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian, are linguistically distinct from Standard German and share features with dialects spoken in western Germany.