Belgium 
Facts
Population:
10,258,762 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
17.48% (male 916,957; female 876,029)
15-64 years:
65.57% (male 3,390,145; female 3,336,908)
65 years and over:
16.95% (male 709,212; female 1,029,511) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.16% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
10.74 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
10.1 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.69 male(s)/female
total population:
0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
4.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
77.96 years
male:
74.63 years
female:
81.46 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.61 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.15% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
7,700 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 100 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Belgian(s)
adjective:
Belgian
Ethnic groups:
Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25%
Languages:
Dutch 58%, French 32%, German 10%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
98%
male:
NA%
female:
NA%
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $259.2 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
4.1% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $25,300 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
1.4%
industry:
26%
services:
72.6% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line:
4%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
3.7%
highest 10%:
20.2% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.2% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
4.34 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 73%, industry 25%, agriculture 2% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
8.4% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$114.8 billion
expenditures:
$117 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.6 billion (1999)
Industries:
engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum, coal
Industrial production growth rate:
5.5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
79.829 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
40.01%
hydro:
0.42%
nuclear:
58.33%
other:
1.24% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
75.089 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
8.207 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
9.055 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; beef, veal, pork, milk
Exports:
$181.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products
Exports - partners:
EU 76% (Germany 18%, France 18%, Netherlands 12%, UK 10%) (1999)
Imports:
$166 billion (c.i.f., 2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals and metal products
Imports - partners:
EU 71% (Germany 18%, Netherlands 17%, France 14%, UK 9%) (1999)
Debt - external:
$28.3 billion (1999 est.)
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $764 million (1997)
Currency:
Belgian franc (BEF); euro (EUR)
note:
on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Belgium at a fixed rate of 40.3399 Belgian francs per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002
Currency code:
BEF; EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); Belgian francs per US dollar - 34.77 (January 1999), 36.229 (1998), 35.774 (1997), 30.962 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 3 4 
Displaying 1 to 7 of 22 items.
(Financial), Antwerp
http://www.tijd.be/
(Independent), Brussels
http://www.demorgen.be/
De Nieuwe Gazet
(Centrist), Antwerp
(Catholic-oriented), Brussels
http://www.standaard.be/
El Diario Internacional
(Organ of Peru's Shining Path movement), Brussels
(Weekly EU-related news), Brussels
http://www.european-voice.com
(Conservative, Catholic-oriented), Antwerp
http://www.gva.be/
Belgium in the News
Rarely do Africans seeking to sneak into Europe receive respect, or even a dignified departure home, if caught. But two teenage stowaways from Guinea hoping to enter Belgium recently got a ceremonial return home. Unfortunately, they were dead.
In the conservative daily National Post of Ontario, Carl Honore reports on the widening rift between the Flemish-speaking majority and the French minority that threatens to tear Belgium apart.
Americas 
