As a dutch person I'd say that dutch infrastructure definitely deserves a much higher score. It's not just about the amount of infrastructure in place but also the quality, everyone who has driven across the border on the highway will know what I mean. That being said, I think Belgium deserves a higher score on food. Belgian food is very underrated and absolutely delicious, combine that with the trappist beers and the combination is to die for.
I have the exact same idea. When you drive into the Netherlands, people actually stick to the speed limit. If you drive from the Netherlands into Belgium, as soon as you cross the border, 50% of the people start driving 140 kmh. Despite all the holes in the tarmac. Anything below 8.5 for Belgian food is simply not right.
Fun fact: In The Netherlands we have jokes that make Belgian people look stupid like 'What is pinnacle of optimism? A Belgian with a scholarship' while the Belgians have jokes that make us look greedy like 'what do the Dutch give each other on Christmas eve? A handshake'
I'm Dutch and when I look at how our society has changed I think there are more intelligent people over the border in Belgium though. But ehh it's a joke I know, maybe I'm ruining the joke now lol
I know the greedyness is a joke but I cant help but to always reply by: Ouch damn it's a joke but it's actually true. We Dutchies dont wanna pay 1 cent too many for whatever that is
@@lillekenatnek195 I don't think there is really a difference in intelligence between Dutch and Belgian people. It's just fun to make fun of each other
That isn’t greediness, it economizing. I don’t want to pay too much for an item but on the other hand I save to buy expensive stuff like designer furniture and I give at least 2% of my income to charity. The Dutch give a lot to charity, in money, time and energy.
@@RealConstructor nah bro u gotta live, money needs to be spent in order to make the economy work. Your immense savings dont have much value when you lie under a gravestone is what they say
Nice for tourists. As a Dutchman living in Belgium for half of my life, I can tell you that on things that really matter in life, such as healthcare and education, Belgium wins 10-0.
I don't think there is ever really a "better" when it comes to countries, it all comes down to personal preference and situation. Especially when talking about 2 rich western European nations. That being said, as a Belgian who has visited Netherlands pretty frequently for various reasons over the years, these are the most major things i notice: - Infrastructure and Attitude NL simply has a way more modern (liberal) way of thinking, and when it comes to most infrastructure... it shows. When i drive to NL, what i am most amazed by, is how complex the road system gets in some places. I am often met with intersections and roundabout systems that you simply never see over here. (or not to the same extreme) This probably also has a lot to do with me being from the countryside though. Planning of city layouts is a big one too. In NL everything built after the wars, has a lot of planning and thought put in to it. While in BE, for a very long time the general idea was mostly: do whatever you want, we don't care. Leading to a lot of city's and neighbourhoods being very illogically layed-out, and extremely costly to maintain. In fact, many neighbourhoods dont even really feel as neighbourhoods, their just a bunch of existing streets that one day a few people decided to put houses and stores down. And in many cases, that's exactly what they are. You really can drive for hours over here, and have a constant mix of houses and shops passing by, feeling like 1 giant city, but having passed by multiple politically separate "villages" in reality. Above that, you can expect that to a certain degree, 90% of NL citizens have accepted modern liberal social values to a pretty large degree. (excluding a specific set of bible belt area's) Where as in BE, the same can not be said. We too have a generally modern liberal way of thinking, but not to the same degree. You will find way more people here with a mentality stuck somewhere in the 60's. (gay people have an illness, cars need to be king of the road at all times, etc...) Overal NL definitely has a win here. - Cuisine I could be wrong in some ways, but generally i don't have the impression that lunch & dinner have the same "highlight of the day" feel to them in NL that it they do in BE. People over here are very proud of their food, and want it to be a highlight of their day, so, there is a cultural push to make as good food as possible. There are few things, that will make a Belgian feel nationalistic and defensive, but food and drinks are one of them. While in NL, they definitely have speciality dishes and very good snacks (many of which we have imported in large quantities). Most actual dishes don't really feel as something special they are really that proud of. But more as something practical and cheap to make first and foremost. We have these traditional "farmers dishes" too, but they are not where our traditional cuisine ends, where it largely does feel like that in NL. Beer is a similar story, NL has lots of good and great normal pilsner beers, but lacks quite substantially when it comes to stronger speciallity beers. In BE you will find that basically every city and collection of villages, has at least 1 brewery pumping out multiple kinds of specially beers, fruit beers, pilsners etc... Cafe's over here often have entire restaurant style menu's of 20-40 different beers, the vast majority of which are Belgian speciality beers. NL isnt a bad place for cuisine, but it can't match the culture and pride we have around food and drinks. - Politics Oh boy, the level of stability NL has when it comes to politics, is a daydream over here. NL has had the same prime minister for the last 15 years or something. While there is definitely votes being moved around, and parties being formed and sunk, generally, things always land on their feet, and not much comes of it. Over here, seemingly half of our prime ministers of the 21 century don't even make it to the end of their 4 year term. None make it to a second term, doing 3 or 4 terms like Rutte is completely unthinkable over here. A lot of governments have fallen, literally years have passed in the past without a full federal government being formed at all. A significant minority wants an independent Flanders, and has so for the last 60 years. (so you often have large groups of people seeting in a parliament of a country they don't even want to exist) And so on... Yeah, NL is no complete beacon of stability either, but its definitely a more stable country politically. - Cost of living & economy Economically, we are both stable and rich couintries with no overly large problems i sight, no major differences there. But i will say, cost of living is significantly higher in NL. Housing situation in NL makes the one in BE look like a paradise, Cars are also taxed way heavier in NL, gas prices are also insanity in NL, i just tanked E10 for 1,61€ over here, i drove to NL and saw prices as high as 1,99€ by the highway, WHAT?! Healthcare is more expensive and no better then over here. Lots of groceries and telecom are cheaper in NL though, but i don't think it quite makes up for the others being so much more expensive.
Economy is much better in the Netherlands. There's also mistakes in his numbers because personal income tax is 4% higher in Belgium. It's even higher than Finland in Belgium. We do have higher prices and more taxes overall. Netherlands is a rich country and Belgium is quite poor in comparison. Prices for daily goods are always higher in richer countries. Belgium has double the debt as the Netherlands and a 40% lower GDP. The debt and total GDP difference is immense, a 53% lower debt to GDP in the Netherlands. Also a lower GDP per capita by 6000 USD in Belgium. It isn't even close at all. The Netherlands competes with Scandinavian countries and Belgium competes with a Spain on economy. Did you really think the Netherlands was close on economy? The Dutch are almost 4 times as rich than Belgium people if you equal the debt to GDP from both countries.
Mostly agree kind of with your grading, though for infrastructure I would give The Netherlands at least a 9, perhaps a 9.5, with the efficient public transport and amazing cycling infrastructure (that makes the inhabitants healthy!). Also the Dutch economy is very good, so I would give them a 9. Also the tourism deserves a little bit more than a 7, with pretty towns but above all fantastic art museums. Belgium on the other hand deserves more than a 7 for their cuisine. But fun concept, such a match!
Economy is also much better in the Netherlands. There's also mistakes in his numbers because personal income tax is 4% higher in Belgium. It's even higher than Finland in Belgium. Belgium also has double the debt as the Netherlands and a 40% lower GDP. Also a lower GDP per capita by 6000 USD. It isn't even close at all.
About infrastructure, I would rather give the Netherland at least a 9,5 or a 10, I am living in the Netherlands and have been in whole Europe, and believe me the Dutch infrastructure is WORLD-CLASS TOP NOCH in comparison to the rest of the or Europe or even the world. About the economy the same, so you have to do your homework better my friend.
I am actually comparing these countries irl right now through my vacation: road-trip through the Netherlands and Belgium. I’ve started with one week in the Netherlands and I have fallen in love with the beautiful quaint cities and friendly, cool people! Looking forward of the same nice experience from a week here in Belgium, now starting in Antwerp. Thanks for the video👏
Je ziet in de video alleen Amsterdam Rotterdam Brussel Brugge en de Ardenne . Daar doe je deze landen echt te kort mee. Belgie bvb Grotten van Han . Nederland heeft weer de Efteling
@@martijnduivenvoorde8085 Belgie heeft de originele walibi :). Onze wegen zijn misschien mooi verlicht, maar ze zouden net zo goed allemaal van kasseien zijn gemaakt. Het enige wat naar mijn mening echt beter is in belgie is het bourgondische voedsel, en misschien ook de gezondheidszorg. Voor de rest is nederland beter
How could you forget our iconic Vol-Au-Vent, our stoofvlees (beef stew), our witloof (Belgian endives) and our spruitjes (Brussels sprout)? Definitely worth mentioning when talking about Belgian food. Next to that, a lot more things worth mentioning in the tourism part, speaking about the medieval towns with a rich history like Brugge, Gent, and Leuven too! Enjoyed the comparison video though, thanks! fun fact: Brugge means bridge in West-Flemish dialect and the locals pronounce it as BRUHHE
The only negative thing I can think off is Belgians in traffic in The Netherlands. We often have 0 clue of what their doing or going to do. I think their driving lessons need some attention. But other then that, I always loved everything about Belgium from Flanders to Wallonia. Their ancient cities, food and what not. I hope we will remain brothers forever. The Netherlands and Belgium brothers forever ❤
That’s weird. most of the time Dutch people are known for not being that friendly and being a little ignorant and distant towards tourists, so I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Ik ervaar net hetzelfde als ik Nederlanders in België zie rijden. Al is dat vooral te wijten aan ergens te rijden waar je de omgeving niet kent. Hert is ook moeilijk om dat objectief te bekijken want je krijgt al snel vooroordelen.
@@Masterkruk oh only food... guess. Fries then (Frietn me mayonaise) lol.chocolate, Witlof in esperolletjes, Gentse Waterzooi, Waffles. its easily a Ten. if Beer is allowed as Belgian Food then its Eleven lol. and i dont like to call our Frietn, French Fries because they never came form france. i just call them Fries lol
As a Belgian i give my country a 6 in general, the food however is a 10(unless tourist traps). There is no place where you can eat this good in general, if you enter a restaurant, nine times out of ten you'll get amazing food. If i had to make the perfect country, i take the Netherlands with Belgian food.
That's why the Belgians all come every weekend to the many (Michelin-)restaurants in the Dutch province of Zeeland. You often get better (sea)food way for less money than in Belgium. In general there is more innovation happening in Dutch cuisine currently, with the accent on sustainable plantbased ingrediënts like seavegetables and zero waste. So the comparison in this video is imo based on stereotypes, not on actual research. That said, I do like to visit Belgium.
Culture wise, The Dutch provinces of North Brabant, Limburg and the region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Southern part of Zeeland province) have more in common with Belgium because of the Bourgondic Catholic culture, while the rest of the Netherlands have more in common with Germany, England and Northern Europe because of the Calvinistic Protestant culture.
actually the english "protestant" anglicans have a lot in common with Belgium.... they too have a country made up of several different people who don't like eachother :D
Just want to share that the English name of what in Dutch is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is Zeelandic Flanders. Just like Flushings is the English name of Vlissingen and The Hague is English for 's Gravenshage. If a place hasa an English name for it, you should use it in Englsh, but I suppose you were unware.
I moved from Brazil to the Netherlands one year ago, been living in Breda which is close to the border with Belgium and have been experiencing both cultures during this time. Agree with all the scores except I'd give NL a 9 in infrastructure. You made no mention to the abyss that exists between the two in terms of road quality. The roads here are probably the most well kept in the world considering the volume of traffic that goes through them.
That’s because you are living in or around a large city. Have you ever lived outside the 8th largest settlement in The Netherlands? Also, their public transport system is the second most expensive in the world…
@@nandaszentkiralyi5821 well I don't think you need to live in a smaller city to be able to judge the roads, I have yet to see ONE hole or defect in a Dutch highway, road, avenue, street, alleyway, crossing, passage, you name it. On the other hand, if I want to immediately see bad roads all I need to do is drive 20 min to the south. And about the overall infrastructure in NL yes it's not perfect, I live in Breda but work In Waalwijk which has a huge industrial park but no easy public transport, it takes me 30 min to go by car, if I chose public transport it takes me 1:20h to get to the center of Waalwijk, which is another 15 min bike to the office so that's why it doesn't deserve a 10 😊
I'm Dutch and I worked 15 years in Brussels, while living mostly in Antwerp. The organization in Netherlands is better, for example; you never stand in line for more than 15 minutes. However the best restaurants, beers and chocolates you find in Belgium. A typical example of the differences: Dutch beers (Heineken) are produced for world wide export, Belgian beers (Westmalle) are produced to drink yourself with local friends from e.g. Westmalle :) The Dutch are supposed to be greedy, but the most greedy persons, I ever met, were my Belgian landlords.
i'm a belgian, and enjoyed this video a lot, although the netherlands should have gotten way more for infrastructure lol. their roads are DAMN good, you can notice it when you cross borders. also, i think our food is underappreciated lol it would be interesting to compare other categories such as military, education, crime rate, ...
Comparing these two countries is like comparing two brothers, one of which is an all-star athlete and the other is a mathematical genius, both are great in their own right and for different reasons.
I used to live in Belgium while my sister lived in the Netherlands. Not going to deny that everytime I crossed the border I was in a very different and amazing country but I find it quite artificial and unconfortable. I always find Belgium more human and far more tasty 😋😋🍻
As a Dutchy, I'm always baffled by the fact that if you're gonna make a video about the NL/Belgium, why don't you also research how you pronounce, like literally anything; from butchering the names of Rijksmuseum, Baarle, Bruges, Bastogne, Stroopwafels, Gouda and much more.😅😅 Shouldn't be that hard.
I could not agree more . Some words sound totally different from what they should sound . This is a problem in all videos about The Netherlands and Belgium. It’s so bad. It’s like one is not interested in our countries after all but only in making videos. Suppose we pronounce English words totally incorrectly I wonder how English native speakers would react.
Absolutely agree. I'm a Belge and speak perfect english, even English speakers say that when a Dutch person speaks their language it's amazing how hard it is to notice it isn't their mother tongue. I've had Americans visit me and when I learn them a new word, they pronounce it really good as wel, so it can't be hard. Now ask me as a Belge to speak French, even though it's half of my country, I sound like a drunk clown falling down the stairs while trying to be fancy. But English and Dutch really isn't far apart when it comes to pronounciation.
Because we've been a family for most of our History. The Netherlands and Belgica are the same words historically. For example curent Belgium (except For Liège) was called the "austrian Nederlands" and the latin name of the kingdom of the Nederlands" is called "Regnum Belgicum" in Latin. We only split when culture and religion broke us appart (simply explained : Buisness oriented protestant Bourgeoisie in the Nederlands and aristocratic catholics, french influenced, in the south)
Great video. In the history section I missed the fact that (part of) Belgium and the Netherlands were for some time one country. I also missed in the Dutch tourism part, everything outside of Holland. Some might argue that Holland is the best part, but I think the rest of the Netherlands has also great tourist value.
In my opinion I have never seen any other country then the netherlands with better infrastructure the quality of the roads and efficiency is so on point. The grade should be a 9 or 10 atleast. Also on world rankings of infrastructure it scores rank 1.
@pietervanderzwaan4295 I think we need to keep an eye on Germany and Japan too. They have excellent infrastructure as well. Whatever the case, Japan definitely beats us on railway punctuality, lol.
@@SerbijaSupremeAnd you think The Netherlands hasn't done the same thing? READ A BÖÖK And besides I suggest you'd better stay at home, cause a lot of Western countries are to blame for that!!!
Guys, I'll just write one point that makes Belgium better: renting a house in Netherland is a disaster and two times more expensive than in Belgium! and you still have to be lucky to get something... and earning isn't any better in Netherland...
Nice comparison video to see the differences. But as a Dutch person I think we have more in common than we have differences. And happy that we are in a union with our Belgian brother and Luxembourgish nephew. The Benelux is a powerhouse!
Im from Amsterdam and i dont understand why so many tourist come only to Amsterdam. There are so many nice old cities in the Netherlands such as Nijmegen, Maastricht, Utrecht, Groningen and many more others.
Netherlands has the second best infrastructure so its crazy to me how you only gave an 8 more like a 9 or 9,5 And probably food for belgium higher french fries in my opinion already deserves an 8 because its so popular around the world And i lived in the Netherlands my hole life and i never have seen an traffic jam with bikes😂(I live in a village so maybe in cities)
a lot of very simplistic takes on Belgium, from our dishes which are objectively great and i say that objectively comparing dutch and Belgian cuisine in terms of congo, the congo freestate was a personal possession of leopold II, not Belgian yet until 1908
It's easy for foreigners to impose Leopold II sins on the belgian people . Belgians reluctantly accetted the transfer of authority on the Congo from privately owned by the king to the belgian people .
@@JalilhalmanBetter than a Mass Genocider as your 2nd King in your History and also being the reason for another Genocide and another one and another one the Rwandan Genocide 1994 and two Burundian Genocides in 1972 and 1993 also Belgium itself said that some of the tribes were the smartest in Africa and all these Colonies were Kingdoms before not Wasteland and managed to not get role over by foreign Portuguese or Arab Powers , yet the Congo is one of the Poorest and Burundi is the poorest and Rwanda also is in the lower segment of Africa you Belgians did nothing good and these Colonies were way better under German Rule.
@@Jalilhalman I'm just saying the Dutch already excused themselve of their Colonial past while Belgium still have Statues of a King that murdered 10 million people
@@PH61a Are you sure? I always thought that area was called The Lorraine, but I looked it up and you certainly have a point. The part of France that is called The Ardennes is the wrong area anyway... So they must have got them mixed up.
@@Millbrook1974powderedwater The map of the Ardennes showed here is definitely wrong, they seem to have moved the entire region south into France for the most part. The French part actually is the southern end of the Ardennes, and a rather narrow strip along the Belgian border, and it is situated west of the Lorraine, north of the province of Champagne.
Belgian here. I would gladly add even more points to the Netherlands because of the outstanding infrastructure, both for cars and public transport. On the other hand, they deserve even less points for food. If you would not just look at restaurants but what people eat at home during a working week, the low cost simplicity of the Dutch food is just incomprehensible for Belgians.
I thought of a fun solution for the Belgian potholes in the roads: Drink sufficient Belgian beer to become drunk then try to drive straight and youll avoid the potholes.
If you include all the cuisines from Dutch (former) colonies like Indonesia, Suriname, and the Dutch Caribbeans, that food you can't find in Belgium at all, or not nearly as good. Try an original Toko with a rijsttafel, you'll be amazed, or Roti.
A 6 for food in the Netherlands? Have you ever tried a Indonesian Rijsttafel? Though it looks and sounds Indonesian, you can not get this in Indonesia? It’s a mix between Dutch & Indonesian cuisine.
Dude, I think living in the Netherlands is very comfortable and all, but just accept real Dutch quisine sucks to the extent Holland happily imported the food from their colonized territories. I'm sure people eat pizza and kebab more often than they go to the chinees. Doesn't make those two dishes Dutch either hahaha
Rijsttafel is nothing special, it is dishes from different islands of Indonesia put together on one table, then you claim that it's Dutch! The Dutch Germanic roots, it's cuisine is very bland and thank god it's enhanced by Indonesian influence but just seeing the Dutch cuisine as it is, it's really mediocre like other Germanic countries like England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany etc. It's all just mashed potatoes with gravies and fat sausages. In England the food is quite enhanced with Indian cuisine, still it's Indian cuisine not suddenly British. Same goes for Donner kebab in Germany, it's now a staple food there still it isn't German but it's still Turkish.
@@bertrandvanleeuwenThinking the Dutch food culture consists of mashed potatoes just means you’re completely clueless, It’s the same like saying Belgiums eat fries on a daily basis. By the way no cuisine is original ever, potatoes are from South America and Indonesian food relies heavily on peppers from South America brought over by the Europeans. If a country has great variety of food readily available then I like it. If you’re cuisine isn’t available in the Netherlands it’s probably not very interesting.
@BeesKneesBenjamin, it is still correctly also Dutch and should be included in the cuisine and comparison. Else, by that logic countries like USA would have no cuisine, only an imported one.
I prefer going to Belgium instead of Netherlands basically because of the Walloon part and their amazing food and francophonic culture. Liège might not be the prettiest city but the supermarkets the little restaurants and cheese shops etc are amazing. French/Belgian patisserie… oh la la.. french Fashion Labels etc. for culture architecture and history Antwerpen is for the highlight… but of course Leuven Gent and Brugge are amazing too. Brussels is not exactly my cup of tea. If it comes to the Walloon part there are some heavy underrated places like Namur or Dinant and lovely villages in the Ardennes. Belgium for is more diverse. The Netherlands have those amazing beaches and my fave places are Leiden and Delft. But overall it’s more orderly than Belgium and thus maybe not as sensual and loose as Belgium. The streets are not that different anymore, maybe in the city centers.. but motorways are in good condition.. both countries are worth a visit but Belgium seems to be the underdog. Love them both.. my neighbors one hour away by car ❤
Love our southern brothers and sisters. We are better in sports, they have better music, we have better economics, they have better beer (and food !! (a solid 10 point from the Dutch jury), we are generally more open (because of our trading history) they are a bit more reserved, in the main we Dutchies are a lovable lot, in the main Belgians are a lovable lot (no difference there and that's why we intermarry a lot).
apart from a feeling of goodwill between the Belgians and the Dutch, I don't think that a comparison is edifying, it's not more relevant than comparing a giraffe with a cat. you talked about Dutch painters but not Belgian painters, however, Brueghel, Magrit, Folon, Van Eyck are not extras. and comics? Nothing? Smurfs, Tintin? no? and museums? and most importantly: Belgium is a concentrate of history, you can visit fortresses and castles from all period, medieval, renaissance etc. and all that on a pocket handkerchief. no, giving points is damaging, both countries have their interests. everyone has their own perception which has no need to be influenced 😉
Not a completely worthless comparison, but still very superficial. Is normal in 12 min, I understand. I think Belgium has more to offer for people that want variation. Laying on the beach, visiting a medieval town and a hike in nature are easy to combine in a few days. And the food is so good...if you avoid the busy places
The Netherlands are great and it is an effective state and society. Belgium is not on the same level on these topics but what it lacks there is being leveled up by its charm. For example the food category was highly undervalued for Belgium in the video, it would score at least 8 or even 8,5 if you leave all tourist traps out 😅 Most Dutch would agree on that. Nice video anyway!
The Netherlands is also well known for the famous (and large global) companies Shell, ING, Unilever, Heineken, Philips, Ahold Delhaize, Aegon, Rabobank, ASML and KLM. The Dutch are also known around the world for their dance and electronic music DJs such as Tiësto (best DJ by DJMag in 2002-2004), Armin van Buuren (2007-2010+2012), Hardwell (2013-2014), Martin Garrix (2016-2018+2022) and Afrojack. Other famous Dutch artists are Eddie Van Halen (Jump), George Baker Selection (Little Green Bag), Shocking Blue (Venus), Golden Earring (Radar Love) and Duncan Laurence (Arcade). Other worldwide famous "Dutchies" are Johan Cruyff, Anne Frank, André Rieu, Rutger Hauer, Paul Verhoeven, Doutzen Kroes, Famke Janssen, Carice van Houten, Michiel Huisman, Marwan Kenzari, Rico Verhoeven, Sven Kramer, Max Verstappen, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Arjen Robben, Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong. Finally don't forget to watch the internet hit 'America first, Netherlands second' from Zondag met Lubach.
@@massimomelis1048 yes, but that's the name of the company which headquarters is in The Netherlands. Ahold had 61% of the shares and is Dutch of course.
@@so_what_else_is_new Ah dat kan, maar ik had het enkel over Ahold dat een paar jaar geleden is gefuseerd met Delhaize. Maar oké: de andere Delhaize is en blijft van de Belgen 😉
When he is talking about the infrastructure and bikes in the Netherlands as a Belgian I can say. And it’s not like that only the Netherlands have those bike garages. In Belgium there are also a lot of people biking and ther are here also a lot of bike garages.
You mentioned Rembrand for the Dutch, but you didnt mention for example Peter Paul Rubens (who was born in Germany, but lived most of his life in Antwerp, which at that time was south netherlands because Belgium was not independent yet), Pieter Bruegel de Oude or Jan van Eyck. On modern art, theres also René Magritte and Panamarenko (Henri Van Herwegen) I think Belgium definetely deserved more points for culture!
There is something to be said for that. But when it comes to modern art: René Magritte is great, but however let's keep the door a little open for a bit of modesty
@@PIMVERTOMMEN Belgium has around an equal amount of well known artists as the Netherlands, despite its size difference, so it should definitely have been mentioned at least. You might not agree with some of the art like Panamarenko, but it is still world famous
Its very clear that the creator of this video never heard or see an Van Eyck and Rubens painting, the palace of Napoleon in Antwerp and has never eating Belgian cuisine, instead of that he's delighted over fast food that comes out of a Dutch wall. For sure a real American.
When explaining that Flanders is the economic heart of Belgium, it would have been nice to mention that this followed long period when the francophone elite ruled the country, neglecting and exploiting the Flemish and Flanders. When the coal and steel economy in Wallonia cratered, and Flanders flourished and took over as the economic leaders, the Wallons demanded and received more than generous handouts. For example, for every kilometer of highway built in Flanders, the same had to be built in Wallonia, often at greater cost because of the hills and mountains, and usually in places where there was no need. When I worked in Belgium, it was often faster to take a long detour through Wallonia because the empty highways made the journey so much faster and less stressful. That kind of accommodation did not exist when Wallonia ruled the country. When francophones moved out of congested Brussels to the leafy towns around the city, which were/are in Flanders and Flemish speaking, they demanded to be served in French, even if they were still a minority. As a result of all that history, Belgium now consists of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels which is supposedly bilingual, plus a French speaking and a Dutch speaking community, and a ton of other subdivisions that make the country a nightmare to rule. Judging or rating Belgium from an outside point of view cannot really take these things into account, but they should be. Fun fact: one of my best experiences in Belgium was when I visited a factory that was part of a Dutch company. Being in Wallonia, they had francophone management, and like all those companies they were used to be served in French when dealing with anyone else. In this case, not just the Flemish but also their Dutch overlords. With the decline in Wallonia and the rise of Flanders, one day I was told by their top management that they had started to take lessons in Dutch. They finally realized who was top dog in the relationship.
@@AkiWetzels True. That's why I wrote "and a ton of other subdivisions". Trying to keep it fairly short and easy for the average viewer. But the German community is very under-acknowledged.
I know this video is made for good fun but I don't think it is exactly fair to say that Belgium has a dark past when it comes to the whole Congo thing. Congo was, when the atrocities were committed, not a Belgian colony, but an independent state owned by king Leopold (who by the way was hardly a true Belgian himself) and the crimes were committed by his army of mercenaries made up of local soldiers and European mercenary officers. It was only later when Leopold had to give up his land under international pressure that Congo became a Belgian colony and from then on it was ruled far more humanely. So I'd say Leopold has to take blame for that, not Belgium, and I'm a Netherlander saying that so there you go...
@@GuyWets-zy5yt An Empire that fought to abolish slavery, introduced technology, medicine, law and science to many underdeveloped areas and also allowed Britain to fight and defeat Nazi Germany, especially when considering that the US and Canada are also products of the British Empire. I'm not gonna say that it was always sunshine and bunnies all the time, but neither was it the Evil Empire from Star Wars people are making it out to be these days. This demonizing of the Western colonial past beyond what it really was is childish and unnuanced and also hypocritical coming from people who don't give a damn about the modern day oppression of countries by larger powers like Tibet, Kurdistan and Western New Guinea.
High taxes is the price we Dutch have to pay for excellent healthcare and infrastucture. Have you ever seens Belgiums roads, I don't mean amount of roads but the quality, holes and bumps everywhere
I'm a half belgium half dutch but mostly lived in the netherlands. I went on a motorcycle trip to belgium, i'm happy i have an offroad bike XD i wouldn't call some of those routes roads. There was more hole than tarmac. But i still love belgium good food and beer indeed and nicer landscape.
"Belgian roads". At this point, it's a meme. The Belgians learned from their history of constantly getting invaded. I mean: no invading army could ever make it past the Ring Antwerpen. Or that collection of confusing highways around Liege and Charleroi. They must have done this on purpose !
I don't know where you people go driving, but it sounds like you're exaggerating massively. Yes, our roads are not as good as yours. Yes, some areas (in the port, where I work, they are atrocious) are really bad. But the parts where I'd expect foreigners to drive, like the ring of Antwerp, should be fine.
You need to compare Latvia and Lithuania, so people wouldn’t mistake them a bit less. As a Latvian I see this way too often. Also, I disagree on tourism in Netherlands, to me, it’s interesting than in Belgium.
Although I generally agree with the scoring, I would give the Netherlands a 9 (even 9.5) on infrastructure, but I would give Belgium also an 8 in culture, as it is also very famous for painters. Don't forget that they were 1 country, until 1830, and the so-called 'Vlaamse primitieven' (mostly active in Brugge and Gent i.e. current Belgium) date from the 15th-16th century. Therefore, I don't think it's fair to mention them only in the part of the Netherlands... This being said, the Netherlands is still the rightful overall winner! Greetings from Belgium ;-)
To be honest..... this has been made by a person who has never visited both countries in real life. The Netherlands is not completely flat, there are regions who have hills like Limburg. And it is shocking that, again, you only look at Amsterdam for culture or the Keukenhof. The Netherlands has beautiful city's, not only in the west (the only part you mention), but also in the north. east en south. Groningen, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Utrecht and Den Bosch are great larger cities, and there are more smaller gems. The road network is first class, payed by those 'high taxes' (you are probably a American). The Dutch are technological extreme advanced, ever looked at the Delta Werken? The Dutch taxes pays for a extensive social network like healthcare, workers rights making the Netherlands one of the highest countries when it comes to quality of life. You are right when it comes to food though. Belgium looks a lot like the Netherlands. But they also have far more beautiful cities and places you described. The roadnetwork is good, but comes not even close to the quality of the Dutch. It's fantastic to see how this country handels themselves with such an split in population. The Belgium coastline is also fantastic and let not forget the Ardennes, one of the most beautiful areas in Europe. Antwerp and Brussels are two of the finest cities when it comes to culture. Belgium food is, to ben honest, just as bad as the Dutch (who can also make great beer). You forget how two small countries are so good at sports, have made a impact on the world in de past and today (both positive as negative) and Belgium is de centre of the EU. This is a tourist movie.
You, my man, seriously failed if you compare belgian (Burgundian) food to that of the netherlands. You are also gravely overstating our road network, as it is hot garbage flung around a few times in a plastic bag, and then run over by a 14 wheeler. No, dutch beer doesn't compare to belgian beer (I'm not saying all belgian beers are good, cough cough cara and maes), but it's certainly better than the plethora of beers I tried in my days. Yes, brussels is home to the nato and eu hq, but that really doesn't impact the local state of affairs. Our politics run about as well as an engine that has been starved of oil for the past 7 years but has been running non-stop in that time period. Imo, the netherlands still win by a landslide if not for the food and healthcare being better in belgium.
Belgian food is great wtf. Belgian stoofvlees, vol au vent, best mussles, best chocolate, best waffles, best beer, ... an 8 or 9 should be given. Every single restaurant i've been to in Belgium was delicious.
Agree with you on most things, except Brussels being one of the finest cities. i've been there a couple of times now, but i think its horrible. Not only the traffic, but the city looks like shit aswell and is dirty. Brugge and Antwerp are much better citites.
We Dutch will win of course. We've got more people, and only one official language. Our unofficial second language, English, is spoken relatively well by most people. Belgium has two official languages, not sure if German is their third. Anyway, most Belgians only speak their 'own' language, so Flemish will speak Dutch, Walloons speak French, and not that many are able or willing to speak both Dutch and French. Btw, Ardennes is pronounced 'Arr - Dens' not Ardenese.
Duits is gewoon een officiële taal. Dat geven ze ook in verschillende scholen tijdens het middelbaar. Alle Vlamingen krijgen Franse les op school dus in principe moeten we dit goed kunnen al is dat bij mij een ramp want na mijn school heb ik het nooit meer gebruikt. Af en toe in Frankrijk bij de bakker is niet echt voldoende. Engels de Vlamingen even goed dan Nederlanders. Walen langs de andere kant krijgen maar heel weinig Nederlands op school. Vlamingen zijn op dat vlak dus beter in talen dan Nederlanders maar Walen veel slechter.
As a Dutchman I have to add this...without Flanders, probably no Holland and Zeeland as we know it...and without Holland and Zeeland probably no Netherlands as we know it...that should earn the Belgians an extra point...so I'd give it a tie...
As a Dutchman I say Belgium wins - it has a superior educational system. Near the border thousands of Dutch kids go Belgisn schools; hardly a Belgian parents sends her/his kid to the other side. Belgium scores two points better.
Go to fuckin Charleroi and shit then come back also Netherlands have way higher Life quality experience Netherlands and Belgium properly and you will see that Netherlands is far better.
44,5 vs 45 points. I think we Dutch are more alike the Belgians (or vice versa) then we think. And to be honest. I don't care. Belgians (and to be honest the Flemish abit more due to the language) are for me to most alike in Europe.
Many Dutch prefer to live in Belgium, the more hilly regions. One can see further than the neighbor's door. Nothing so depressing than a building constantly blocking your view.
Belgium does have 105% debt GDP though and the Netherlands 52%. Also a GDP per capita 6000 USD higher and a trillion dollar economy while Belgium has a 600 billion USD economy. Belgium is on par with a countries like Spain and Italy while the Netherlands is on par with the Scandinavian countries on economy. This isn't remotely close at all. It's a huge oversight in this comparison to not show total GDP and debt. It's a 53% difference in debt on a much higher GDP. The Netherlands is one of the best economy's in the world and Belgium is very average, below average in Europe. 5th highest debt of Europe.
@@Joey-ct8bmWell that means nothing. The average Belgian person owns 3 times more then the average Dutch person and you know why the average Belgian person is 3 times as rich? Because the Netherlands have more billionaires and millionaires but the average Dutch person is a lot poorer.
@@GianniDN The Netherlands has the 3rd most population in middle class in Europe after Denmark and Norway. The Netherlands hits another homerun here too.
I would also pay attention to the condition of the roads! The roads in The Netherlands are more smooth and it looks like newer asphalt most of the time. The roads in Belgium look older and have often holes in them. This makes them very bumpy to drive on! 😁
In Nederland betaal je het dubbel in verkeersbelasting, die wegen zijn echt niet dubbel zo goed🤣 Volgens mij zijn er veel belangrijkere zaken om u druk over te maken zoals de woningmarkt, studieschulden,...
@@mathiasm8489 Hahaha you are saying roads are not twice as well paved, and I think you need to take the E34 once and seriously reevaluate that statement xD. Roads here are worse than roads in the norwegian countryside that haven't been repaved in 20 years
Daar is een heel simpele logische verklaring voor die iedereen precies gewoon wil negeren. In België hebben we links & rechts slechte wegen omdat wij een heel heel groot wegennet hebben dat ooit 'goedkoop' is aangelegd en dat allemaal gaan vervangen is gewoon onbetaalbaar (dat komt met de tijd wel goed). Al bij al, valt het heel goed mee, als je echt gaat zoeken ga je natuurlijk de extreme gevallen vinden.
You've either never been to Belgium or didn't understand it. A rating of 7 for Belgian food is way too low, and this is without even mentioning the mind-boggling diversity of Belgian beer. I love Dutch people, and while the food here is good, Belgian cuisine is more refined because a large part of it is basically French... And Brussels has the most restaurants per square kilometer in the world.
You could've also made a category about sports, like the belgian people are popular with soccer, hockey, cycling, ... The dutch people are also popular at different sports. I think it could be an interesting category.
Have you ever seen the roads in belgium? They are horribel, I think they should have scored lower there. Apart from that great video, I agree with you.
I totally disagree about the food in the Netherlands. Belgium has fries. Well beautiful. But we have fries with peanut sauce and that is the best fries in the world. In terms of snacks, we are the best country in the world anyway. Frikadellen, bitterballen, mexicano, cheese soufflé, and I could go on and on. Traditional dishes such as the Dutch Snert, kale stew, sauerkraut stew, endive stew, rice with goulash and green peas. It is certainly true that Belgium has tastier specialty beers. But Heineken is served all over the world. And that is really not the best Dutch lager. I wouldn't trade my Grolsch for anything in the world. Certainly not for such a weak lager as Jupiler from Belgium. I'm not saying that the Netherlands has a better kitchen than the Belgian one. But a 6 hits like a dick on a drum kit with shitty sound. 
Frieten zijn mijn lievelingseten al wil ik het niet echt gastronomisch noemen. Al moet je ze gewoon vers en in keer bakken. Dat begrijpen ze op veel plaatsen nog niet😅
Ga je nu echt Heineken of Grolsch betere pils noemen dan bv Stella? Ik zet Jupiler persoonlijk ook wel lager dan Stella, al blijft die wel torenhoog uitsteken boven Hollandse troep. De enige pils bieren die vergelijking met Belgische aankunnen (en soms ook beter zijn) komen mi uit de originele Pilsen regio (waar pilsner bieren dus best wel terecht hun naam van ontlenen). En verder, tja, ik ga niet proberen te discussiëren over de finesse van Oude Geuzes of proberen uit te leggen wat Westmalle Tripel net dat beetje doet uitstekken boven andere Tripels, laat staan de strelende elegantie van een kruidige amber zoals La Chouffe bespreken met iemand die zweert bij Heineken ed. Elke Nederlander die beweert dat hun (landelijk gemiddelde) idee van smaak vergelijkbaar is met wat wij in België gewend zijn, heeft gewoon een minder ontwikkeld pallet. Er bestaat echt wel zoiets als goede smaak, helaas kan daarover niet worden gediscussieerd met diegenen die zelfs dat besef niet hebben. Blijf gewoon lekker in je eigen klasse spelen en moei je niet met de hogere niveaus. Straks ja je nog beweren dat jullie keuken beter is dan bv de Franse of Italiaanse. En wellicht nog verontwaardigd worden ook zij enige reactie daarop onwaardig en onnodig zouden vinden. Betweterige onwetendheid lijkt mij een karaktertrek die disproportioneel vaak terugkeert bij Nederlanders als ik mij op de commentaren hier moet baseren. Altijd het luidste willen roepen maar keer op keer onzin uitkramen. Je kan ze er echt uitplukken uit tientallen nationaliteiten onder toeristen eender waar je komt. Zo trots, zo zelfzeker en dat helaas zonder reden merendeels. Geniet van je Grolsch, maar probeer voor 1 keer niet heel de camping op stelten te te zetten met je irritante, onzinnige geschreeuw altijd. Wij Belgen zijn echt niet de enigen die zich ergeren aan die Hollanders die weer zichzelf weer eens veel interessanter of beter vinden dan de rest, zonder dat echt te zijn maar het helaas wel van de daken blijven schreeuwen… No hard feelings btw. Over smaak valt niet te discussiëren, zoals ik al zei.. 😜
You do not know a lot about Belgian food. We have more to offer than fries and chocolate. Belgium has the most Michellin star restaurants per capita in the world. Get out of the tourist traps and you will quickly understand what I am talking about.
@@deepblue188 ahh, I agree to most Belgian statements but thisone I dont. The landscape does not optically infuence the state of the road. The potholes are literally there actually. And the traffic lights are also not affected by the landscape.
@@deepblue188bs infrastructure at Brussels roundabout (ringweg) has not changed in 40 years (seen it myself) . The concrete blocks on the road to direct traffic are normally for temporarily use only. Not 40+ years. Many roadworks know happening in Belgium most likely EU money.
Belgium did not exist until 1830, when it separated from the Northern Netherlands. Anything happening before that was not really Belgium. Another small correction: Baarle (Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau) is not located "on the border". The border between the two countries is quite a ways further South. Baarle-Hertog is an enclave in the Netherlands, would be the simplest description, although there are parts of Baarle-Nassau that are enclaves within that enclave, and so on. Still, Baarle is a unique place. Famous in my youth because in Baarle-Hertog the Belgian laws applied, so shops could be open on Sunday, while the shops in Baarle-Nassau had to be closed. Some shops moved their entrance to another part of teh shop that was in Belgium to allow opening on Sunday. Sunday shopping was a thing attracting tourists, in addition to the quaint atmosphere in the place.
Belgium did not exist before 1830 might be true in theory, in practise it is a bit of a misleading statement though. About Germany you can say in a very similar fashion that it did not exist before 1866. Belgium has been a part of many countries in its history, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, the Romans etc... And it has always existed, just under different forms, as a part of different empires. The name Belgium was not invented out of thin air. It is the name of a region within the Roman empire that lines up roughly with the borders of what we now call Belgium. People here have always identified with each other, we just only got the chance to become a country in 1830.
I have to go against the food decision for Belgium WE DO have a lot of great dishes, amazing dishes in fact, the only country in europe that can beat us is Italy, I say that having been to most countries in europe at least for a while, we follow the burgundian tradition of hearthy rich meals full of herbs, not many spices but I would say that is a + as we have ethnic quisines for that
You forgot our islands in the Waddenzee (world nature heritage), feels quite wild, plus all the river and water lands the Betuwe is quite nice too, South Limburg has hills (start of the Ardennes I would say), plus the islands in the Caribbean ;) And anyway Belgium was part of the Netherlands, so make it a 9!!
@@lioneldemun6033 Are you talking about me ? Because i hold the Russian people very high on my personal scale. Keep your prejudice to yourself, ps, i was talking about neighbors, Russia isn't.
Wat bedoel je zelfs met veel beter, het is moeilijk om deze punten echt objectief te benaderen. Een half punt of een punt is verwaarloosbaar wan je gaat toch bv niet verhuizen als het eten een half punt beter is.
If the first and second world war are the topic The Netherlands also seems left out pretty many. For the first world war thats kinda logic but the second not
@@jme104 just a minute 🤣 seriously, a week is not enough but to get a vibe perfectly counts. Also i do travel a lot so … sorry, not the most interesting one.
Nederlanders zagen harder over putjes in onze belgische wegen dan de belgen zelf. Ik woon in West vlaanderen, de wegen zijn hier goed genoeg. + Het zijn dan ook maar autostrades, je kan daar miljarden "cosmetica" blijven inpompen zonder uiteindelijke extra meerwaarde uit te halen.
Het is maar een kwestie van tijd dat als gevolg van Climate Change de helft van Nederland onder de golven verdwijnt.. inclusief de totale Randstad . Meer dan tien 😂miljoen Nederlanders vluchten als eerste keuze naar het zuiden ! Naar België . Het is maar de vraag of ze daar worden toegelaten………
As a Belgian, I'm hurt by the food score and no mention of our cultural contributions such as the saxophone, the internal combustion engine, and the extremely complex political system. But in all seriousness comparing Belgium to any of its neighbors is complicated due to our history of being a member of each country (except Luxembourg, and even then I would not discount them invading one day) and the fact that our culture is a blend of all of them.
Regarding of beer, The Netherlands has more breweries then Belgium and more diversity of it. So i think that you need to dig some more into that and rate it again
As a person who lives in the USA and is heartbroken by the recent horrific outcome of the election..I'm done and would like to leave for at least the next 4 years. I've not been to either but if one was going to choose..my thoughts are in Belgium only because of a lower cost for rent...any thoughts??
As a dutch person I'd say that dutch infrastructure definitely deserves a much higher score. It's not just about the amount of infrastructure in place but also the quality, everyone who has driven across the border on the highway will know what I mean. That being said, I think Belgium deserves a higher score on food. Belgian food is very underrated and absolutely delicious, combine that with the trappist beers and the combination is to die for.
As a belgian i agree
I have the exact same idea. When you drive into the Netherlands, people actually stick to the speed limit. If you drive from the Netherlands into Belgium, as soon as you cross the border, 50% of the people start driving 140 kmh. Despite all the holes in the tarmac.
Anything below 8.5 for Belgian food is simply not right.
I agree. The Netherlands probably has the best infrastructure in Europe if not the world. So 8.5 is very low.
I totally agree on the fact that the roads in belgium are crap
(i'm dutch)
is not everywhere that roads are bad in Belgium. On some places
Fun fact: In The Netherlands we have jokes that make Belgian people look stupid like 'What is pinnacle of optimism? A Belgian with a scholarship' while the Belgians have jokes that make us look greedy like 'what do the Dutch give each other on Christmas eve? A handshake'
I'm Dutch and when I look at how our society has changed I think there are more intelligent people over the border in Belgium though. But ehh it's a joke I know, maybe I'm ruining the joke now lol
I know the greedyness is a joke but I cant help but to always reply by: Ouch damn it's a joke but it's actually true. We Dutchies dont wanna pay 1 cent too many for whatever that is
@@lillekenatnek195 I don't think there is really a difference in intelligence between Dutch and Belgian people. It's just fun to make fun of each other
That isn’t greediness, it economizing. I don’t want to pay too much for an item but on the other hand I save to buy expensive stuff like designer furniture and I give at least 2% of my income to charity. The Dutch give a lot to charity, in money, time and energy.
@@RealConstructor nah bro u gotta live, money needs to be spent in order to make the economy work. Your immense savings dont have much value when you lie under a gravestone is what they say
Nice for tourists. As a Dutchman living in Belgium for half of my life, I can tell you that on things that really matter in life, such as healthcare and education, Belgium wins 10-0.
I don't think there is ever really a "better" when it comes to countries, it all comes down to personal preference and situation.
Especially when talking about 2 rich western European nations.
That being said, as a Belgian who has visited Netherlands pretty frequently for various reasons over the years, these are the most major things i notice:
- Infrastructure and Attitude
NL simply has a way more modern (liberal) way of thinking, and when it comes to most infrastructure... it shows.
When i drive to NL, what i am most amazed by, is how complex the road system gets in some places.
I am often met with intersections and roundabout systems that you simply never see over here. (or not to the same extreme)
This probably also has a lot to do with me being from the countryside though.
Planning of city layouts is a big one too.
In NL everything built after the wars, has a lot of planning and thought put in to it.
While in BE, for a very long time the general idea was mostly: do whatever you want, we don't care.
Leading to a lot of city's and neighbourhoods being very illogically layed-out, and extremely costly to maintain.
In fact, many neighbourhoods dont even really feel as neighbourhoods, their just a bunch of existing streets that one day a few people decided to put houses and stores down.
And in many cases, that's exactly what they are.
You really can drive for hours over here, and have a constant mix of houses and shops passing by, feeling like 1 giant city, but having passed by multiple politically separate "villages" in reality.
Above that, you can expect that to a certain degree, 90% of NL citizens have accepted modern liberal social values to a pretty large degree. (excluding a specific set of bible belt area's)
Where as in BE, the same can not be said.
We too have a generally modern liberal way of thinking, but not to the same degree.
You will find way more people here with a mentality stuck somewhere in the 60's. (gay people have an illness, cars need to be king of the road at all times, etc...)
Overal NL definitely has a win here.
- Cuisine
I could be wrong in some ways, but generally i don't have the impression that lunch & dinner have the same "highlight of the day" feel to them in NL that it they do in BE.
People over here are very proud of their food, and want it to be a highlight of their day, so, there is a cultural push to make as good food as possible.
There are few things, that will make a Belgian feel nationalistic and defensive, but food and drinks are one of them.
While in NL, they definitely have speciality dishes and very good snacks (many of which we have imported in large quantities).
Most actual dishes don't really feel as something special they are really that proud of.
But more as something practical and cheap to make first and foremost.
We have these traditional "farmers dishes" too, but they are not where our traditional cuisine ends, where it largely does feel like that in NL.
Beer is a similar story, NL has lots of good and great normal pilsner beers, but lacks quite substantially when it comes to stronger speciallity beers.
In BE you will find that basically every city and collection of villages, has at least 1 brewery pumping out multiple kinds of specially beers, fruit beers, pilsners etc...
Cafe's over here often have entire restaurant style menu's of 20-40 different beers, the vast majority of which are Belgian speciality beers.
NL isnt a bad place for cuisine, but it can't match the culture and pride we have around food and drinks.
- Politics
Oh boy, the level of stability NL has when it comes to politics, is a daydream over here.
NL has had the same prime minister for the last 15 years or something.
While there is definitely votes being moved around, and parties being formed and sunk, generally, things always land on their feet, and not much comes of it.
Over here, seemingly half of our prime ministers of the 21 century don't even make it to the end of their 4 year term.
None make it to a second term, doing 3 or 4 terms like Rutte is completely unthinkable over here.
A lot of governments have fallen, literally years have passed in the past without a full federal government being formed at all.
A significant minority wants an independent Flanders, and has so for the last 60 years. (so you often have large groups of people seeting in a parliament of a country they don't even want to exist) And so on...
Yeah, NL is no complete beacon of stability either, but its definitely a more stable country politically.
- Cost of living & economy
Economically, we are both stable and rich couintries with no overly large problems i sight, no major differences there.
But i will say, cost of living is significantly higher in NL.
Housing situation in NL makes the one in BE look like a paradise, Cars are also taxed way heavier in NL, gas prices are also insanity in NL, i just tanked E10 for 1,61€ over here, i drove to NL and saw prices as high as 1,99€ by the highway, WHAT?!
Healthcare is more expensive and no better then over here.
Lots of groceries and telecom are cheaper in NL though, but i don't think it quite makes up for the others being so much more expensive.
Thanks for this comment! Very interesting👍
Thank you man
Economy is much better in the Netherlands. There's also mistakes in his numbers because personal income tax is 4% higher in Belgium. It's even higher than Finland in Belgium. We do have higher prices and more taxes overall. Netherlands is a rich country and Belgium is quite poor in comparison. Prices for daily goods are always higher in richer countries.
Belgium has double the debt as the Netherlands and a 40% lower GDP. The debt and total GDP difference is immense, a 53% lower debt to GDP in the Netherlands. Also a lower GDP per capita by 6000 USD in Belgium.
It isn't even close at all. The Netherlands competes with Scandinavian countries and Belgium competes with a Spain on economy.
Did you really think the Netherlands was close on economy? The Dutch are almost 4 times as rich than Belgium people if you equal the debt to GDP from both countries.
I hope you guys wrote this with chat GPT
Wholeheartedly agree, this is extremely accurate.
Mostly agree kind of with your grading, though for infrastructure I would give The Netherlands at least a 9, perhaps a 9.5, with the efficient public transport and amazing cycling infrastructure (that makes the inhabitants healthy!). Also the Dutch economy is very good, so I would give them a 9. Also the tourism deserves a little bit more than a 7, with pretty towns but above all fantastic art museums. Belgium on the other hand deserves more than a 7 for their cuisine. But fun concept, such a match!
Economy is also much better in the Netherlands. There's also mistakes in his numbers because personal income tax is 4% higher in Belgium. It's even higher than Finland in Belgium. Belgium also has double the debt as the Netherlands and a 40% lower GDP. Also a lower GDP per capita by 6000 USD. It isn't even close at all.
@@Joey-ct8bmidk what it is in the Netherlands but in Belgium it van be up to 50 percent
He Netherlands are just better, it had to be a bit close..
About infrastructure, I would rather give the Netherland at least a 9,5 or a 10, I am living in the Netherlands and have been in whole Europe, and believe me the Dutch infrastructure is WORLD-CLASS TOP NOCH in comparison to the rest of the or Europe or even the world.
About the economy the same, so you have to do your homework better my friend.
@@ianbruyIf you put life quality without Flaanders,Belgium would go under by far
I am actually comparing these countries irl right now through my vacation: road-trip through the Netherlands and Belgium. I’ve started with one week in the Netherlands and I have fallen in love with the beautiful quaint cities and friendly, cool people! Looking forward of the same nice experience from a week here in Belgium, now starting in Antwerp. Thanks for the video👏
Amazing! I did that trip once as well, really amazing countries to visit 🙌😁
Je ziet in de video alleen Amsterdam Rotterdam Brussel Brugge en de Ardenne . Daar doe je deze landen echt te kort mee. Belgie bvb Grotten van Han . Nederland heeft weer de Efteling
@@martijnduivenvoorde8085 Belgie heeft de originele walibi :). Onze wegen zijn misschien mooi verlicht, maar ze zouden net zo goed allemaal van kasseien zijn gemaakt. Het enige wat naar mijn mening echt beter is in belgie is het bourgondische voedsel, en misschien ook de gezondheidszorg. Voor de rest is nederland beter
How was your Belgium trip
@@laurensholthofVergeet niet het belastingsontduikingpotentieel voor de gemiddelde gegoede Nederlander.
How could you forget our iconic Vol-Au-Vent, our stoofvlees (beef stew), our witloof (Belgian endives) and our spruitjes (Brussels sprout)? Definitely worth mentioning when talking about Belgian food. Next to that, a lot more things worth mentioning in the tourism part, speaking about the medieval towns with a rich history like Brugge, Gent, and Leuven too! Enjoyed the comparison video though, thanks!
fun fact: Brugge means bridge in West-Flemish dialect and the locals pronounce it as BRUHHE
Or our mussles
There not "our" they are "their" but they are better in selling and we in cooking.@@AXELVISSERS
there are also alotta dutch foods he didn't name yk
niemand lust spruitjes sukkel
The border is clearly visible if you look at the difference in quality of the road / asphalt.
The only negative thing I can think off is Belgians in traffic in The Netherlands. We often have 0 clue of what their doing or going to do. I think their driving lessons need some attention. But other then that, I always loved everything about Belgium from Flanders to Wallonia. Their ancient cities, food and what not. I hope we will remain brothers forever. The Netherlands and Belgium brothers forever ❤
Sc heerenveen beste voetbalclub
Als ik in Nederland kom ben ik een minder goede chauffeur dan in belgie. Ik ben het niet gewoon om ergens te rijden waar geen putten zitten in de weg
That’s weird. most of the time Dutch people are known for not being that friendly and being a little ignorant and distant towards tourists, so I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Ik ervaar net hetzelfde als ik Nederlanders in België zie rijden. Al is dat vooral te wijten aan ergens te rijden waar je de omgeving niet kent. Hert is ook moeilijk om dat objectief te bekijken want je krijgt al snel vooroordelen.
I have the same feeling when I see Dutch people drive in Germany.
Belgium deserves higher score on food and culture
cappa
Belgium just sucks tbh
gemakkelijk een tien. een elf zelfs als je er ons trappistenbier en speciaalbieren bijrekent
i did not know beer is food but okay
@@Masterkruk oh only food... guess. Fries then (Frietn me mayonaise) lol.chocolate, Witlof in esperolletjes, Gentse Waterzooi, Waffles. its easily a Ten. if Beer is allowed as Belgian Food then its Eleven lol. and i dont like to call our Frietn, French Fries because they never came form france. i just call them Fries lol
As a Belgian i give my country a 6 in general, the food however is a 10(unless tourist traps). There is no place where you can eat this good in general, if you enter a restaurant, nine times out of ten you'll get amazing food. If i had to make the perfect country, i take the Netherlands with Belgian food.
As a Belgian I must agree to have cuisine rated a 9 atleast...
That's why the Belgians all come every weekend to the many (Michelin-)restaurants in the Dutch province of Zeeland. You often get better (sea)food way for less money than in Belgium. In general there is more innovation happening in Dutch cuisine currently, with the accent on sustainable plantbased ingrediënts like seavegetables and zero waste. So the comparison in this video is imo based on stereotypes, not on actual research. That said, I do like to visit Belgium.
as a belgian i agree with the statement u said :)
The perfect country would be the Netherlands with Belgian food and people. I like Belgian people more. I live in the Netherlands.
@@braziliaan Time to move then ;-)
Culture wise, The Dutch provinces of North Brabant, Limburg and the region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Southern part of Zeeland province) have more in common with Belgium because of the Bourgondic Catholic culture, while the rest of the Netherlands have more in common with Germany, England and Northern Europe because of the Calvinistic Protestant culture.
actually the english "protestant" anglicans have a lot in common with Belgium.... they too have a country made up of several different people who don't like eachother :D
@@roelantverhoeven371 but not as much as our southern provinces
Limburg is different you have a big part that's more like Germany and a bit that's just Belgium but on Dutch soil
Just want to share that the English name of what in Dutch is called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is Zeelandic Flanders. Just like Flushings is the English name of Vlissingen and The Hague is English for 's Gravenshage. If a place hasa an English name for it, you should use it in Englsh, but I suppose you were unware.
@@PendelSteven flushing because they invented the flush toilet
I moved from Brazil to the Netherlands one year ago, been living in Breda which is close to the border with Belgium and have been experiencing both cultures during this time. Agree with all the scores except I'd give NL a 9 in infrastructure. You made no mention to the abyss that exists between the two in terms of road quality. The roads here are probably the most well kept in the world considering the volume of traffic that goes through them.
076 heuyy
That’s because you are living in or around a large city. Have you ever lived outside the 8th largest settlement in The Netherlands? Also, their public transport system is the second most expensive in the world…
@@nandaszentkiralyi5821 well I don't think you need to live in a smaller city to be able to judge the roads, I have yet to see ONE hole or defect in a Dutch highway, road, avenue, street, alleyway, crossing, passage, you name it. On the other hand, if I want to immediately see bad roads all I need to do is drive 20 min to the south. And about the overall infrastructure in NL yes it's not perfect, I live in Breda but work In Waalwijk which has a huge industrial park but no easy public transport, it takes me 30 min to go by car, if I chose public transport it takes me 1:20h to get to the center of Waalwijk, which is another 15 min bike to the office so that's why it doesn't deserve a 10 😊
5 km away from entering belgium *hold on to your butts* 😂
@@nandaszentkiralyi5821 I live in a small town of 20 000 people and infrastructure here is better than that in the capitals of other countries
I'm Dutch and I worked 15 years in Brussels, while living mostly in Antwerp. The organization in Netherlands is better, for example; you never stand in line for more than 15 minutes. However the best restaurants, beers and chocolates you find in Belgium. A typical example of the differences: Dutch beers (Heineken) are produced for world wide export, Belgian beers (Westmalle) are produced to drink yourself with local friends from e.g. Westmalle :)
The Dutch are supposed to be greedy, but the most greedy persons, I ever met, were my Belgian landlords.
maybe you were just unlucky, idk im Dutch
@@lillekenatnek195 No, my Belgian friends had the same experience.
How were they "greedy"?
Huisbazen in NL zijn vast even gierig. Je moet oppassen dat je gewoon een persoonlijke ervaring niet veralgemeend.
@@MentalParadox Not greedy per-se, but stingy. It's a stereotypes us belgians push, in the same way they think we're all dumbasses.
i'm a belgian, and enjoyed this video a lot, although the netherlands should have gotten way more for infrastructure lol. their roads are DAMN good, you can notice it when you cross borders.
also, i think our food is underappreciated lol
it would be interesting to compare other categories such as military, education, crime rate, ...
Comparing these two countries is like comparing two brothers, one of which is an all-star athlete and the other is a mathematical genius, both are great in their own right and for different reasons.
I used to live in Belgium while my sister lived in the Netherlands. Not going to deny that everytime I crossed the border I was in a very different and amazing country but I find it quite artificial and unconfortable. I always find Belgium more human and far more tasty 😋😋🍻
you forgot about the bitterballen and frikandellen in the food catogory or the frikandelbroodje
Yes and frietje joppie
Bitterballen is actually VERY tasty 🤤
@@lillekenatnek195 patatje joppie
@@GOAT_GOATERSON thats unknown, all we know is Frietje Joppie which is delicious.
@@lillekenatnek195 nee, zeker niet, het is patat, geen friet
As a Dutchy, I'm always baffled by the fact that if you're gonna make a video about the NL/Belgium, why don't you also research how you pronounce, like literally anything; from butchering the names of Rijksmuseum, Baarle, Bruges, Bastogne, Stroopwafels, Gouda and much more.😅😅 Shouldn't be that hard.
I could not agree more . Some words sound totally different from what they should sound . This is a problem in all videos about The Netherlands and Belgium. It’s so bad. It’s like one is not interested in our countries after all but only in making videos. Suppose we pronounce English words totally incorrectly I wonder how English native speakers would react.
Absolutely agree. I'm a Belge and speak perfect english, even English speakers say that when a Dutch person speaks their language it's amazing how hard it is to notice it isn't their mother tongue. I've had Americans visit me and when I learn them a new word, they pronounce it really good as wel, so it can't be hard. Now ask me as a Belge to speak French, even though it's half of my country, I sound like a drunk clown falling down the stairs while trying to be fancy. But English and Dutch really isn't far apart when it comes to pronounciation.
Don't act French now, be normal
I am from the Netherlands,and i can say this. Belgium and Netherlands are good friends. Like family ❤.
Nou nou, laten we toch maar vrienden blijven.
@@PIMVERTOMMEN ja🤣
Vlamingen zijn familie, de andere helft zijn hun irritante sociale aanhangsels.
I'm Belgian (from Wallonia) and my wife is Dutch. I really love both the Netherlands and Belgium to death.
Because we've been a family for most of our History. The Netherlands and Belgica are the same words historically. For example curent Belgium (except For Liège) was called the "austrian Nederlands" and the latin name of the kingdom of the Nederlands" is called "Regnum Belgicum" in Latin. We only split when culture and religion broke us appart (simply explained : Buisness oriented protestant Bourgeoisie in the Nederlands and aristocratic catholics, french influenced, in the south)
Great video. In the history section I missed the fact that (part of) Belgium and the Netherlands were for some time one country. I also missed in the Dutch tourism part, everything outside of Holland. Some might argue that Holland is the best part, but I think the rest of the Netherlands has also great tourist value.
Vond ik ook . Bvb de Efteling heel beroemd in heel Europa voor toerisme
They were not the same country they were just the dutch once.
@@Timmenim thats what that means
for tourism: should we tell Countries Explainedt hat we have a part of our country in the Caribbean?
In my opinion I have never seen any other country then the netherlands with better infrastructure the quality of the roads and efficiency is so on point. The grade should be a 9 or 10 atleast. Also on world rankings of infrastructure it scores rank 1.
this almost made me mad to see since china took over hong kong the Netherlands became the best, probably because china sees it as a lower priority
@pietervanderzwaan4295 I think we need to keep an eye on Germany and Japan too. They have excellent infrastructure as well. Whatever the case, Japan definitely beats us on railway punctuality, lol.
That's because we're only small....so it's good maintainable.
That's bs, we just pay higher taxes for infrastructure@@REmcoo36
Don't forget the great cooperation between the two. The Dutch produce mussels and we Belguims eat it like there is no tomorrow.
With Belgian beer(more than 700's...)
I would have rated Belgium higher on the food personally. Both countries are worth visiting.
He did rate Belgium higher
@@tortoise9181 I know, I mean I would have given them a higher grade.
I rather die than go to Belgium, I won't support a Genocidal filth of a country
@@SerbijaSupremeAnd you think The Netherlands hasn't done the same thing? READ A BÖÖK And besides I suggest you'd better stay at home, cause a lot of Western countries are to blame for that!!!
@@stephanievantielen5615 did they do the same as the Belgians did to Congo?
Guys, I'll just write one point that makes Belgium better: renting a house in Netherland is a disaster and two times more expensive than in Belgium! and you still have to be lucky to get something... and earning isn't any better in Netherland...
Nice comparison video to see the differences. But as a Dutch person I think we have more in common than we have differences. And happy that we are in a union with our Belgian brother and Luxembourgish nephew. The Benelux is a powerhouse!
Im from Amsterdam and i dont understand why so many tourist come only to Amsterdam. There are so many nice old cities in the Netherlands such as Nijmegen, Maastricht, Utrecht, Groningen and many more others.
Exactly
as a belgian I would say that our food rating must be higher. but a really good job love your vids
Netherlands has the second best infrastructure so its crazy to me how you only gave an 8 more like a 9 or 9,5
And probably food for belgium higher french fries in my opinion already deserves an 8 because its so popular around the world
And i lived in the Netherlands my hole life and i never have seen an traffic jam with bikes😂(I live in a village so maybe in cities)
a lot of very simplistic takes on Belgium, from our dishes which are objectively great and i say that objectively comparing dutch and Belgian cuisine
in terms of congo, the congo freestate was a personal possession of leopold II, not Belgian yet until 1908
It's easy for foreigners to impose Leopold II sins on the belgian people . Belgians reluctantly accetted the transfer of authority on the Congo from privately owned by the king to the belgian people .
Dutch history is also very underrated. You may could’ve mentioned the VOC
and dont forget the slave trade. very very underrated indeed.
@@JalilhalmanBetter than a Mass Genocider as your 2nd King in your History and also being the reason for another Genocide and another one and another one the Rwandan Genocide 1994 and two Burundian Genocides in 1972 and 1993 also Belgium itself said that some of the tribes were the smartest in Africa and all these Colonies were Kingdoms before not Wasteland and managed to not get role over by foreign Portuguese or Arab Powers , yet the Congo is one of the Poorest and Burundi is the poorest and Rwanda also is in the lower segment of Africa you Belgians did nothing good and these Colonies were way better under German Rule.
@@JalilhalmanOh actually I could also count the Genocide nowadays in Congo of the Banyamulenge(Tutsi)
I dont understand what you are referring to as my comment was meant negatively towards the dutch. Lol. You ok bro?
@@Jalilhalman I'm just saying the Dutch already excused themselve of their Colonial past while Belgium still have Statues of a King that murdered 10 million people
Nothing beats the beauty of the Ardennes and the historic Flemish cities in Belgium. Combine this with the fantastic food and we have a winner ❤
The Ardennes are NOT where you marked them. The Ardennes start near the south east corner of The Netherlands and stretch out to Luxemburg.
The Ardennes are also in France...
@@PH61a Are you sure? I always thought that area was called The Lorraine, but I looked it up and you certainly have a point. The part of France that is called The Ardennes is the wrong area anyway... So they must have got them mixed up.
@@Millbrook1974powderedwater The map of the Ardennes showed here is definitely wrong, they seem to have moved the entire region south into France for the most part. The French part actually is the southern end of the Ardennes, and a rather narrow strip along the Belgian border, and it is situated west of the Lorraine, north of the province of Champagne.
Belgian here. I would gladly add even more points to the Netherlands because of the outstanding infrastructure, both for cars and public transport. On the other hand, they deserve even less points for food. If you would not just look at restaurants but what people eat at home during a working week, the low cost simplicity of the Dutch food is just incomprehensible for Belgians.
I thought of a fun solution for the Belgian potholes in the roads:
Drink sufficient Belgian beer to become drunk then try to drive straight and youll avoid the potholes.
Dutch food. It's a crime against humanity - almost as bad as Belgium's infrastructure, lol.
@@thevoid5503 lmao goeie reactie
absolutely true
If you include all the cuisines from Dutch (former) colonies like Indonesia, Suriname, and the Dutch Caribbeans, that food you can't find in Belgium at all, or not nearly as good. Try an original Toko with a rijsttafel, you'll be amazed, or Roti.
Food in Belgium just a small 7? Belgium is a food paradise with everything you desire from sweets to drinks.
Compared to the Netherlands 9/10 would be OK but compared to France even Wallonia would be rated 7/10 .
A 6 for food in the Netherlands? Have you ever tried a Indonesian Rijsttafel? Though it looks and sounds Indonesian, you can not get this in Indonesia? It’s a mix between Dutch & Indonesian cuisine.
Dude, I think living in the Netherlands is very comfortable and all, but just accept real Dutch quisine sucks to the extent Holland happily imported the food from their colonized territories. I'm sure people eat pizza and kebab more often than they go to the chinees. Doesn't make those two dishes Dutch either hahaha
Rijsttafel is nothing special, it is dishes from different islands of Indonesia put together on one table, then you claim that it's Dutch! The Dutch Germanic roots, it's cuisine is very bland and thank god it's enhanced by Indonesian influence but just seeing the Dutch cuisine as it is, it's really mediocre like other Germanic countries like England, Sweden, Denmark, Germany etc. It's all just mashed potatoes with gravies and fat sausages.
In England the food is quite enhanced with Indian cuisine, still it's Indian cuisine not suddenly British. Same goes for Donner kebab in Germany, it's now a staple food there still it isn't German but it's still Turkish.
@@bertrandvanleeuwenThinking the Dutch food culture consists of mashed potatoes just means you’re completely clueless, It’s the same like saying Belgiums eat fries on a daily basis. By the way no cuisine is original ever, potatoes are from South America and Indonesian food relies heavily on peppers from South America brought over by the Europeans. If a country has great variety of food readily available then I like it. If you’re cuisine isn’t available in the Netherlands it’s probably not very interesting.
when the panel tastes a frikandel speciaal with unions they will rate the food over ninethousaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand
@BeesKneesBenjamin, it is still correctly also Dutch and should be included in the cuisine and comparison. Else, by that logic countries like USA would have no cuisine, only an imported one.
Together we score almost 90 points! Who can beat us?
that's the spirit !!!
I prefer going to Belgium instead of Netherlands basically because of the Walloon part and their amazing food and francophonic culture. Liège might not be the prettiest city but the supermarkets the little restaurants and cheese shops etc are amazing. French/Belgian patisserie… oh la la.. french Fashion Labels etc. for culture architecture and history Antwerpen is for the highlight… but of course Leuven Gent and Brugge are amazing too. Brussels is not exactly my cup of tea. If it comes to the Walloon part there are some heavy underrated places like Namur or Dinant and lovely villages in the Ardennes. Belgium for is more diverse. The Netherlands have those amazing beaches and my fave places are Leiden and Delft. But overall it’s more orderly than Belgium and thus maybe not as sensual and loose as Belgium. The streets are not that different anymore, maybe in the city centers.. but motorways are in good condition.. both countries are worth a visit but Belgium seems to be the underdog. Love them both.. my neighbors one hour away by car ❤
You're forgetting Tournai .
@@jme104 I haven’t been to Tournai yet. It’s on my bucket list. I’ve only mentioned places I’ve visited myself
Love our southern brothers and sisters. We are better in sports, they have better music, we have better economics, they have better beer (and food !! (a solid 10 point from the Dutch jury), we are generally more open (because of our trading history) they are a bit more reserved, in the main we Dutchies are a lovable lot, in the main Belgians are a lovable lot (no difference there and that's why we intermarry a lot).
apart from a feeling of goodwill between the Belgians and the Dutch, I don't think that a comparison is edifying, it's not more relevant than comparing a giraffe with a cat. you talked about Dutch painters but not Belgian painters, however, Brueghel, Magrit, Folon, Van Eyck are not extras. and comics? Nothing? Smurfs, Tintin? no? and museums? and most importantly: Belgium is a concentrate of history, you can visit fortresses and castles from all period, medieval, renaissance etc. and all that on a pocket handkerchief. no, giving points is damaging, both countries have their interests. everyone has their own perception which has no need to be influenced 😉
And don't forget that Belgium had a lot of destructions in first world war .
About tourism in Amsterdam, you forgot to mention COFFEESHOPS and RED LIGHT DISTRICTS. These two attract too many tourists 😉
Antwerpen also has a red light district. No coffeeshops though, for obvious reasons
Not a completely worthless comparison, but still very superficial. Is normal in 12 min, I understand. I think Belgium has more to offer for people that want variation. Laying on the beach, visiting a medieval town and a hike in nature are easy to combine in a few days. And the food is so good...if you avoid the busy places
Belgium deserved way more in the food section.
They have some good food that’s for sure
The Netherlands are great and it is an effective state and society. Belgium is not on the same level on these topics but what it lacks there is being leveled up by its charm. For example the food category was highly undervalued for Belgium in the video, it would score at least 8 or even 8,5 if you leave all tourist traps out 😅 Most Dutch would agree on that. Nice video anyway!
The Netherlands is also well known for the famous (and large global) companies Shell, ING, Unilever, Heineken, Philips, Ahold Delhaize, Aegon, Rabobank, ASML and KLM.
The Dutch are also known around the world for their dance and electronic music DJs such as Tiësto (best DJ by DJMag in 2002-2004), Armin van Buuren (2007-2010+2012), Hardwell (2013-2014), Martin Garrix (2016-2018+2022) and Afrojack. Other famous Dutch artists are Eddie Van Halen (Jump), George Baker Selection (Little Green Bag), Shocking Blue (Venus), Golden Earring (Radar Love) and Duncan Laurence (Arcade).
Other worldwide famous "Dutchies" are Johan Cruyff, Anne Frank, André Rieu, Rutger Hauer, Paul Verhoeven, Doutzen Kroes, Famke Janssen, Carice van Houten, Michiel Huisman, Marwan Kenzari, Rico Verhoeven, Sven Kramer, Max Verstappen, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Arjen Robben, Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong. Finally don't forget to watch the internet hit 'America first, Netherlands second' from Zondag met Lubach.
True but delhaize is from belgium 😮
@@massimomelis1048 yes, but that's the name of the company which headquarters is in The Netherlands. Ahold had 61% of the shares and is Dutch of course.
Er is nog een 2de Delhaize die niet bij Ahold hoort en is nog steeds Belgisch (waren broers geloof ik)
@@so_what_else_is_new Ah dat kan, maar ik had het enkel over Ahold dat een paar jaar geleden is gefuseerd met Delhaize. Maar oké: de andere Delhaize is en blijft van de Belgen 😉
Great video! What do you use to render those maps?
After effects 👌
When he is talking about the infrastructure and bikes in the Netherlands as a Belgian I can say. And it’s not like that only the Netherlands have those bike garages. In Belgium there are also a lot of people biking and ther are here also a lot of bike garages.
You mentioned Rembrand for the Dutch, but you didnt mention for example Peter Paul Rubens (who was born in Germany, but lived most of his life in Antwerp, which at that time was south netherlands because Belgium was not independent yet), Pieter Bruegel de Oude or Jan van Eyck.
On modern art, theres also René Magritte and Panamarenko (Henri Van Herwegen)
I think Belgium definetely deserved more points for culture!
There is something to be said for that. But when it comes to modern art: René Magritte is great, but however let's keep the door a little open for a bit of modesty
@@PIMVERTOMMEN Belgium has around an equal amount of well known artists as the Netherlands, despite its size difference, so it should definitely have been mentioned at least.
You might not agree with some of the art like Panamarenko, but it is still world famous
Belgian strips as an example. Kuifje, Suske and Wiske, the Smurfs and my personal favourite Guust Flater / Gaston Lagaffe.
The Belgiums are our friends, we cherish the differences.
Did you know? A dutch business, Phillips, had a factory in Belgium. In that factory, they invented CD, DVD, casette, and more.
Also Lithuania vs Poland/Latvia would be interesting
Lithuania Vs Latvia or Estonia. Poland is over 10 Lithuanias, it would be ridiculous
polish women vs lithuanian and latvian women sounds interresting
Its very clear that the creator of this video never heard or see an Van Eyck and Rubens painting, the palace of Napoleon in Antwerp and has never eating Belgian cuisine, instead of that he's delighted over fast food that comes out of a Dutch wall. For sure a real American.
And 700 Belgian beers...
When explaining that Flanders is the economic heart of Belgium, it would have been nice to mention that this followed long period when the francophone elite ruled the country, neglecting and exploiting the Flemish and Flanders. When the coal and steel economy in Wallonia cratered, and Flanders flourished and took over as the economic leaders, the Wallons demanded and received more than generous handouts. For example, for every kilometer of highway built in Flanders, the same had to be built in Wallonia, often at greater cost because of the hills and mountains, and usually in places where there was no need. When I worked in Belgium, it was often faster to take a long detour through Wallonia because the empty highways made the journey so much faster and less stressful. That kind of accommodation did not exist when Wallonia ruled the country. When francophones moved out of congested Brussels to the leafy towns around the city, which were/are in Flanders and Flemish speaking, they demanded to be served in French, even if they were still a minority.
As a result of all that history, Belgium now consists of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels which is supposedly bilingual, plus a French speaking and a Dutch speaking community, and a ton of other subdivisions that make the country a nightmare to rule.
Judging or rating Belgium from an outside point of view cannot really take these things into account, but they should be.
Fun fact: one of my best experiences in Belgium was when I visited a factory that was part of a Dutch company. Being in Wallonia, they had francophone management, and like all those companies they were used to be served in French when dealing with anyone else. In this case, not just the Flemish but also their Dutch overlords. With the decline in Wallonia and the rise of Flanders, one day I was told by their top management that they had started to take lessons in Dutch. They finally realized who was top dog in the relationship.
Not to forget the german speaking part of belgium and not to forget that we have three official languages here in belgium
@@AkiWetzels True. That's why I wrote "and a ton of other subdivisions". Trying to keep it fairly short and easy for the average viewer. But the German community is very under-acknowledged.
The francophones should start doing something about their economy instead of living in the past
@@petru196wallonish brabant is very rich and correct.
@@petru196 You, boy, should travel .
I know this video is made for good fun but I don't think it is exactly fair to say that Belgium has a dark past when it comes to the whole Congo thing. Congo was, when the atrocities were committed, not a Belgian colony, but an independent state owned by king Leopold (who by the way was hardly a true Belgian himself) and the crimes were committed by his army of mercenaries made up of local soldiers and European mercenary officers. It was only later when Leopold had to give up his land under international pressure that Congo became a Belgian colony and from then on it was ruled far more humanely. So I'd say Leopold has to take blame for that, not Belgium, and I'm a Netherlander saying that so there you go...
What about UK? The Empire of blood on 5 continents
@@GuyWets-zy5yt An Empire that fought to abolish slavery, introduced technology, medicine, law and science to many underdeveloped areas and also allowed Britain to fight and defeat Nazi Germany, especially when considering that the US and Canada are also products of the British Empire. I'm not gonna say that it was always sunshine and bunnies all the time, but neither was it the Evil Empire from Star Wars people are making it out to be these days. This demonizing of the Western colonial past beyond what it really was is childish and unnuanced and also hypocritical coming from people who don't give a damn about the modern day oppression of countries by larger powers like Tibet, Kurdistan and Western New Guinea.
High taxes is the price we Dutch have to pay for excellent healthcare and infrastucture. Have you ever seens Belgiums roads, I don't mean amount of roads but the quality, holes and bumps everywhere
I'm a half belgium half dutch but mostly lived in the netherlands. I went on a motorcycle trip to belgium, i'm happy i have an offroad bike XD i wouldn't call some of those routes roads. There was more hole than tarmac. But i still love belgium good food and beer indeed and nicer landscape.
@@revenger2111some of those 'roads' almost gave me a kidney problem
"Belgian roads". At this point, it's a meme. The Belgians learned from their history of constantly getting invaded. I mean: no invading army could ever make it past the Ring Antwerpen. Or that collection of confusing highways around Liege and Charleroi. They must have done this on purpose !
They are working at new roads yk they can't make them all un holes in 1 min
I don't know where you people go driving, but it sounds like you're exaggerating massively. Yes, our roads are not as good as yours. Yes, some areas (in the port, where I work, they are atrocious) are really bad. But the parts where I'd expect foreigners to drive, like the ring of Antwerp, should be fine.
You need to compare Latvia and Lithuania, so people wouldn’t mistake them a bit less.
As a Latvian I see this way too often.
Also, I disagree on tourism in Netherlands, to me, it’s interesting than in Belgium.
yeah because of the beaches in Zeeland
Although I generally agree with the scoring, I would give the Netherlands a 9 (even 9.5) on infrastructure, but I would give Belgium also an 8 in culture, as it is also very famous for painters. Don't forget that they were 1 country, until 1830, and the so-called 'Vlaamse primitieven' (mostly active in Brugge and Gent i.e. current Belgium) date from the 15th-16th century. Therefore, I don't think it's fair to mention them only in the part of the Netherlands... This being said, the Netherlands is still the rightful overall winner! Greetings from Belgium ;-)
To be honest..... this has been made by a person who has never visited both countries in real life. The Netherlands is not completely flat, there are regions who have hills like Limburg. And it is shocking that, again, you only look at Amsterdam for culture or the Keukenhof. The Netherlands has beautiful city's, not only in the west (the only part you mention), but also in the north. east en south. Groningen, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Utrecht and Den Bosch are great larger cities, and there are more smaller gems. The road network is first class, payed by those 'high taxes' (you are probably a American). The Dutch are technological extreme advanced, ever looked at the Delta Werken? The Dutch taxes pays for a extensive social network like healthcare, workers rights making the Netherlands one of the highest countries when it comes to quality of life.
You are right when it comes to food though.
Belgium looks a lot like the Netherlands. But they also have far more beautiful cities and places you described. The roadnetwork is good, but comes not even close to the quality of the Dutch. It's fantastic to see how this country handels themselves with such an split in population. The Belgium coastline is also fantastic and let not forget the Ardennes, one of the most beautiful areas in Europe. Antwerp and Brussels are two of the finest cities when it comes to culture. Belgium food is, to ben honest, just as bad as the Dutch (who can also make great beer).
You forget how two small countries are so good at sports, have made a impact on the world in de past and today (both positive as negative) and Belgium is de centre of the EU.
This is a tourist movie.
You, my man, seriously failed if you compare belgian (Burgundian) food to that of the netherlands. You are also gravely overstating our road network, as it is hot garbage flung around a few times in a plastic bag, and then run over by a 14 wheeler. No, dutch beer doesn't compare to belgian beer (I'm not saying all belgian beers are good, cough cough cara and maes), but it's certainly better than the plethora of beers I tried in my days. Yes, brussels is home to the nato and eu hq, but that really doesn't impact the local state of affairs. Our politics run about as well as an engine that has been starved of oil for the past 7 years but has been running non-stop in that time period. Imo, the netherlands still win by a landslide if not for the food and healthcare being better in belgium.
@@laurensholthof I responded to this youtube flim. Not reality.
Belgian food is great wtf. Belgian stoofvlees, vol au vent, best mussles, best chocolate, best waffles, best beer, ... an 8 or 9 should be given. Every single restaurant i've been to in Belgium was delicious.
Agree with you on most things, except Brussels being one of the finest cities. i've been there a couple of times now, but i think its horrible. Not only the traffic, but the city looks like shit aswell and is dirty. Brugge and Antwerp are much better citites.
@@Oppersimp You've been there 24 hours ?
We Dutch will win of course. We've got more people, and only one official language.
Our unofficial second language, English, is spoken relatively well by most people.
Belgium has two official languages, not sure if German is their third.
Anyway, most Belgians only speak their 'own' language, so Flemish will speak Dutch, Walloons speak French, and not that many are able or willing to speak both Dutch and French.
Btw, Ardennes is pronounced 'Arr - Dens' not Ardenese.
Duits is gewoon een officiële taal. Dat geven ze ook in verschillende scholen tijdens het middelbaar. Alle Vlamingen krijgen Franse les op school dus in principe moeten we dit goed kunnen al is dat bij mij een ramp want na mijn school heb ik het nooit meer gebruikt. Af en toe in Frankrijk bij de bakker is niet echt voldoende. Engels de Vlamingen even goed dan Nederlanders. Walen langs de andere kant krijgen maar heel weinig Nederlands op school.
Vlamingen zijn op dat vlak dus beter in talen dan Nederlanders maar Walen veel slechter.
Just ask wikipedia, you lazy dutchman .
@@mathiasm8489 Sommige Vlamingen beheersen vijf talen: Duits, Frans, Engels, Spaans en Nederlands....
As a Dutchman I have to add this...without Flanders, probably no Holland and Zeeland as we know it...and without Holland and Zeeland probably no Netherlands as we know it...that should earn the Belgians an extra point...so I'd give it a tie...
As a Dutchman I say Belgium wins - it has a superior educational system. Near the border thousands of Dutch kids go Belgisn schools; hardly a Belgian parents sends her/his kid to the other side. Belgium scores two points better.
Go to fuckin Charleroi and shit then come back also Netherlands have way higher Life quality experience Netherlands and Belgium properly and you will see that Netherlands is far better.
Economie Nederland clears, infrastructuur Nederland clears geschiedenis Nederland clears hoog onderwijs Nederland clears
Logisch want ons onderwijs is veel betaalbaarder. Over studieschulden heb ik ook nooit iets gehoord in België.
@@mathiasm8489 daardoor is de kwaliteit ook minder
@@TommyVdz2022 kwaliteit minder? Onze universiteiten worden overspoeld met nederlanders die vaak na 1 jaar afdruipen omdat ze het niet aankunnen.
Can you do Iceland vs Sweden,I've been to both countries,just wanna know who's the best
Definitely! 🇸🇪🆚🇮🇸
44,5 vs 45 points. I think we Dutch are more alike the Belgians (or vice versa) then we think. And to be honest. I don't care. Belgians (and to be honest the Flemish abit more due to the language) are for me to most alike in Europe.
Many Dutch prefer to live in Belgium, the more hilly regions. One can see further than the neighbor's door. Nothing so depressing than a building constantly blocking your view.
As a Dutchman, living 20 minutes from the Belgium border I'd say both countries have their pro's and cons and one isn't better than the other
🇧🇪❤️🇳🇱
Belgium does have 105% debt GDP though and the Netherlands 52%. Also a GDP per capita 6000 USD higher and a trillion dollar economy while Belgium has a 600 billion USD economy.
Belgium is on par with a countries like Spain and Italy while the Netherlands is on par with the Scandinavian countries on economy.
This isn't remotely close at all. It's a huge oversight in this comparison to not show total GDP and debt. It's a 53% difference in debt on a much higher GDP. The Netherlands is one of the best economy's in the world and Belgium is very average, below average in Europe. 5th highest debt of Europe.
@@Joey-ct8bmWell that means nothing. The average Belgian person owns 3 times more then the average Dutch person and you know why the average Belgian person is 3 times as rich? Because the Netherlands have more billionaires and millionaires but the average Dutch person is a lot poorer.
@@GianniDN The Netherlands has the 3rd most population in middle class in Europe after Denmark and Norway. The Netherlands hits another homerun here too.
Hee ik ook. Waar woon je?
Okay the Netherlands won with 45 but you don't mention is almost a tie , Belgium has 44,5 points
I would also pay attention to the condition of the roads! The roads in The Netherlands are more smooth and it looks like newer asphalt most of the time. The roads in Belgium look older and have often holes in them. This makes them very bumpy to drive on! 😁
In Nederland betaal je het dubbel in verkeersbelasting, die wegen zijn echt niet dubbel zo goed🤣 Volgens mij zijn er veel belangrijkere zaken om u druk over te maken zoals de woningmarkt, studieschulden,...
@@mathiasm8489 Natuurlijk, maar het is leuk voor de video 😄
@@mathiasm8489 Hahaha you are saying roads are not twice as well paved, and I think you need to take the E34 once and seriously reevaluate that statement xD. Roads here are worse than roads in the norwegian countryside that haven't been repaved in 20 years
Daar is een heel simpele logische verklaring voor die iedereen precies gewoon wil negeren. In België hebben we links & rechts slechte wegen omdat wij een heel heel groot wegennet hebben dat ooit 'goedkoop' is aangelegd en dat allemaal gaan vervangen is gewoon onbetaalbaar (dat komt met de tijd wel goed). Al bij al, valt het heel goed mee, als je echt gaat zoeken ga je natuurlijk de extreme gevallen vinden.
You've either never been to Belgium or didn't understand it. A rating of 7 for Belgian food is way too low, and this is without even mentioning the mind-boggling diversity of Belgian beer. I love Dutch people, and while the food here is good, Belgian cuisine is more refined because a large part of it is basically French... And Brussels has the most restaurants per square kilometer in the world.
This Rick dude mustve been important, having a Dutch museum named after him, sjeesh 😂
Yeah: Rick's Museum is amazing LOL!!!!
You could've also made a category about sports, like the belgian people are popular with soccer, hockey, cycling, ... The dutch people are also popular at different sports. I think it could be an interesting category.
Good idea! 🙌😁
We are better with FOOTBALL, wie in de neuk noemt voetbal nog soccer these days haha
The Dutch are way better in way more sports: check the amount of Olympic medals in total. Belgium about 150, Netherlands about 450.
Italy vs Spain next
The Netherlands vs. Spain and then send it to Josefa Vlogs
As someone from belgium, before even watching this video, I already knew that The Netherlands is better than us
Have you ever seen the roads in belgium? They are horribel, I think they should have scored lower there. Apart from that great video, I agree with you.
maybe in the early 2000's... ever since belgian roads have greatly improved
@roelantverhoeven371 you can still feel the instant difference in road quality when driving through the border
horribel sounds kinda horrible i gotta say
as a belgian i agree the roads are shit
@@aceaight depends what direction you come from, driving through Flanders into NL I legit do not feel a difference
I absolutely love your channel. Greetings from Down Under.
I totally disagree about the food in the Netherlands. Belgium has fries. Well beautiful. But we have fries with peanut sauce and that is the best fries in the world. In terms of snacks, we are the best country in the world anyway. Frikadellen, bitterballen, mexicano, cheese soufflé, and I could go on and on. Traditional dishes such as the Dutch Snert, kale stew, sauerkraut stew, endive stew, rice with goulash and green peas. It is certainly true that Belgium has tastier specialty beers. But Heineken is served all over the world. And that is really not the best Dutch lager. I wouldn't trade my Grolsch for anything in the world. Certainly not for such a weak lager as Jupiler from Belgium. I'm not saying that the Netherlands has a better kitchen than the Belgian one. But a 6 hits like a dick on a drum kit with shitty sound.

Dutch make stews of everything, that's the problem.
Frieten zijn mijn lievelingseten al wil ik het niet echt gastronomisch noemen. Al moet je ze gewoon vers en in keer bakken. Dat begrijpen ze op veel plaatsen nog niet😅
@@mathiasm8489 Food sucks in the Netherlands, in Belgium it's better especially in Wallonia but compared to France , it sucks too .
Ga je nu echt Heineken of Grolsch betere pils noemen dan bv Stella? Ik zet Jupiler persoonlijk ook wel lager dan Stella, al blijft die wel torenhoog uitsteken boven Hollandse troep. De enige pils bieren die vergelijking met Belgische aankunnen (en soms ook beter zijn) komen mi uit de originele Pilsen regio (waar pilsner bieren dus best wel terecht hun naam van ontlenen).
En verder, tja, ik ga niet proberen te discussiëren over de finesse van Oude Geuzes of proberen uit te leggen wat Westmalle Tripel net dat beetje doet uitstekken boven andere Tripels, laat staan de strelende elegantie van een kruidige amber zoals La Chouffe bespreken met iemand die zweert bij Heineken ed. Elke Nederlander die beweert dat hun (landelijk gemiddelde) idee van smaak vergelijkbaar is met wat wij in België gewend zijn, heeft gewoon een minder ontwikkeld pallet. Er bestaat echt wel zoiets als goede smaak, helaas kan daarover niet worden gediscussieerd met diegenen die zelfs dat besef niet hebben.
Blijf gewoon lekker in je eigen klasse spelen en moei je niet met de hogere niveaus. Straks ja je nog beweren dat jullie keuken beter is dan bv de Franse of Italiaanse. En wellicht nog verontwaardigd worden ook zij enige reactie daarop onwaardig en onnodig zouden vinden.
Betweterige onwetendheid lijkt mij een karaktertrek die disproportioneel vaak terugkeert bij Nederlanders als ik mij op de commentaren hier moet baseren. Altijd het luidste willen roepen maar keer op keer onzin uitkramen. Je kan ze er echt uitplukken uit tientallen nationaliteiten onder toeristen eender waar je komt. Zo trots, zo zelfzeker en dat helaas zonder reden merendeels.
Geniet van je Grolsch, maar probeer voor 1 keer niet heel de camping op stelten te te zetten met je irritante, onzinnige geschreeuw altijd. Wij Belgen zijn echt niet de enigen die zich ergeren aan die Hollanders die weer zichzelf weer eens veel interessanter of beter vinden dan de rest, zonder dat echt te zijn maar het helaas wel van de daken blijven schreeuwen…
No hard feelings btw. Over smaak valt niet te discussiëren, zoals ik al zei.. 😜
Giving a one point difference in the food category is criminal
How about Liechtenstein vs. Vatican City lol
That one would be interesting! 👀
@@CountriesExplainedcity-states. add singapore, monaco, etc.
You do not know a lot about Belgian food. We have more to offer than fries and chocolate. Belgium has the most Michellin star restaurants per capita in the world. Get out of the tourist traps and you will quickly understand what I am talking about.
Really, you should drive from the south of the Netherlands into belgium and you will notice how bad belgiums infrastructure is.
Extra note: in category language belgium will win: beautiful flemish. However, its not ideal to have such a split in language and culture,
Landscape in Belgium has a gloomier outlook than the landscape in the Netherlands, thus making the infrastructure look worse and not so well kept.
@@deepblue188 ahh, I agree to most Belgian statements but thisone I dont. The landscape does not optically infuence the state of the road. The potholes are literally there actually. And the traffic lights are also not affected by the landscape.
@@deepblue188bs infrastructure at Brussels roundabout (ringweg) has not changed in 40 years (seen it myself) . The concrete blocks on the road to direct traffic are normally for temporarily use only.
Not 40+ years.
Many roadworks know happening in Belgium most likely EU money.
Belgium 44.5
Netherlands 45
If u add the numbers
We have hills too! In the Netherlands and a lot of microbreweries
Belgium did not exist until 1830, when it separated from the Northern Netherlands. Anything happening before that was not really Belgium. Another small correction: Baarle (Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau) is not located "on the border". The border between the two countries is quite a ways further South. Baarle-Hertog is an enclave in the Netherlands, would be the simplest description, although there are parts of Baarle-Nassau that are enclaves within that enclave, and so on. Still, Baarle is a unique place. Famous in my youth because in Baarle-Hertog the Belgian laws applied, so shops could be open on Sunday, while the shops in Baarle-Nassau had to be closed. Some shops moved their entrance to another part of teh shop that was in Belgium to allow opening on Sunday. Sunday shopping was a thing attracting tourists, in addition to the quaint atmosphere in the place.
Belgium did not exist before 1830 might be true in theory, in practise it is a bit of a misleading statement though.
About Germany you can say in a very similar fashion that it did not exist before 1866.
Belgium has been a part of many countries in its history, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, the Romans etc...
And it has always existed, just under different forms, as a part of different empires.
The name Belgium was not invented out of thin air.
It is the name of a region within the Roman empire that lines up roughly with the borders of what we now call Belgium.
People here have always identified with each other, we just only got the chance to become a country in 1830.
Why do I feel like this guy did, and I'll be generous, 20 minutes of research on both counties and called it a day?
MAKE A VIDEO ON SOUTH AFRICA
It’s coming veeery soon 👀
@@CountriesExplained ok
south africa vs north africa.
Netherlands vs south Africa (because they are still brothers in (distance)).
@@pietervanderzwaan4295 netherland vs indonesia/
I have to go against the food decision for Belgium
WE DO have a lot of great dishes, amazing dishes in fact, the only country in europe that can beat us is Italy, I say that having been to most countries in europe at least for a while, we follow the burgundian tradition of hearthy rich meals full of herbs, not many spices but I would say that is a + as we have ethnic quisines for that
also i think belgian cuisine should be ranked higher
You forgot our islands in the Waddenzee (world nature heritage), feels quite wild, plus all the river and water lands the Betuwe is quite nice too, South Limburg has hills (start of the Ardennes I would say), plus the islands in the Caribbean ;) And anyway Belgium was part of the Netherlands, so make it a 9!!
I'm Dutch and i love my neighbors, period.
Das Deutsche volk ist ihr sehr erkentlich
The Dutch love all the countries save Russia, a far away country they know next to nothing about its preposterous
@@lioneldemun6033 Are you talking about me ? Because i hold the Russian people very high on my personal scale. Keep your prejudice to yourself, ps, i was talking about neighbors, Russia isn't.
@@peet4921 I m sure you do but your Government on the other side...( hem, hem)
@@lioneldemun6033 Ehh, yeah, that's a whole different issue. But then again, which western government nowadays represents its people ?
I live in the Netherlands and work in Belgium. For me (just my opinion) the Netherlands is much better in all categories except for the cuisine.
Voor werk ook blijkbaar want daarvoor kom je ook 😉
Wat bedoel je zelfs met veel beter, het is moeilijk om deze punten echt objectief te benaderen. Een half punt of een punt is verwaarloosbaar wan je gaat toch bv niet verhuizen als het eten een half punt beter is.
Belgium always seem so forgotten in western europe, just like Denmark and Finland.
If the first and second world war are the topic The Netherlands also seems left out pretty many. For the first world war thats kinda logic but the second not
belgium isnt real country. its just a border betweem france and dutch.
@@rizkyadiyanto7922 says who
I was woried for a while but at the end you made the right decision!
Sorry, don’t agree! Holland is a lot more interesting and Belgium is good but not that fun! Just personal opinion from a traveler 😊
Traveller, how long did you stay in Belgium ? One day out of your muricun seven days of vacation ?
@@jme104 just a minute 🤣 seriously, a week is not enough but to get a vibe perfectly counts. Also i do travel a lot so … sorry, not the most interesting one.
Well it looks like i`m gonna make a reaction video of this and explain even more about it!
the road in Belgium are not great. i would rate infrastucture in belguim lower.
Nederlanders zagen harder over putjes in onze belgische wegen dan de belgen zelf. Ik woon in West vlaanderen, de wegen zijn hier goed genoeg. + Het zijn dan ook maar autostrades, je kan daar miljarden "cosmetica" blijven inpompen zonder uiteindelijke extra meerwaarde uit te halen.
id say a 4/10 its driveable but you really have to watch for craters and some roads hurts your kidneys.
@@pietervanderzwaan4295 Als je rondrijdt met een gammele caravan is dat waarschijnlijk zo...
Well, in the beginning you mentioned a lot of the Netherlands below sea level. That could be a problem very long term unfortunately.
Het is maar een kwestie van tijd dat als gevolg van Climate Change de helft van Nederland onder de golven verdwijnt.. inclusief de totale Randstad . Meer dan tien 😂miljoen Nederlanders vluchten als eerste keuze naar het zuiden ! Naar België . Het is maar de vraag of ze daar worden toegelaten………
Compare norway and sweden🤍
Definitely will! 🇳🇴🆚🇸🇪
As a Belgian, I'm hurt by the food score and no mention of our cultural contributions such as the saxophone, the internal combustion engine, and the extremely complex political system. But in all seriousness comparing Belgium to any of its neighbors is complicated due to our history of being a member of each country (except Luxembourg, and even then I would not discount them invading one day) and the fact that our culture is a blend of all of them.
Regarding of beer, The Netherlands has more breweries then Belgium and more diversity of it. So i think that you need to dig some more into that and rate it again
Belgian beer is better
we are talking a bout quality not quantity 😋 i prefer Belgian beer as a Dutchman
@@lillekenatnek195 you clear then haha
Belgian food gets an 8 minimum
As a person who lives in the USA and is heartbroken by the recent horrific outcome of the election..I'm done and would like to leave for at least the next 4 years. I've not been to either but if one was going to choose..my thoughts are in Belgium only because of a lower cost for rent...any thoughts??