Living in Brussels ?

We have discovered a great little book about Brussels.

"Bruxelles Ceci n'est pas une ville"* (we translate : "Brussels This is not a town") by François Janne d’Othée, takes an original and advanced look at the Belgian complexity which adequately reflects our Capital.

He gives us some interesting numbers as follows :

Paris intra-muros is 2/3rds the surface of Brussels for double the population.

Brussels today is 3/3rds :

1/3rd of the people haven’t Belgian nationality because they didn’t have the need to become naturalised. (by heart **)
1/3rd of Belgians of foreign origin. (by adoption**)
1/3rd Belgians (by birth**)

To drive in Brussels is to plunge into history.
Today, the city has no less than :

179 streets,
75 avenues,
20 places
12 boulevards,
12 squares,
2 dead-ends
1 park
124 monuments

linked to the First World War.

The most important commemorative statue of the country is no other than the Column of Congress, 47 metres high, which is a reminder of the first national Congress in 1830, the year of Belgian independence.
Rue du Congrès - 1000 Bruxelles

* Collection L'âme des Peuples
Allusion to the famous painting by Rene Magritte (Belgian surrealist artist 1898- 1967) "Ceci n'est pas une Pipe" (notre traduction : "This is not a Pipe")

** Note of Expats in Brussels -:)

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Living in Brussels ? What about the "short history" ?