Belgium in "the long nineteenth century" the small duchies, princedoms and counties which had traditionally been the basic territorial units. Aside from Zeelandic Flanders, part of Luxembourg, and Northern Limburg, which were ceded to the Dutch to compensate for the loss of the rest of the territory, the outline of Belgium in 1914 was virtually identical to that established by the French in 1795. The three ceded territories had a total of 300,000 inhabitants at the time. The northern half of Belgium, which would come to be known as Flanders, was a largely agricultural area containing the important port of Antwerp, the city of Ghent and
Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is an association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organisations. RASAB was formed as a non-profit organization (Association without lucrative purpose) in 2001 by the Dutch-speaking academy KVAB (Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten i.e. "Royal Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts") and by the French-speaking