BELÍNDIA

Various Artists, 2021

Belíndia, formerly New Belgium™ (1) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2), is a country in Western Europe. It borders the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, France to the southwest and the North Sea to the northwest. It has a surface area of 33,171.5 square kilometres (3) (9.7% water) and a population of approximately 2.3 million (4). The capital and largest city is Bar®egem (5); other large cities are Port Anderton, Ganbury, Charpool, Légiarly, Rygham, Jamburn and Love.

Belíndia was acquired (6) by India in 2121, at that time still the Republic of New Belgium™ and the State of Luxembourg, for the sum of $360,000,000,000,000.00 (7). India merged the two states into one and renamed the new country Belíndia (8).

New Belgium™ was created in 2035 after 11 years of difficult political relations between the Brussels-Capital Region (9) and Flanders. Belgium had its last elections in May 2024 (10), resulting in a political impasse that lasted until 2035. Shortly after the elections, Flanders proclaimed Antwerp (Port Anderton) as the new capital of Flanders (11). The Brussels Capital Region responded by taxing goods and traffic from the Flemish Region. In retaliation, Flanders - remembering the success of an earlier attempt in 1914 (12) - decided to build a dam (13) in the Zenne Valley near Vilvoorde. In this way, they wanted to force Brussels to adapt to the new political reality.

The water of the Senne steadily rose (14) and Brussels had the opportunity to adapt by investing in new underwater technologies for architecture and mobility. What once seemed a threat, became a success story and Brussels became Breuville-sur-Senne® (15), a prosperous region attracting many foreign tourists and investments. Breuville-sur-Senne® decided to convert all streams on its territory and eventually became an economic and ecological paradise.

The Queen of Belgium decided to keep her residence there, which was now situated on the edge of Lake Zenne, triggering a new constitutional crisis (17). Flanders was initially forced to enter into a renewed coalition with Wallonia. "New Belgium™" looked with envy at Breuville-sur-Senne® and decided to copy the success story of the kingdom by the lakes. A commission of scientists and engineers was appointed to study all possible non navigable watercourses of Flanders and Wallonia with a possible (hydroelectric) dam (18). No brook, stream or moat was spared in this study. This resulted in a public tender for the construction of more than 1,000 (barrage) dams over a period of 50 years. The project was codenamed Bar(r)egem and was estimated to create more than 10,000 km2 of new water surface at a cost of 200 trillion euros (0.2 quintillion), including expropriations.

  1. Kingdom of Belgium: 1830 - 2035, New Belgium™: 2035 - 2121.

  2. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: 963 - 2121.

  3. 33,171.5 km2 = 30,689 km2 surface area of Belgium circa 2024 - 266 km2 (The borders of Breuville-sur-Senne were equated with the territory within the R0 ring around Brussels during the R0 truce in 2035) + 2,586 km2 (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) + 162.5 km2 (surplus natural area of 2.5 km wide along the entire length of the former Belgian coast after the construction of the "Atlantic Wall Sangatte - Lillehaven" 2078).

  4. Due to a series of large-scale disasters of various kinds worldwide, the world's population decreased significantly.

  5. 2041: Bar®egem wordt officieel geregistreerd als het administratieve centrum van New Belgium™.

  6. Global warming forced the state of India, which has belonged to the G11 since the second half of the 21st century, to take over foreign nations, including Kazakhstan in 2076, Belarus in 2098, Luxembourg and New Belgium™ in 2021.

  7. Luxembourg: 165 trillion euros.

    New Belgium™ 195 trillion, of which 105 trillion debts to various creditors.

  8. Edmar Lisboa Bacha, O Rei da Belíndia, 1974. http://epocanegocios.globo.com/Revista/Common/0,,ERT71666-16642,00.html

  9. 1989 - 2035

  10. https://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Belgische_federale_verkiezingen_2024&action=edit&redlink=1

  11. https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2018/10/10/de-wever-antwerpen-is-politieke-hoofdstad-van-vlaanderen-een/

  12. Battle of the Yser, 18 - 31 October 1914.

  13. Of the Gravity dam type, length 2.2 km, height 35 metres.

  14. With an average of 2 metres per year.

  15. After a referendum, the majority of the population, consisting of a considerable representation of Parisian immigrants, chose the name Breuville-sur-Senne®.

  16. Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena, Queen of Breuville-sur-Senne® (2035 - 2098).

  17. The crisis resulted in the recognition of 2 new states: the Kingdom of Breuville-sur-Senne® (2035 - ) and the Republic of New Belgium™ (2035 - 2121).

  18. All types of dams could be considered: gravity dam, arch dam, barrages, embankment dam, etc.

∞ Belíndia is part of season Água com Gás (2014-22)