Waterloo

Waterloo is a small town in central Belgium. It is best known because of the Battle of Waterloo. It took place on June 18, 1815 and it was fought between the French, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Allied armies commanded by the Duke of Wellington from Britain and General Blücher from Prussia. Napoleon was defeated here. However, the battle took place some 5 kilometres south of the city, nearby the village Mont-Saint-Jean, it is generally known as the Battle of Waterloo. There is a victory memorial – Lion's Mound (Butte du Lion). The lion looking towards France is situated on top of a huge man-made hill which can be climbed via 226 steps. Other attractions related to the battle are the Wellington Museum and the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph where Wellington is said to have made a prayer before going into battle.

Waterloo was originally a hamlet of the village Braine-l'Alleud, but at the end of 18th century it became a separate town. Today it is a Walloon municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant. It covers the area of 21.03 square kilometers. There are less than 30,000 inhabitants living there and the density is 1,394 inhabitants per square kilometre. One quarter of population is non-Belgian. Therefore Waterloo is a polyglot and multicultural town. There are also two international schools here – St. John's International School and the Scandinavian School. The European headquarters of MasterCard International is also located in Waterloo.