"text":"<p>Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. In recent years, political divisions between the Dutch-speaking Flemish of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. The capital city of Brussels is home to numerous international organizations including the EU and NATO.</p>"
"text":"most of the population concentrated in the northern two-thirds of the country; the southeast is more thinly populated; considered to have one of the highest population densities in the world; approximately 97% live in urban areas"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"flooding is a threat along rivers and in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"crossroads of Western Europe; most West European capitals are within 1,000 km of Brussels, the seat of both the European Union and NATO"
"text":"<br>Het Wereld Feitenboek, een omnisbare bron van informatie. (Dutch)<br><br>The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"most of the population concentrated in the northern two-thirds of the country; the southeast is more thinly populated; considered to have one of the highest population densities in the world; approximately 97% live in urban areas"
"text":"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"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Air pollutants":{
"particulate matter emissions":{
"text":"12.88 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)"
"text":"Royaume de Belgique (French)/Koninkrijk Belgie (Dutch)/Koenigreich Belgien (German)"
},
"local short form":{
"text":"Belgique/Belgie/Belgien"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"the name derives from the Belgae, an ancient Celtic tribal confederation that inhabited an area between the English Channel and the west bank of the Rhine in the first centuries B.C."
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Brussels"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"50 50 N, 4 20 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"may derive from the Old Dutch \"bruoc/broek,\" meaning \"marsh\" and \"sella/zele/sel\" signifying \"home\" to express the meaning \"home in the marsh\""
"text":"3 regions (French: regions, singular - region; Dutch: gewesten, singular - gewest); Brussels-Capital Region, also known as Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Dutch), Region de Bruxelles-Capitale (French long form), Bruxelles-Capitale (French short form); Flemish Region (Flanders), also known as Vlaams Gewest (Dutch long form), Vlaanderen (Dutch short form), Region Flamande (French long form), Flandre (French short form); Walloon Region (Wallonia), also known as Region Wallone (French long form), Wallonie (French short form), Waals Gewest (Dutch long form), Wallonie (Dutch short form)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> 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; the 2012 sixth state reform transferred additional competencies from the federal state to the regions and linguistic communities"
"text":"\"revisions\" proposed as declarations by the federal government in accord with the king or by Parliament followed by dissolution of Parliament and new elections; adoption requires two-thirds majority vote of a two-thirds quorum in both houses of the next elected Parliament; amended many times, last in 2019"
"text":"civil law system based on the French Civil Code; note - Belgian law continues to be modified in conformance with the legislative norms mandated by the European Union; judicial review of legislative acts"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Belgium"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal and compulsory"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"King PHILIPPE (since 21 July 2013); Heir Apparent Princess ELISABETH (daughter of the monarch, born 25 October 2001)"
"text":"Prime Minister Alexander DE CROO (since 1 October 2020); Deputy Prime Ministers Vincent Van Quickenborne (since 1 October 2020), Sophie Wilmes (since 1 October 2020), Vincent Van Peteghem (since 1 October 2020), Frank Vandenbroucke (since 1 October 2020), Pierre-Yves Dermagne (since 1 October 2020), Petra De Sutter (since 1 October 2020), Georges Gilkinet (since 1 October 2020)"
"text":"Council of Ministers formally appointed by the monarch"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary and constitutional; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch and approved by Parliament"
"text":"bicameral Parliament consists of:<br>Senate or Senaat (in Dutch), Senat (in French) (60 seats; 50 members indirectly elected by the community and regional parliaments based on their election results, and 10 elected by the 50 other senators; members serve 5-year terms)<br>Chamber of Representatives or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers (in Dutch), Chambre des Representants (in French) (150 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)"
"text":"<p>Senate - last held 26 May 2019 (next to be held in 2024)</p> Chamber of Representatives - last held on 26 May 2019 (next to be held in 2024); note - elections coincided with the EU elections"
"text":"<br>Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition men 33, women 27, percent of women 45%<br>Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party - N-VA 16.0%, VB 11.9%, PS 9.5%, CD&V 8.9%, PVDA+/PTB 8.62%, Open VLD 8.5%, MR 7.6%, SP.A 6.7%, Ecolo 6.1%, Groen 6.1%, CDH 3.7%, Defi 2.2%, PP 1.1%, other 20.1%; seats by party - N-VA 25, VB 18, PS 20, CD&V 12, PVDA+PTB 12, Open VLD 12, MR 14, SP.A 9, Ecolo 13, Groen 8, CDH 5, Defi 2; composition - men 86, women 64, percent of women 42.7%; note - overall Parliament percent of women 43.8%"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the 1993 constitutional revision that further devolved Belgium into a federal state created 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; changes above occurred since the sixth state reform"
"text":"Constitutional Court or Grondwettelijk Hof (in Dutch) and Cour Constitutionelle (in French) (consists of 12 judges - 6 Dutch-speaking and 6 French-speaking); Supreme Court of Justice or Hof van Cassatie (in Dutch) and Cour de Cassation (in French) (court organized into 3 chambers: civil and commercial; criminal; social, fiscal, and armed forces; each chamber includes a Dutch division and a French division, each with a chairperson and 5-6 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Constitutional Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates submitted by Parliament; judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 70; Supreme Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates submitted by the High Council of Justice, a 44-member independent body of judicial and non-judicial members; judges appointed for life"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Courts of Appeal; regional courts; specialized courts for administrative, commercial, labor, immigration, and audit issues; magistrate's courts; justices of the peace"
"text":"<strong>Flemish parties:</strong> <br>Christian Democratic and Flemish or CD&V [Joachim COENS]<br>Flemish Liberals and Democrats or Open VLD [Egbert LACHAERT]<br>Groen or Green [Meyrem ALMACI] (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens)<br>New Flemish Alliance or N-VA [Bart DE WEVER]<br>Forward [Conner ROUSSEAU] (formerly Social Progressive Alternative or SP.A)<br>Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) or VB [Tom VAN GRIEKEN]<br><strong>Francophone parties:</strong> <br>Ecolo (Francophone Greens) [Jean-Marc NOLLET, Rajae MAOUANE]<br>Francophone Federalist Democrats or Defi [Francois DE SMET]<br>Humanist and Democratic Center or CDH [Maxine PREVOT]<br>People's Party or PP [Mischael MODRIKAMEN] (dissolved 18 June 2019)<br>Reform Movement or MR [George-Louis BOUCHEZ]<br>Socialist Party or PS [Paul MAGNETTE]<br>Workers' Party or PTB [Peter MERTENS]<br>other minor parties"
"text":"three equal vertical bands of black (hoist side), yellow, and red; the vertical design was based on the flag of France; the colors are those of the arms of the duchy of Brabant (yellow lion with red claws and tongue on a black field)"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"golden rampant lion; national colors: red, black, yellow"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"La Brabanconne\" (The Song of Brabant)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Louis-Alexandre DECHET[French] Victor CEULEMANS [Dutch]/Francois VAN CAMPENHOUT"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1830; according to legend, Louis-Alexandre DECHET, an actor at the theater in which the revolution against the Netherlands began, wrote the lyrics with a group of young people in a Brussels cafe"
"text":"<p>Belgium’s central geographic location and highly developed transport network have helped develop a well-diversified economy, with a broad mix of transport, services, manufacturing, and high tech. Service and high-tech industries are concentrated in the northern Flanders region while the southern region of Wallonia is home to industries like coal and steel manufacturing. Belgium is completely reliant on foreign sources of fossil fuels, and the planned closure of its seven nuclear plants by 2025 should increase its dependence on foreign energy. Its role as a regional logistical hub makes its economy vulnerable to shifts in foreign demand, particularly with EU trading partners. Roughly three-quarters of Belgium's trade is with other EU countries, and the port of Zeebrugge conducts almost half its trade with the United Kingdom alone, leaving Belgium’s economy vulnerable to the outcome of negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU.</p><p></p><p>Belgium’s GDP grew by 1.7% in 2017 and the budget deficit was 1.5% of GDP. Unemployment stood at 7.3%, however the unemployment rate is lower in Flanders than Wallonia, 4.4% compared to 9.4%, because of industrial differences between the regions. The economy largely recovered from the March 2016 terrorist attacks that mainly impacted the Brussels region tourist and hospitality industry. Prime Minister Charles MICHEL's center-right government has pledged to further reduce the deficit in response to EU pressure to decrease Belgium's high public debt of about 104% of GDP, but such efforts would also dampen economic growth. In addition to restrained public spending, low wage growth and higher inflation promise to curtail a more robust recovery in private consumption.</p><p></p><p>The government has pledged to pursue a reform program to improve Belgium’s competitiveness, including changes to labor market rules and welfare benefits. These changes have generally made Belgian wages more competitive regionally, but have raised tensions with trade unions, which have called for extended strikes. In 2017, Belgium approved a tax reform plan to ease corporate rates from 33% to 29% by 2018 and down to 25% by 2020. The tax plan also included benefits for innovation and SMEs, intended to spur competitiveness and private investment.</p>"
"text":"engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, base metals, textiles, glass, petroleum"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions; general government debt is defined by the Maastricht definition and calculated by the National Bank of Belgium as consolidated gross debt; the debt is defined in European Regulation EC479/2009 concerning the implementation of the protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht) of 7 February 1992; the sub-sectors of consolidated gross debt are: federal government, communities and regions, local government, and social security funds"
"text":"Belgium has a highly developed, technologically advanced telecom system; LTE is nearly universal; ongoing investment in 5G with services to dozens of cities and towns; competition between the DSL and cable platforms with investment in fiber networks; 5G; operators accelerating fiber roll-out program; Brussels Airport collaborating with operator to deploy 5G and IoT solutions; international connections through satellite and submarine cables; importer of broadcast equipment from EU neighbors (2020)"
"text":"country code - 32; landing points for Concerto, UK-Belgium, Tangerine, and SeaMeWe-3, submarine cables that provide links to Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia; satellite earth stations - 7 (Intelsat - 3) (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments"
"text":"a segmented market with the three major communities (Flemish, French, and German-speaking) each having responsibility for their own broadcast media; multiple TV channels exist for each community; additionally, in excess of 90% of households are connected to cable and can access broadcasts of TV stations from neighboring countries; each community has a public radio network coexisting with private broadcasters"
"text":"the Belgian Armed Forces have approximately 26,000 active duty personnel (11,000 Land Component; 1,500 Marine Component; 5,000 Air Force Component; 1,500 Medical Service; 7,000 other, including joint staff, support, and training schools) (2020)"
"text":"the Belgian Armed Forces have a mix of weapons systems from European countries, Israel, and the US; since 2010, several European nations are the leading suppliers of armaments; Belgium has an export-focused defense industry that focuses on components and subcontracting (2021)"
"text":"Belgium is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949 <br><br>in 2018, the Defense Ministers of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the creation of a Composite Special Operations Component Command (C-SOCC); the C-SOCC was declared operational in December 2020"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T"
"text":"<p>a primary entry point for cocaine smuggled into Europe; also a transit point for precursor chemicals from China for amphetamine and MDMA production labs in Belgium; a transit country for new psychoactive substances (NPS); increasing number of amphetamine and ecstasy production labs in Belgium; heroin also transits through Belgium.</p>"
