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BELGIUM PROFILE |
People
Population: 10,584,534.
Annual population growth rate: 0.7%.
Religions: Predominantly Roman Catholic, with Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Anglican, Greek and Russian Orthodox, as well as secularism, "recognized" religions receiving government subsidies.
Languages: Dutch, French, German.
Cities: Capital--Brussels (pop. 1,031,215). Other cities--Antwerp (466,203); Ghent (235,143); Charleroi (201,550); Liege (188,907); Bruges (116,982); and Namur (107,653).
Geographically and culturally, Belgium is at a crossroads of Europe, and during the past 2,000 years has witnessed a constant ebb and flow of different races and cultures. Consequently, Belgium is one of Europe's true melting pots with Celtic, Roman, Germanic, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Austrian cultures having made an imprint.
Belgium is divided ethnically into the Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, the 70,000 residents of the eastern German cantons, and the bilingual capital of Brussels. The population density is the second highest in Europe, after the Netherlands.
Economy:
GDP: USD 369.57 billion.
Annual real growth rate: 2.8%.
Per capita income: USD 35,200.
Belgium, a highly developed market economy, belongs to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of leading industrialized democracies. With a geographic area about equal to that of Maryland, and a population of 10.5 million, Belgian per capita GDP ranks among the world's highest. In 2007, the per capita income (PPP) was $35,200. The federal government has managed to present balanced budgets in recent years, but public debt remains high, at 91% of 2007 GDP. GDP growth in 2007 was 2.8%.
Densely populated Belgium is located at the heart of one of the world's most highly industrialized regions. The first country to undergo an industrial revolution on the continent of Europe in the early 1800s, Belgium developed an excellent transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways, and highways to integrate its industry with that of its neighbors. One of the founding members of the European Community (EC), Belgium strongly supports deepening the powers of the present-day European Union to integrate European economies further. |
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