Brussels as a capital

Despite what its name suggests, the Brussels-Capital Region is not the capital of Belgium in itself. Article 194 of the Belgian Constitution establishes that the capital of Belgium is the City of Brussels, the municipality within the capital region that once was the city's core.^[8]
The City of Brussels is the location of many national institutions. The Royal Palace, where the King of Belgium exercises his prerogatives as head of state, is situated alongside the Brussels Park. The Palace of the Nation is located on the opposite side of this park, and is the seat of the Belgian Federal Parliament. The office of the Prime Minister of Belgium, colloquially called Law Street 16 (Dutch: Wetstraat 16, French: 16, rue de la Loi), is located adjacent to this building. This is also the place where the Council of Ministers holds its meetings. The Court of Cassation, Belgium's main court, has its seat in the Palace of Justice. Other important institutions in the City of Brussels are the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, the Court of Audit, the Royal Belgian Mint and the National Bank of Belgium.
The City of Brussels is also the capital of both the French Community of Belgium^[9] and the Flemish Community.^[10] The Flemish Parliament and Flemish Government have their seats in Brussels,^[24] as do the Parliament of the French Community and the Government of the French Community.

Municipalities

Main article: List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region

	French name	Dutch name
	Anderlecht	Anderlecht	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
	Auderghem	Oudergem
	Berchem-Sainte-Agathe	Sint-Agatha-Berchem
	Bruxelles-Ville	Stad Brussel
	Etterbeek	Etterbeek
	Evere	Evere
	Forest	Vorst
	Ganshoren	Ganshoren
	Ixelles	Elsene
	Jette	Jette
	Koekelberg	Koekelberg
	Molenbeek-Saint-Jean	Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
	Saint-Gilles	Sint-Gillis
	Saint-Josse-ten-Noode	Sint-Joost-ten-Node
	Schaerbeek	Schaarbeek
	Uccle	Ukkel
	Watermael-Boitsfort	Watermaal-Bosvoorde
	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe
	Woluwe-Saint-Pierre	Sint-Pieters-Woluwe

The Town Hall of the City of Brussels municipality

The 19 municipalities (communes) of the Brussels-Capital Region are political subdivisions with individual responsibilities for the handling of local level duties, such as law enforcement and the upkeep of schools and roads within its borders.^[25][26] Municipal administration is also conducted by a mayor, a council, and an executive.^[26]
In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, including the 19 in the Brussels-Capital Region.^[27] Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964, 1970, and 1975.^[27] However, several municipalities outside of the Brussels-Capital Region have been merged with the City of Brussels throughout its history including Laeken, Haren, and Neder-Over-Heembeek, which were merged into the City of Brussels in 1921.^[28]
The largest and most populous of the municipalities is the City of Brussels, covering 32.6 square kilometres (12.6 sq mi) with 145,917 inhabitants. The least populous is Koekelberg with 18,541 inhabitants, while the smallest in area is Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, which is only 1.1 square kilometres (0.4 sq mi). Despite being the smallest municipality, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode has the highest population density of the 19 with 20,822 inhabitants per square kilometre (53,930/sq mi).
A lot of controversy exists concerning the division of 19 municipalities for a highly urbanized region which is considered as (half of) one city by most people. Some politicians mock the '19 baronies' and want to merge the municipalities under one city council and one mayor.^[29][30] This would lower the number of politicians needed to govern Brussels, and centralise the power over the city to make decisions easier. Thus reduce the overall running costs. The current municipalities could be transformed into districts with limited responsibilities, similar to the current structure of Antwerp or to structures of other capitals like the boroughs in London or arrondissements in Paris, to keep politics close enough to the citizen.^[31]
The commune of Molenbeek has gained a reputation as a safe haven for Jihadists in relation to the support shown by some residents towards the bombers who carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks.^{[32][33][34][35][36]}