For centuries, the land which makes up modern Belgium, has been a major battleground, straddling as it does the cultural boundary between Germanic and Romance Europe. Belgium gained its independence from the Dutch in 1830. Twice the victim of invasions during the World Wars of the 20th Century, the monarchy was re-established in 1951. Since then Belgium has been at the heart of modern Europe and was a founder member of the E.E.C. and the E.B.U., and participated  in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. However, of those seven original members, it had the longest wait for its first victory in the contest; when Sandra Kim sang "J'Aime La Vie" to victory in Bergen in 1986. Eight years later they were one of the first countries to suffer relegation. Linguistically Belgium is divided, with Dutch being spoken by the 6 million people in Flanders to the north and French by 3.5 million Walloons in the south. Capital city Brussels is officially bi-lingual. Two national broadcasters, divided on linguistic lines take turns representing the country at Eurovision, with mixed success. Entries from the French language broadcaster RTBF generally doing better than those from the Flemish broadcaster VRT.

Official name: Kingdom of Belgium

Total area: 30,528 km².

Population: 10.3 million 

Capital: Brussels

Major languages: Dutch, French, German

Major religion: Christianity

Life expectancy: 79 years

Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 cents

GNI per capita: US $35,700 (World Bank, 2006)

Internet domain: .be

International dialling code: +32

1956: "Messieurs Les Noyés De La Seine" - Fud Leclerc (?)
1956:  "Les Plus Beaux Jours De Ma Vie" - Mony Marc (?) 
1957: "Straatdeuntje" - Bobbejaan Schoepen (8th)
1958: "Ma Petite Chatte" - Fud Leclerc  (5th)
1959: "Hou Toch Van Me" - Bob Benny  (6th) 
1960: "Mon Amour Pour Toi" - Fud Leclerc  (6th) 
1961: "September, Gouden Roos" - Bob Benny (15th)
1962: "Ton Nom" - Fud Leclerc (13th)
1963:  "Waarom" - Jacques Raymond (10th)
1964: "Près De Ma Rivière" - Robert Cogoi  (10th) 
1965: "Als Het Weer Lente Is" - Lize Marke (15th)
1966: "Un Peu De Poivre, Un Peu De Sel" - Tonia (4th) 
1967: "Ik Heb Zorgen" - Louis Neefs (7th)
1968: "Quand Tu Reviendras" - Claude Lombard (7th)
1969: "Jennifer Jennings" - Louis Neefs (7th) 
1970: "Viens L'Oublier" - Jean Vallée (8th)
1971:  "Goeie Morgen, Morgen"- Lilli Castel & Jacques Raymond (14th)

1972: "A La Folie, Ou Pas Du Tout"- Serge & Christine Ghisoland (17th) 
1973: "Baby Baby" - Nicole & Hugo (17th) 
1974: "Fleur De Liberté" - Jacques Hustin (9th)
1975: "Gelukkig Zijn/Could It Be Happiness" - Ann Christy (15th)
1976: "Judy & Co."   Pierre Rapsat (8th)
1977: "A Million In One, Two, Three" - Dream Express (7th) 
1978: "L'Amour Ça Fait Chanter La Vie" - Jean Vallée (2nd) 
1979: "Hey Nana" - Micha Marah (18th)
1980: "Euro-Vision" - Télex (17th)
1981: "Samson" - Emly Starr (13th)
1982: "Si Tu Aimes Ma Musique" - Stella (4th) 
1983: "Rendez-Vous" - Pas De Deux (18th) 
1984: "Avanti La Vie" - Jacques Zegers (5th)
1985: "Laat Me Nu Gaan" - Linda Lepomme (19th)
1986: "J'aime La Vie" - Sandra Kim  (1st) 
1987: "Soldiers Of Love" - Lilianne Saint-Pierre  (11th)
1988: "Laissez Briller Le Soleil"  - Reynaert  (18th)
1989: "Door De Wind" - Ingeborg (19th)
1990: "Macédomienne" - Philippe Lafontaine (12th)
1991: "Geef Het Op" - Clouseau (16th) 
1992: "Nous On Veut Des Violons" - Morgane (20th) 
1993: "Iemand Als Jij" Barbara (25th)
1994: Relegated        
1995: "La Voix Est Libre" - Fréderic Etherlinck (20th)
1996: "Liefde Is Een Kaartspel" - Lisa Del Bo (16th) 
1997: Relegated        
1998: "Dis Oui" - Mélanie Cohl (6th)
1999: "Like The Wind" - Vanessa Chinitor (12th)
2000: "Envie De Vivre" - Nathalie Sorce (24th) 
2001: Relegated        
2002: "Sister" - Sergio & The Ladies (13th)
2003: "Sanomi" - Urban Trad (2nd) 
2004: "One Life" - Xandee (22nd)
2005: "Le Grand Soir" - Nuno Resende (22nd in the semi-final) 
2006: "Je T'adore" - Kate Ryan (12th in the semi-final)   

Eurovision broadcaster: RTBF (Radio-Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française) & VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep)
First entry: 1956
Number of entries: 52 (including 2 in 1956)
Number of winners: 1 ("J'aime La Vie" in 1986)
Top 3 finishes: 3 
Top 10 finishes: 20 (40%) 
Best result: 1st ("J'aime La Vie" in 1986)
Worst result: Failed to qualify in 2005, 2006 
Number of last place finishes: 4
Highest score: 176 (1986)
Lowest score: 0 (1962,1965)
Number of contest hosted: 1 (1987 in Brussels)

Most points awarded to: United Kingdom: 145, Ireland: 119, Germany: 117
Most points received from: Netherlands: 96, France: 85, Spain: 84
Least points awarded to: Belgium has not voted for FYR Macedonia in six finals.
Least points received from: Belgium has yet to receive votes from FYR Macedonia after four finals.
Average points awarded to the Eurovision winner: 8.0

Points Ratio #: 0.75

 

* Only points awarded and received in finals since 1975 are included.
# Points ratio is total points received in Eurovision finals divided by points awarded. The higher the number the better a country has done.