Situated along the Boulevard Léopold III in Haren, part of the City of Brussels,[1] the headquarters include 250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft) of floor space, and is office and home to an international staff of 3,800.[13] The Boulevard Léopold III is a major dual carriageway linking via the A201 motorway the center of Brussels to its airport, the latter being located just over 1 km (0.62 mi) from the NATO site. Access can be done by taking the STIB/MIVB bus lines 12, 21, 65 and the tram line 62, as well as the De Lijn network. The site is also approximately 80 km (50 mi) north of NATO's military headquarters in Casteau, near Mons, still called Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), although it now houses Allied Command Operations, which directs NATO's military operations worldwide.[16]<br /><br />The staff at the Brussels headquarters primarily supports the North Atlantic Council and its subsidiary organisms. The International Staff provides advice, guidance, and administrative support to the NATO Secretary General. It works closely with the International Military Staff (IMS). The first is primarily civilian; the second, primarily military, filled from serving members of the armed forces of member states.[2] The IMS works to the instructions of the senior military body of the Alliance, the Military Committee, and its Chairman. There are also a host of national delegations; liaison offices, and diplomatic missions attached to the headquarters.<br />The NATO headquarters is the political and administrative center of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After previous locations in London and Paris, it has been headquartered in Brussels since 1967, in a complex in Haren, part of the City of Brussels, along the Boulevard Léopold III/Leopold III-laan.[1]<br /><br />The staff at the headquarters is composed of national delegations of NATO member states and includes civilian and military liaison offices and officers or diplomatic missions and diplomats of partner countries, as well as the International Staff (IS) and International Military Staff (IMS) filled from serving members of the armed forces of member states.[2] Non-governmental citizens' groups have also grown up in support of NATO, broadly under the banner of the Atlantic Council/Atlantic Treaty Association movement.
