n.
French Bruxelles Flemish Brussel
City (pop., 2000 est.: 133,900), capital of Belgium.
Part of the Brussels Capital Region (pop., 2000 est.: 959,300), one of the three regions into which Belgium is divided, it lies on the Senne River, a tributary of the Schelde . The village began on an island in the Senne and ultimately became a holding of the dukes of Brabant . In 1530 it became the capital of the Netherlands, which was then under Habsburg control. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815, it became a centre of Belgian rebellion in 1830 and then the capital of Belgium. An important industrial and commercial city, it is the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union .