Belgium Civil Registrations Index

The civil registration records from Belgium are among the richest genealogical sources in Europe, documenting births, marriages, and deaths (état civil / burgerlijke stand) from 1795 onward. Introduced during French rule, civil registration was standardized across the country and continued under Dutch and then Belgian administration. Records are organized by municipality and kept in French, Dutch, or German—depending on the region and era.

Civil records typically include detailed information such as parents’ names, occupations, places of residence, and witnesses, making them essential for building multi-generational family trees. Most are available up to 100 years ago and are preserved in local municipal archives, with older volumes digitized through the State Archives of Belgium. For anyone tracing Belgian ancestry, civil registration is the foundational source for verifying and expanding family history.

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Birth, Marriage & Death

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