Special Sub-Topic: Another Belgian Trivia Grabbag Click Here To Play: Another Belgian Trivia Grabbag

Belgium has a surprising number of governments, being a federal state. How many?

6. Federal, Flemish, Wallony Regional, German Community, French Community, Brussels Capital. 'Regional' governments deal with things related to the realm, 'Community' governments deal with things related to people, culture, health etc.

Who was not a prime minister of the Federal Government?

Andre Cools. André Cools was shot in 1991. His murderers were hired by collaborators of Alain VanderBiest, himself a minister who commited suicide in 2002, presumably because he couldn't stand the stress of the coming trial although he was not formally accused. The real story of the murder has not been uncovered yet.

Belgium has a lot of comic strip authors. Among them the creator of Tintin. What was this artist's name? (no accents!)

Herge. Herge or George Rémy started drawing the stories of Tintin before WWII for a childrens magazine called 'Le petit Vingtième'. He is famous for the very thorough research he did on places, machines and even people.

There is certainly a surrealist strain in the so-called Belgian character. It appears in literature as well as in painting. One of the following is not a surrealist, which?

Henri Vande Velde. Vande Velde was an architect and designer of the 'Art Nouveau' style. Michaux was a writer who lived in Paris and elesewhere in France and who experimented with psychotropic drugs. Delvaux is the painter of railway stations, civil servants and nude women. Marien is in a category of his own, with highly imaginative collages and bricolages.

Belgium has more universities per person than any other European country. The oldest one is not in Brussels but in a smaller city not far away. Where?

Louvain & Leuven. In the '60s the University of Louvain/Leuven was split into French speaking and Dutch speaking parts. The latter one stayed in Leuven, the former moved to Louvain-la-Neuve, south of Brussels. The library as well was split.

When the University of Leuven/Louvain was split into French and Dutch branches, half of the books in the library moved to Louvain-la-Neuve, the rest stayed put. How was the carving-up done?

between odd-numbered and even-numbered books. A difficulty arose for the Journals.

The borders of Belgium have changed several times since the year of its independance. A small part of the territory is actually still an enclave in a neighbouring country. Name the enclave and the country.

Baarle-Hertog Holland. Baarle Hertog and its sibling village Baarle Nassau are North of Antwerp. The border actually runs through some of the houses. The pockets were formed at the end of the Belgian Revolution, when the lines of the fighting armies were taken as borders.

Tourists in Brussels can't escape a visit to the smallish statue of a 'manneken pis', a boy who is happily urinating. In what square or street in Brussels is this dionysian wonder?

Stoofstraat. Actually, there are similar statues in Geraardsbergen, Gent and other places. On special occasions, the Mannekens ("small man", think of 'mannequin' or 'mannekin') are dressed up and pee wine, beer, lemonade or any other liquid.

Cycling and soccer (football) are the most popular sports in Belgium. However, there is a sport in which the Belgian player Raymond Ceulemans won an unbreakable record number of World and European Championships. Which one is it?

billiards. Three cushion billiards is his speciality. He won over one hundred titles, earning him the nickname of 'mr. 100'. At age 64 he was again World Champion, 46 years after his first title.

British actor David Suchet played the role of a Belgian detective from Agatha Christies novels. He is appropriately called "Poirot" which means something like 'little pear'. What is his first name?

Hercule. Hercule Poirot is presumed to have fled for the German Army. He was a police officer before taking up his new profession in London. Another famous fictional detective is Commissaire Maigret, created by the Belgiam author Georges Simenon.