A general census of the population of Belgium took place on 31 December 1900. It was the sixth census that was organised after Belgium gained its independence. The census conveys the distribution of the population during the changeover from the 19th to the 20th century, when the foundations of modern society were laid. It was a period of important technical innovations, strong urbanization, domination of the bourgeoisie, and a rising factory proletariat that went down in history as the “Belle Epoque”.
©:Ghent University, Department of History