Brussels (Dutch: Brussel; French: Bruxelles) is the capital city of Belgium. It has a population of 1,187,890[1] (Capital Region of 19 municipalities), the municipality of Brussels has about 150,000 inhabitants.[2] Brussels is a bilingual enclave within the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.
The city is headquarters of the European Union, and the term 'Brussels' is frequently used as a synonym for the EU and its tortuous bureaucracy. The Commission, Council and Parliament of the EU all meet in Brussels employing some 30,000 people which makes Brussels a target for more lobbyists than in Washington DC.
NATO is also headquartered in Brussels where approximately 4000 people work for the political structure of NATO.[3]
Brussels was home to the 1958 Worlds Fair for which the Atomium, a 103 meter tall building blown up 165 billion times which represents a unit cell of an iron crystal, was built.
Traditional New Year's Eve fireworks for 2007 in central Brussels were canceled due to a continuing terror threat in the Belgian capital. [4]