"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"
"text":"<br>Het Wereld Feitenboek, een onmisbare 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"
"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 <em>bruoc/broek</em>, meaning \"marsh\" and <em>sella/zele/sel</em> 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), 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), David CLARINVAL (since 15 July 2022)"
"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 - N-VA 15%, VB 12%, PS 12%, MR 12%, CD&V 8.3%, Open VLD 8.3%, Ecolo 15%, SP.A 6.7%, CDH 3.3%, PVDA-PTB 8.3%; seats by party - N-VA 9, VB 7, PS 7, MR 7, CD&V 5, Open VLD 5, Ecolo 9, SP.A 4, CDH 2, PVDA-PTB 5; composition as of March 2022 - men 31, women 29, percent of women 48.3%<br>Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party - N-VA 16.7%, VB 12%, PS 13.3%, CD&V 8%, PVDA-PTB 8%, Open VLD 8%, MR 9.3%, SP.A 6%, Ecolo 8.7%, Green 5.3%, CDH 3.3%, Defi 1.3%; 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, Green 8, CDH 5, Defi 2; composition as of March 2022 - men 87, women 63, percent of women 42%; 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 [Sammy MAHDI]<br>Forward [Conner ROUSSEAU] (formerly Social Progressive Alternative or SP.A)<br>Groen or Green [Nadia NAJI and Jeremie VANEECKHOUT] (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens)<br>New Flemish Alliance or N-VA [Bart DE WEVER]<br>Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats or Open VLD [Egbert LACHAERT]<br>Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) or VB [Tom VAN GRIEKEN]<br><strong>Francophone parties:</strong> <br>Ecolo (Francophone Greens) [Jean-Marc NOLLET and Rajae MAOUANE]<br>Francophone Federalist Democrats or Defi [Francois DE SMET]<br>Les Engages [Maxime PREVOT] (formerly Humanist and Democratic Center or CDH)<br>Reform Movement or MR [George-Louis BOUCHEZ]<br>Socialist Party or PS [Paul MAGNETTE]<br>Workers' Party or PVDA-PTB [Raoul HEDEBOUW]"
"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"
"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":"high income economy with strong but moderate growth; high public debt; aging labor force; low labor force participation of low-skilled, migrant, and older workers; strong welfare system; high congestion; complex business permitting and judicial systems"
"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 include 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":"mobile networks have been upgraded to support growing mobile data use among subscribers, with near-comprehensive LTE coverage; operators have also trialed 5G in preparation for launching services; the auction of 5G-suitable spectrum has been delayed to the beginning of 2022, while the onerous restrictions on radiation have meant that some 5G trials have been suspended; there is effective competition in Belgium between the DSL and cable platforms, while in recent years government support has also encouraged investment in fiber networks; in a bid to encourage investment in under served areas, the regulator in 2018 amended the conditions by which market players grant wholesale access to copper and fiber infrastructure; in May 2019 it opened a further consultation on cost models for access to the networks of cablecos and fiber infrastructure (2021)"
"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)"
"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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"text":"Belgian Armed Forces: Land Component, Marine (Naval) Component, Air Component, Medical Component (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>the Belgian Federal Police is the national police force and responsible for internal security and nationwide law and order, including migration and border enforcement; the force reports to the ministers of interior and justice"
"text":"approximately 25,000 active-duty personnel (10,000 Land Component; 1,500 Marine Component; 5,000 Air Force Component; 1,500 Medical Component; 7,000 other, including joint staff, support, and training schools) (2023)"
"text":"the armed forces have a mix of weapons systems from European countries, Israel, and the US; Belgium has an export-focused defense industry that focuses on components and subcontracting (2023)"
"text":"18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription abolished in 1995 (2022)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> in 2020, women comprised about 9% of the military's full-time personnel<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> foreign nationals 18-34 years of age who speak Dutch or French and are citizens of EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland may apply to join the military"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries, including Belgium, have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe"
"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; Belgium hosts the NATO headquarters in Brussels<br><br>in 2015, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed an agreement to conduct joint air policing of their territories; under the agreement, which went into effect in January of 2017, the Belgian and Dutch Air Forces trade responsibility for patrolling the skies over the three countries; 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 (2023)"
"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 transit point for precursor chemicals from China and India destined for clandestine synthetic drug laboratories in the Netherlands and to some labs in Belgium; a primary entry point for cocaine into Europe; one of the top methamphetamine producers in Europe; a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics</p>"
