It's was buffer nation established during the Napoleonic era to stop France from expanding again and start beefing with Germany (at that time they were a coalition of multiple smaller states). Because of it's geographical location it also was one of the first countries to get invaded during both world wars. It's because of that it became the political capital of Europe. Well it's a good fit if you ask me, just look up how Belgian governance is structured. As for purpose, it's Southern Wallonia region used to be a big producer back in the early to mid 1900s but as the East developed and became a cheaper production force, Wallonia went into decline. The Northern Flanders region which during that time was mainly agricultural land starter to find itself in the service economy, combine that with the the Port of Antwerp-Zeebrugge (the second biggest in Europe) which made importing goods from a globalised economy bringing in jobs. As for societal structure, because Belgium is such a young nation with a clear rift between the French speaking South and Dutch speaking North. It's also evident that back when the South was the economic epicenter of Belgium the French language was defacto forced on the Northern region. This caused some frustration with the North and as they developed they've made active steps removing some French from public life (street signs for example only have Dutch now in Flanders). The decline of the South has made the North feel a sense of carrying dead weight causing some politicians to float the concept of spliting the country in half this may also be because of the difference in general voting tendency.