Belgium is a country in Western Europe. Its capital, Brussels, is the home of many organizations including the European Union and NATO.
The Belgae were inhabitants of the territory of Belgium. They were a large Celto-Germanic confederation of tribes. The Romans invaded in 100 BC, then the Germanic Frankish Merovingian kings ruled the region from the 5th to 8th centuries, until which the territory was incorporated into the Carolingian Empire. Over the centuries, it was divided up in many ways. One of its predecessors, Lotharingia, came under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire.
Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the Eighty Years' War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. After the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries were added into the French First Republic. This ended Austrian rule in the area. Adding back the Low Countries formed the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In 1830, the Belgian Revolution happened and Belgium declared its independence from the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire. Leopold became king a year later. This is celebrated as a National Day in Belgium.
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