State · 1830 – present

Belgium

A state of 1830 – present — 196 years, still standing in Europe. It replaced United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The atlas records 102 things within it — wars and battles 40 · unrest and atrocity 5 · famine and plague 1 · treaties 6 · people 50. Its line of rulers holds 9 people.

Still standing: the span runs to the year of the build, 2026.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 196 years; and still standing
Rulers: 9; the King of the Belgians
Most ground: 46,300 km²; in 1885
Within it: 102; recorded rows
Symbols: 6; on record, with years

Map: Belgium in 1885, its borders in gold among its neighbours — Belgium in 1885, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 46,300 km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.

Belgium in 1830, first mapped — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Belgium in 1885, at its largest — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

United Kingdom of the Netherlands · replaces · 1815 – 1839

Rulers

The line of King of the Belgians - the office this state names as its head of state.

died in officeleft alive by a regular roadstill in officeending not on recorda second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source	To the ruler before
Érasme-Louis Surlet de Chokier	1831 – 1831	under a year	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Leopold I of Belgium	1831 – 1865	34 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Leopold II of Belgium	1865 – 1909	44 years	died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death	child
Albert I of Belgium	1909 – 1934	25 years	died by accidentWikidata's manner of death	nephew or niece
Leopold III of Belgium	1934 – 1951	17 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone	child
Prince Charles, Count of Flanders	1944 – 1950	6 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone	sibling
Baudouin of Belgium	1951 – 1993	42 years	died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death	nephew or niece
Albert II of Belgium	1993 – 2013	20 years	ending not on record	sibling
Philippe of Belgium	2013 – in office	in office since 2013	still in office	child

9 rulers, 9 with terms dated as terms, covering 1831 – 2013. Median reign 22.5 years. 2 of 8 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Heads of government

The line of Prime Minister of Belgium, drawn and never measured: a cabinet is not a reign.

Étienne Constantin de Gerlache	1831 – 1831
Joseph Lebeau	1831 – 1831
Félix de Mûelenaere	1831 – 1832
Albert Joseph Goblet d'Alviella	1832 – 1834
Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt	1834 – 1840
Joseph Lebeau	1840 – 1841
Jean-Baptiste Nothomb	1841 – 1845
Sylvain Van de Weyer	1845 – 1846
Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt	1846 – 1847
Charles Rogier	1847 – 1852
Henri de Brouckère	1852 – 1855
Pierre De Decker	1855 – 1857
Charles Rogier	1857 – 1868
Walthère Frère-Orban	1868 – 1870
Jules D'Anethan	1870 – 1871
Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt	1871 – 1874
Jules Malou	1874 – 1878
Walthère Frère-Orban	1878 – 1884
Auguste Beernaert	1884 – 1894
Jules Malou	1884 – 1884
Jules de Burlet	1894 – 1896
Paul de Smet de Naeyer	1896 – 1899
Jules Vandenpeereboom	1899 – 1899
Paul de Smet de Naeyer	1899 – 1907
Jules de Trooz	1907 – 1907
Frans Schollaert	1908 – 1911
Charles de Broqueville	1911 – 1918
Léon Delacroix	1918 – 1920
Gérard Cooreman	1918 – 1918
Henri Carton de Wiart	1920 – 1921
Georges Theunis	1921 – 1925
Aloys Van de Vyvere	1925 – 1925
Prosper Poullet	1925 – 1926
Henri Jaspar	1926 – 1931
Jules Renkin	1931 – 1932
Charles de Broqueville	1932 – 1934
Georges Theunis	1934 – 1935
Paul van Zeeland	1935 – 1937
Paul-Émile Janson	1937 – 1938
Paul-Henri Spaak	1938 – 1939
Hubert Pierlot	1939 – 1945
Achille Van Acker	1945 – 1946
Camille Huysmans	1946 – 1947
Paul-Henri Spaak	1947 – 1949
Gaston Eyskens	1949 – 1950
Jean Duvieusart	1950 – 1950
Joseph Pholien	1950 – 1952
Jean Van Houtte	1952 – 1954
Achille Van Acker	1954 – 1958
Gaston Eyskens	1958 – 1961
Théo Lefèvre	1961 – 1965
Pierre Harmel	1965 – 1966
Paul Vanden Boeynants	1966 – 1968
Gaston Eyskens	1968 – 1973
Edmond Leburton	1973 – 1974
Leo Tindemans	1974 – 1978
Paul Vanden Boeynants	1978 – 1979
Wilfried Martens	1979 – 1981
Wilfried Martens	1981 – 1992
Mark Eyskens	1981 – 1981
Jean-Luc Dehaene	1992 – 1999
Guy Verhofstadt	1999 – 2008
Herman Van Rompuy	2008 – 2009
Yves Leterme	2009 – 2011
Elio Di Rupo	2011 – 2014
Charles Michel	2014 – 2019
Sophie Wilmès	2019 – 2020
Alexander De Croo	2020 – 2025
Bart De Wever	2025 – …

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

25,000 km² in 1830, 31,100 km² in 2020; at its largest 46,300 km² in 1890. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

Flags and arms, in order

Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

coat of arms, undatedMiddle coat of arms of Belgium · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sodacan
coat of arms, undatedState Coat of Arms of Belgium · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sodacan
coat of arms, undatedArms of Belgium (with crown) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sodacan
flag, from 1831Flag of Belgium (civil) · Public domain
flag, from 1831Flag of Belgium · Public domain
coat of arms, from 1837Great coat of arms of Belgium · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sodacan , with some elements by Katepanomegas

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1800 – 189919 rows · 4 wars and battles

Maurice Maeterlinck · philosopher · 1862 – 1949
Leopold II of Belgium · ruler · 1835 – 1909
René Magritte · artist · 1898 – 1967
Georges Lemaître · scientist · 1894 – 1966
Albert I of Belgium · ruler · 1875 – 1934
Paul-Henri Spaak · politician · 1899 – 1972
Maxime Weygand · politician · 1867 – 1965
Henri Pirenne · scientist · 1862 – 1935

and 11 more in the atlas.

1900 – 199975 rows · 36 wars and battles · 3 risings, regime changes and massacres

Ursula von der Leyen · scientist · 1958 – present
Donald Tusk · politician · 1957 – present
Claude Lévi-Strauss · philosopher · 1908 – 2009
Philippe of Belgium · ruler · 1960 – present
Herman Van Rompuy · politician · 1947 – present
Marguerite Yourcenar · writer · 1903 – 1987
Georges Simenon · writer · 1903 – 1989
Albert II of Belgium · ruler · 1934 – present

and 67 more in the atlas.

2000 – 20996 rows · 2 risings, regime changes and massacres

2016 Brussels bombings · atrocity · 2016
COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium · plague · 2020
2011 Liège attack · atrocity · 2011
European Fiscal Compact · treaty · 2012
European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement · treaty · 2014
2013 Brussels Agreement · treaty · 2013

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood196 years
stood longer than 62% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
The most ground it held46,300 km²
held more ground at its peak than 34% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
How long a reign lasted, at the median25 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 75% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
Rulers on record9
has more rulers on record than 78% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 14 causes the record names and 0 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

linkedcoincidence

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 1810 – 2046, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1885, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q31 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.