Brussels, Brussels: One in the other
Right now we’re in Brussels.
Brussels, which is the effective capital of the European Union and the legal capital of Belgium - but they aren’t one and the same.
Belgium, 10.5 million living in a country the size of Maryland, is made of regions, one of which is Brussels, which hosts much of the EU’s governmental infrastructure. Within the regions of Brussels is the Belgian capital, also called Brussels. Sean and I are in the smaller Brussels, within the other.
Think of Los Angeles, a city within Los Angeles county, not coterminous, nor the same political identity but having the same name.
I have also heard it compared to the city of London, which is, in other ways, different than London proper.