282 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
282 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
BELGIUM
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 30,510 km2; land area: 30,230 km2
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Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
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Land boundaries: 1,385 km total; France 620 km, Germany 167 km,
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Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km
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Coastline: 64 km
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Maritime claims:
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Continental shelf: not specific;
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Exclusive fishing zone: equidistant line with neighbors (extends
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about 68 km from coast);
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid,
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cloudy
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Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills,
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rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast
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Natural resources: coal, natural gas
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Land use: arable land 24%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and
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pastures 20%; forest and woodland 21%; other 34%, includes irrigated
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NEGL%
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Environment: air and water pollution
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Note: majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of
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Brussels; crossroads of Western Europe; Brussels is the seat of the EC
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PEOPLE
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Population: 9,921,910 (July 1991), growth rate 0.1% (1991)
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Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Belgian(s); adjective--Belgian
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Ethnic divisions: Fleming 55%, Walloon 33%, mixed or other 12%
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Religion: Roman Catholic 75%, remainder Protestant or other
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Language: Flemish (Dutch) 56%, French 32%, German 1%; legally
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bilingual 11%; divided along ethnic lines
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Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1980 est.)
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Labor force: 4,200,000; services 69%, industry 28%, agriculture
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3% (1988)
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Organized labor: 70% of labor force
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Kingdom of Belgium
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Type: constitutional monarchy
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Capital: Brussels
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Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (French--provinces,
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singular--province; Flemish--provincien, singular--provincie);
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Antwerpen, Brabant, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur,
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Oost-Vlaanderen, West-Vlaanderen
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Independence: 4 October 1830 (from the Netherlands)
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Constitution: 7 February 1831, last revised 8-9 August 1980; the
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government is in the process of revising the Constitution, with the aim
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of federalizing the Belgian state
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Legal system: civil law system influenced by English constitutional
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theory; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ
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jurisdiction, with reservations
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National holiday: National Day, 21 July (ascension of King Leopold
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to the throne in 1831)
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Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, five deputy prime
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ministers, Cabinet
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Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper
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chamber or Senate (Flemish--Senaat, French--Senat) and a lower chamber
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or Chamber of Representatives (Flemish--Kamer van
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Volksvertegenwoordigers, French--Chambre des Representants)
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Flemish--Hof van
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Cassatie, French--Cour de Cassation)
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--King BAUDOUIN I (since 17 July 1951);
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Heir Apparent Prince ALBERT of Liege (brother of the King; born 6
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June 1934);
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Head of Government--Prime Minister Wilfried MARTENS,
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(since April 1979, with a 10-month interruption in 1981)
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Political parties and leaders:
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Flemish Social Christian (CVP), Herman van ROMPUY, president;
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Walloon Social Christian (PSC), Gerard DEPREZ, president;
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Flemish Socialist (SP), Frank VANDENBROUCKE, president;
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Walloon Socialist (PS), Guy SPITAELS, president;
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Flemish Liberal (PVV), Guy VERHOFSTADT, president;
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Walloon Liberal (PRL), Antoine DUQUESNE, president;
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Francophone Democratic Front (FDF), Georges CLERFAYT, president;
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Volksunie (VU), Jaak GABRIELS, president;
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Communist Party (PCB), Louis van GEYT, president;
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Vlaams Blok (VB), Karel DILLEN;
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other minor parties
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Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
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Elections:
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Senate--last held 13 December 1987 (next to be held by
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January 1992);
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results--CVP 19.2%, PS 15.7%, SP 14.7%, PVV 11.3%, PRL 9.3%,
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VU 8.1%, PSC 7.8%, ECOLO-AGALEV 7.7%, VB 2.0%, VDF 1.3%,
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other 1.96%;
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seats--(106 total) CVP 22, PS 20, SP 17, PRL 12, PVV 11, PSC 9, VU 8,
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ECOLO-AGALEV 5, VB 1, FDF 1;
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Chamber of Representatives--last held 13 December 1987
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(next to be held by January 1992);
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results--CVP 19.45%, PS 15.66%, SP 14.88%, PVV 11.55%, PRL 9.41%,
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PSC 8.01%, VU 8.05%, ECOLO-AGALEV 7.05%, VB 1.90%, FDF 1.16%, other
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2.88%;
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seats--(212 total) CVP 43, PS 40, SP 32, PVV 25, PRL 23,
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PSC 19, VU 16, ECOLO-AGALEV 9, FDF 3, VB 2
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Communists: under 5,000 members (December 1985 est.)
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Other political or pressure groups: Christian and Socialist Trade
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Unions; Federation of Belgian Industries; numerous other associations
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representing bankers, manufacturers, middle-class artisans, and the legal
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and medical professions; various organizations represent the cultural
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interests of Flanders and Wallonia; various peace groups such as the
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Flemish Action Committee Against Nuclear Weapons and Pax Christi
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Member of: ACCT, AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE,
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CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-9, G-10, GATT, IADB,
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IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
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INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OAS
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(observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMOGIP,
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UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Juan CASSIERS; Chancery at
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3330 Garfield Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 333-6900;
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there are Belgian Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los
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Angeles, and New York;
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US--Ambassador Maynard W. GLITMAN; Embassy at 27 Boulevard du
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Regent, B-1000 Brussels (mailing address is APO New York 09667-1000);
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telephone 32 (2) 513-3830; there is a US Consulate General in Antwerp
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Flag: three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side), yellow,
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and red; the design was based on the flag of France
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ECONOMY
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Overview: This small private-enterprise economy has capitalized
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on its central geographic location, highly developed transport
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network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. Industry is
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concentrated mainly in the populous Flemish area in the north, although
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the government is encouraging reinvestment in the southern region
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of Walloon. With few natural resources Belgium must import essential raw
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materials, making its economy closely dependent on the state of world
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markets. Over 70% of trade is with other EC countries. During
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the period 1988-90 Belgium's economic performance was marked by buoyant
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output growth, moderate inflation, and a substantial external surplus.
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Real GDP grew by an average of 3.9% in 1988-90. However, the economy
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is likely to slow in 1991-92 to below 3% GDP growth.
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GDP: $144.8 billion, per capita $14,600; real growth rate 3.3%
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(1990)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1991 est.)
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Unemployment rate: 8.2% est. (1991 est.)
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Budget: revenues $45.0 billion; expenditures $55.3 billion,
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including capital expenditures of NA (1989)
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Exports: $106 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.) Belgium-Luxembourg
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Economic Union;
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commodities--iron and steel, transportation equipment,
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tractors, diamonds, petroleum products;
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partners--EC 74%, US 5%, Communist countries 2% (1989)
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Imports: $108 billion (c.i.f., 1989) Belgium-Luxembourg Economic
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Union;
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commodities--fuels, grains, chemicals, foodstuffs;
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partners--EC 73%, US 4%, oil-exporting less developed countries 4%,
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Communist countries 3% (1989)
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External debt: $28.8 billion (1990 est.)
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Industrial production: growth rate 1.3% (1991 est.); accounts
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for almost 30% of GDP
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Electricity: 17,325,000 kW capacity; 62,780 million kWh produced,
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6,350 kWh per capita (1989)
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Industries: engineering and metal products, processed food and
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beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum, coal
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Agriculture: accounts for 2% of GDP; emphasis on livestock
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production--beef, veal, pork, milk; major crops are sugar beets, fresh
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vegetables, fruits, grain, and tobacco; net importer of farm products
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Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $5.8
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billion
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Currency: Belgian franc (plural--francs); 1 Belgian franc (BF) =
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100 centimes
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Exchange rates: Belgian francs (BF) per US$1--31.102 (January
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1991), 33.418 (1990), 39.404 (1989), 36.768 (1988), 37.334 (1987), 44.672
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(1986), 59.378 (1985)
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: Belgian National Railways (SNCB) operates 3,667 km
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1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned; 2,563 km double track;
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1,978 km electrified; 191 km 1.000-meter gauge, government owned and
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operated
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Highways: 103,396 km total; 1,317 km limited access, divided
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autoroute; 11,717 km national highway; 1,362 km provincial road; about
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38,000 km paved and 51,000 km unpaved rural roads
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Inland waterways: 2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use)
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Ports: Antwerp, Brugge, Gent, Oostende, Zeebrugge
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Merchant marine: 69 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,785,066
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GRT/2,927,618 DWT; includes 12 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off, 6 container, 7
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petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 3
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combination ore/oil, 9 chemical tanker, 11 bulk, 6 combination bulk
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Pipelines: refined products 1,167 km; crude 161 km; natural gas
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3,300 km
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Civil air: 47 major transport aircraft
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Airports: 42 total, 42 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways;
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none with runways over 3,659 m; 14 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with
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runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international telephone
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and telegraph facilities; 4,720,000 telephones; stations--8 AM, 19 FM (42
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relays), 25 TV (10 relays); 5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations
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operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and EUTELSAT systems
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,521,178; 2,115,935 fit for
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military service; 64,634 reach military age (19) annually
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Defense expenditures: $4.8 billion, 2.5% of GDP (1990)
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