Facts and figures about Bruges

Belgium is located in north-western Europe and borders the North Sea, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. The country covers an area of 30,688 km² and has 65 km of coastline. Belgium has 10 provinces: West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Hainaut, Limburg, Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant, Liège, Luxembourg and Namur. The capital city is Brussels.

Bruges is located in the north-west of Belgium and has an area of 138.4 km². It is the capital of the province of West Flanders. The boroughs of Bruges are: Brugge, Koolkerke, Sint-Andries, Sint-Michiels, Assebroek, Sint-Kruis, Dudzele, Lissewege, Zeebrugge.

On 1 January 2026 the population of Bruges was exactly 119.991. Bruges Centre remains the largest in terms of population, with 20.113 residents.

Bruges has a rich past, in which water has played a crucial role from the city's origins. Read our history in a nutshell.

Many companies, institutions and services are closed on Belgian public holidays. We'll give you an overview of the public holidays, so you won't find yourself at a closed door.

We'll also list the Belgian school holidays for you.

We speak several languages in Belgium.

The Belgian currency is the euro. Euro coins come in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro cents, and 1 and 2 euros. In addition, you can pay with banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros.

Belgium is located in Central European Time (CET), which is UTC+1.

Bruges is a tourist magnet, due to its unique dynamics, historical traditions and wide variety of amenities. That translates into some great statistics. See how many overnight visitors booked in Bruges and which profiles find their way to our city.