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Borders on the North Sea between France and the Netherlands. Capital: Brussels.
The Kingdom of Belgium is a member of NATO and one of the founding members of the European Community, today the European Union.
Belgium has 30,370 square kilometers of land. Arable land is 28 percent of that.
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Estimated per capita GDP
2008 $37,500 (9th in rank among European states)
2007 $37,100
2006 $36,200
GDP annual growth rate:
2008: 1.3%
2007: 2.6%
2006: 3%
Unemployment rate for 2008: 6.5%
Belgium has benefited from its central location, good ports, canals, railroads and highways.
For a single worker without children, in the year 2001, including contributions to Social Security, a Belgian earning an average wage paid 55.6 percent of his or her income for taxes, the highest such taxes in the world. Apparently, much of it has been invested in infrastructure, subsidizing industries and paying off government debt. Belgium is also generous in giving out aid -- including to Palestinians. In 2003 it gave $74.25 in aid per Belgian. The United States that year gave 23.76 for each of its citizens. As for health care, Belgium spent only $2,137 per person, compared to $4,271 in the United States -- money perhaps more efficiently spent than in the United States.
Deaths 10.32. Births: 10.22, down from 10.48 in 2005
Estimate for 2008: 10.38 million. Growth rate: 0.106 percent per year.
Belgium has 1,230 persons per square kilometer of arable land, compared to around 31 persons for Kansas and 34 for Alabama, the latter a median state in the U.S. for population density (from the U.S. 2000 census).According to 2005 estimates, Belgium has 341 persons per square kilometer (883 per square mile). The median for the United States (2000 U.S. Census) is 34 persons per square kilometer (88 per square mile).
Migration
2008: More people arriving than leaving. A net gain of 1.22 migrants per 1,000 population.
Infant mortality estimated for 2008: 4.5, down from 4.68 in 2005 (deaths before the age of one year, per 1,000 live births).
Average life expectancy at birth estimated for 2008: 79.07 years
Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 0.2 percent (2003)
Belgium's constitution guarantees "the right to health." Every Belgian patient pays only a small fee for care. The rest if paid by government. The elderly receive subsidized cab rides to and from hospitals.
The top 10 percent in household income in 1996 did 23 percent of the nation's consuming. For the lowest 10 percent of households this was 3.2 percent, a flatter distribution than in the United States, where these figures for 1997 were 30.5 percent and 1.8 percent.
Belgium has French speakers and those who speak primarily a dialect of Dutch. It is 75 percent Roman Catholic. The French speakers are Walloons, descendants of the Franks and live primarily in the south and east of the country. The Dutch speakers are Flemings, who live primarily in the north and west. They are also descendants of the Franks.
Nationmaster.com gives Belgium a net happiness rating of 86 percent, compared to 84 percent for people in the U.S. and a 2 percent rating for Russia.
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.