|
Country
|
Belgium | 
Croatia |
|
Leader
|
King: Albert II Prime Minister-designate: Elio di Rupo
|
President: Ivo Josipovic Prime minister : Zoran Milanovic
|
|
Population
|
10,438,353
| 4,480,043
|
|
Life Expectancy
|
79.650 years
| 75.990 years
|
|
Capital City
|
Brussels
| Zagreb
|
|
Largest city
|
| Brussels (population: 1,019,020) | Zagreb - Centar (population: 800,000) |
|
Human Development Index
|
0.948
| 0.862
|
| GDP per capita |
$38,200 US
| $18,400 US
|
|
Literacy Rate
|
99%
| 98.1%
|
|
Corruption Perception Index
|
7.3
| 4.4
|
|
Percentage of Women in Parliament
|
36.2%
| 20.9%
|
| Wealthiest Citizens |
Albert Frere ($2.4bn US)
| NA
|
| Unemployment Rate |
7.700%
| 17.700%
|
|
Death Penalty
|
Abolished
| Abolished
|
| |
|
Political System
|
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
| presidential/parliamentary democracy
|
|
Independence date
|
4 October 1830 (a provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands); 21 July 1831 (King LEOPOLD I ascended to the throne)
| 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
|
| Religions |
Roman Catholic 75%, other (includes Protestant) 25%
| Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 1.3%, other and unspecified 0.9%, none 5.2% (2001 census)
|
| Languages |
Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
| Croatian 96.1%, Serbian 1%, other and undesignated 2.9% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) (2001 census)
|
| Exports |
machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs
| transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
|
| External Debt |
$1,399,000,000,000 $
| $66,300,000,000 US
|
| Exchange Rate |
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6802 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
| kuna (HRK) per US dollar - 4.98 (2008 est.), 5.3735 (2007), 5.8625 (2006), 5.9473 (2005), 6.0358 (2004)
|
| Military Budget as percentage of GDP |
1.300%
| 2.390%
|
| Beijing Olympics Medal Count |
2
| 5
|
| Location |
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands
| Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia
|
| Area |
30,528 km sq
| 56,594 km sq
|
| Coastline |
67 km
| 5,835 km
|
| Climate |
temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy
| Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast
|
|
|
|
