541 days. That’s how long it took Belgian politicians to form an official government after the federal elections of June 13, 2010. It earned Belgium a Guinness World Record for going the longest time with no government, smashing the previous record held by Iraq which went government-free for 289 days in 2010. You would think that a country would fall apart in the absence of a central government. Just look at how Americans start panicking when their government shuts down. But not the Belgians who managed just fine with the help of a caretaker government, a well-oiled bureaucracy, and a naughty sense of humour even as their politicians spent a year and a half bickering away.