Belgium

Belgium is a federal state divided into three regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, francophone Wallonia in the south and Brussels, the bilingual capital, where French and Dutch share official status. There is also a small German-speaking minority of some 70 000 in the eastern part of the country.

Belgium’s landscape varies widely: 67 kilometres of seacoast and flat coastal plains along the North Sea, a central plateau and the rolling hills and forests of the Ardennes region in the southeast.

Brussels hosts several international organisations: most of the European institutions are located here as well as the NATO headquarters.

Independent since 1830, Belgium is a constitutional monarchy. The two houses of Parliament are the Chamber of Representatives, whose members are elected for a maximum period of four years, and the Senate or upper house, whose members are elected or co-opted. Given its political make-up, Belgium is generally run by coalition governments.

Among the best known Belgians are Georges Rémi (Hergé), creator of the Tintin comic-strip, writers Georges Simenon and Hugo Claus, composer and singer Jacques Brel and cyclist Eddy Merckx. Painters like James Ensor, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte are the modern-day successors of Rubens and the other Flemish masters of yesteryear.

Belgium is famous for its chocolates, which are appreciated the world over. A favourite dish is mussels and chips (French fries) which, according to legend, are a Belgian invention. The country also produces over 1 000 brands of beer.

Study:

According to the Time Higher Education, Belgium have 6 university ranged in the World Ranking Universities: the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (67), the Ghent University (106), the Université Catholique de Louvain (169), the niversité Libre de Bruxelles (201-225),the  University of Antwerp (276-300) and the Université de Liège (301-350).
Most of Belgian Universities participate to European programmes such as Erasmus.
To find an accomodation, you have different possibilities.

• You can share a room with other students or workers.
• You can rent a room in the University residence.
• You can rent a small flat named “kot”.

Multilingual and multicultural country, Belgium attracts many French studentsbecause the language barrier does not exist in the French speaking part, to belgica a few tasty they speak French! The paramedical courses are particularly popular and artistic.

Student Life

Cost of living
The cost of living is very close to French, it is necessary to provide the samebudget in France when we do not live with her parents.
Brussels is renowned as a city more expensive than other Belgian cities.
The budget you’ll spend will depend of the type of accomodation you choose. The avarage amount you’ll spend is between 700 and 900 euros per mounth. This include accomodation, food, public transport, leisure, telephone, etc.

Accommodation
Renting a room in town is rather expensive, especially in Brussels and co-locations are common. Go to the secretariats and social services schools anduniversities, ”kots services” centers Infor Jeunes.
Peel the newspaper ads is an approach to perform, whether newspapers or newspapers advertising ”toutes boîtes”. It is essentially on Saturday that these offersappear:

• Le Soir www.lesoir.be
• La Libre Belgique www.lalibre.be
• La Dernière Heure  www.dhnet.be

On site, look also posters that owners put in a window property for rent or for sale.
It is also possible to go through a realtor.
Useful websites:

Short-term stay locations in Brussels?

 Brussels Destination offers personalized solutions for short -term stays mainly for EU trainees or students, but also for anyone who needs accommodation.

Their database contains more than 350 furnished rentals of different types: rooms, studios, apartments, shared accommodation, family homes… Each location has been visited, selected and priced by their team.

Brussels Destination has also set up standard and beneficial rental conditions: e.g. all charges are always included in the rent; rental deposits are for one month only; accommodation rental can begin any day in a given month, contracts are extendable by the week, etc…

Check this out on:  http://www.brusselsdestination.be/en/index.html

But also

• http://www.inforjeunes.be/default.asp?url=kots
• http://www.cidj.be/liens-utiles/logement
• http://www.jongereninformatie.be/default.aspx

Questions on property:

• http://www.cidj.be/fiches-dinfos/les-kots-belgique
• http://www.inforjeunes.be/default.asp?url=kots

Student Job
Information on job opportunities:

• http://www.inforjeunes.be
• http://www.cidj.be/

Work

Thanks to the EU’s freedom of movement provisions, working in Belgium is made easier for European citizens. Belgium offer a wide range of opportunities in leading industries thanks to the high level of education and it’s central position in Europe.

note: Belgium is part of the euro zone so the monetary unit is the euro. Euro is used in 17 European countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia.

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For a European Country Overview – Work  Click here

For a European Country Overview – Study Click here

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