Demographics - Belgium
| GENERAL: | |||
| Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. | |||
| Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. | |||
| GEOGRAPHY: | |||
| Location: | Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands | ||
| Geographic coordinates: | 50 50 N, 4 00 E | ||
| Map references: | Europe | ||
| Area: | total: | 30,528 sq km | |
| land: | 30,278 sq km | ||
| water: | 250 sq km | ||
| Land boundaries: | total: | 1,385 km | |
| border countries: | France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km | ||
| Coastline: | 66.5 km | ||
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: | 12 nm | |
| exclusive economic zone: | geographic coordinates define outer limit | ||
| continental shelf: median line with neighbors | |||
| Climate: | temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy | ||
| Terrain: | flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast | ||
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: | North Sea 0 m | |
| highest point: | Signal de Botrange 694 m | ||
| Natural resources: | construction materials, silica sand, carbonates | ||
| Land use: | arable land: | 27.42% | |
| permanent crops: | 0.69% | ||
| other: | 71.89% | ||
| note: | includes Luxembourg | ||
| Irrigated land: | 40 sq km (includes Luxembourg) | ||
| Natural hazards: | flooding is a threat along rivers and in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes | ||
| Environment - current issues: | the environment is exposed to intense pressures from human activities: urbanization, dense transportation network, industry, extensive animal breeding and crop cultivation; air and water pollution also have repercussions for neighboring countries; uncertainties regarding federal and regional responsibilities (now resolved) have slowed progress in tackling environmental challenges | ||
| Geography - note: | crossroads of Western Europe; majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels, the seat of both the European Union and NATO | ||
| PEOPLE: | |||
| Population: | 10,379,067 | ||
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: | 16.7% (male 883,254/female 846,099) | |
| 15-64 years: | 65.9% (male 3,450,879/female 3,389,565) | ||
| 65 years and over: | 17.4% (male 746,569/female 1,062,701) | ||
| Median age: | total: | 40.9 years | |
| male: | 39.6 years | ||
| female: | 42.1 years | ||
| Population growth rate: | 0.13% | ||
| Birth rate: | 10.38 births/1,000 population | ||
| Death rate: | 10.27 deaths/1,000 population | ||
| Net migration rate: | 1.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population | ||
| Sex ratio: | at birth: | 1.05 male(s)/female | |
| under 15 years: | 1.04 male(s)/female | ||
| 15-64 years: | 1.02 male(s)/female | ||
| 65 years and over: | 0.7 male(s)/female | ||
| total population: | 0.96 male(s)/female | ||
| Infant mortality rate: | total: | 4.62 deaths/1,000 live births | |
| male: | 5.2 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| female: | 4.01 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: | 78.77 years | |
| male: | 75.59 years | ||
| female: | 82.09 years | ||
| Total fertility rate: | 1.64 children born/woman | ||
| Nationality: | noun: | Belgian(s) | |
| adjective: | Belgian | ||
| Ethnic groups: | Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11% | ||
| Religions: | Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25% | ||
| Languages: | Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French) | ||
| Literacy: | definition: | age 15 and over can read and write | |
| total population: | 99% | ||
| male: | 99% | ||
| female: | 99% | ||
| GOVERNMENT: | |||
| Country name: | conventional long form: | Kingdom of Belgium | |
| conventional short form: | Belgium | ||
| local long form: | Royaume de Belgique/Koninkrijk Belgie | ||
| local short form: | Belgique/Belgie | ||
| Government type: | federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch | ||
| Capital: | Brussels | ||
| Administrative divisions: | 10 provinces (French: provinces, singular - province; Dutch: provincies, singular - provincie) and 3 regions* (French: regions; Dutch: gewesten); Antwerpen, Brabant Wallon, Brussels* (Bruxelles), Flanders*, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaams-Brabant, Wallonia*, West-Vlaanderen | ||
| note: as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of government (federal, regional, and four linguistic communities) with a complex division of responsibilities | |||
| Independence: | 4 October 1830 (a provisional government declares independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King Leopold I ascends to the throne) | ||
| National holiday: | 21 July (1831) ascension to the Throne of King Leopold I | ||
| Constitution: |
7 February 1831; amended many times; revised 14 July 1993 to create a federal state |
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| Legal system: |
civil law system influenced by English constitutional theory; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | ||
| Executive branch: | |||
| chief of state: |
King ALBERT II (since 9 August 1993); Heir Apparent Prince PHILIPPE, son of the monarch |
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| head of government: | Prime Minister Guy VERHOFSTADT (since 13 July 1999) | ||
| cabinet: | Council of Ministers formally appointed by the monarch | ||
| elections: | none; the monarchy is hereditary and constitutional; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch and then approved by parliament | ||
| note: | government coalition - VLD, MR, PS, SP.A-Spirit | ||
| Legislative branch: | bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate or Senaat in Dutch, Senat in French (71 seats; 40 members are directly elected by popular vote, 31 are indirectly elected; members serve four-year terms) and a Chamber of Deputies or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers in Dutch, Chambre des Representants in French (150 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) | ||
| elections: | Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 May 2003 (next to be held no later than May 2007) | ||
| election results: | Senate - percent of vote by party - SP.A-Spirit 15.5%, VLD 15.4%, CD & V 12.7%, PS 12.8%, MR 12.1%, VB 9.4%, CDH 5.6%; seats by party - SP.A-Spirit 7, VLD 7, CD & V 6, PS 6, MR 5, VB 5, CDH 2, other 2 (note - there are also 31 indirectly elected senators); Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - VLD 15.4%, SP.A-Spirit 14.9%, CD & V 13.3%, PS 13.0%, VB 11.6%, MR 11.4%, CDH 5.5%, Ecolo 3.1%; seats by party - VLD 25, SP.A-Spirit 23, CD & V 21, PS 25, VB 18, MR 24, CDH 8, Ecolo 4, other 2 | ||
| note: | as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a complex division of responsibilities; this reality leaves six governments each with its own legislative assembly | ||
| Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court of Justice or Hof van Cassatie (in Dutch) or Cour de Cassation (in French) (judges are appointed for life by the government; candidacies have to be submitted by the High Justice Council) |
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| Political parties and leaders: | |||
| Flemish parties: | Christian Democrats and Flemish or CD & V [Jo VANDEURZEN]; Flemish Liberal Democrats or VLD [Bart SOMERS]; GROEN! (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens) [Vera DUA]; New Flemish Alliance or NVA [Bart DE WEVER]; Socialist Party.Alternative or SP.A [Johan Vande LANOTTE]; Spirit [Geert LAMBERT] (new party now associated with SP.A); Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) or VB [Frank VANHECKE] | ||
| Francophone parties: | Ecolo (Francophone Greens) [Jean-Michel JAVAUX, Evelyne HUYTEBROECK, Claude BROUIR]; Humanist and Democratic Center of CDH [Joelle MILQUET]; National Front or FN [Daniel FERET]; Reformist Movement or MR [Didier REYNDERS]; Socialist Party or PS [Elio DI RUPO]; other minor parties | ||
| Flag description: | three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side), yellow, and red; the design was based on the flag of France | ||
| ECONOMY: | |||
| Economy - overview: | This modern, private-enterprise economy has capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. Industry is concentrated mainly in the populous Flemish area in the north. With few natural resources, Belgium must import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large volume of manufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the state of world markets. Roughly three-quarters of its trade is with other EU countries. Public debt is nearly 100% of GDP. On the positive side, the government has succeeded in balancing its budget, and income distribution is relatively equal. Belgium began circulating the euro currency in January 2002. Economic growth in 2001-03 dropped sharply because of the global economic slowdown, with moderate recovery in 2004-05. | ||
| GDP - real growth rate: | 1.50% | ||
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $31,900 | ||
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: | 1.30% | |
| industry: | 24.70% | ||
| services: | 74% | ||
| Labor force: | 4.77 million | ||
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 1.3%, industry 24.5%, services 74.2% | ||
| Unemployment rate: | 8.40% | ||
| Population below poverty line: | 4% | ||
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 2.70% | ||
| Agriculture - products: | sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; beef, veal, pork, milk | ||
| Industries: | engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum | ||
| Exports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs |
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| Exports - partners: |
Germany 19.9%, France 17.2%, Netherlands 11.8%, UK 8.6%, US 6.5%, Italy 5.2% |
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| Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, oil products |
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| Imports - partners: | Germany 18.4%, Netherlands 17%, France 12.5%, UK 6.8%, Ireland 6.3%, US 5.5% | ||
| Currency (code): | euro (EUR) | ||
| note: | on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries | ||
| Fiscal year: | calendar year | ||
| TRANSNATIONAL ISSUES: | |||
| Disputes - international: | none | ||
| Illicit drugs: | growing producer of synthetic drugs; transit point for US-bound ecstasy; source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for cocaine, heroin, hashish, and marijuana entering Western Europe; despite a strengthening of legislation, the country remains vulnerable to money laundering related to narcotics, automobiles, alcohol, and tobacco | ||
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