Country
Belgium
Leader
Population
10,438,353 10,557,259
Life Expectancy
79.650 years 59.240 years
Capital City
Brussels
Largest city
Brussels (population: 1,019,020) Bujumbura (population: 331,700)
Human Development Index
0.948 0.382 GDP per capita $38,200 US
Literacy Rate
99% 59.3%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3 1.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
36.2% 31.7% Wealthiest Citizens Albert Frere ($2.4bn US) NA Unemployment Rate 7.700%
Death Penalty
Abolished Abolished
Political System
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy republic
Independence date
4 October 1830 (a provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King LEOPOLD I ascended to the throne) Religions Roman Catholic 75%, other (includes Protestant) 25% Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% Languages Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French) Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) Exports machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs External Debt $1,399,000,000,000 $ Exchange Rate euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6802 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004) Military Budget as percentage of GDP 1.300% Beijing Olympics Medal Count 2 0 Location Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo Area 30,528 km sq 27,830 km sq Coastline 67 km 0 km Climate temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; two wet seasons (February to May and September to November), and two dry seasons (June to August and December to January)
