land area: 30,230 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

_#_Land boundaries: 1,385 km total; France 620 km, Germany 167 km,
Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km

_#_Coastline: 64 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: not specific;

Exclusive fishing zone: equidistant line with neighbors (extends
about 68 km from coast);

Territorial sea: 12 nm

_#_Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid,
cloudy

_#_Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills,
rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast

_#_Natural resources: coal, natural gas

_#_Land use: arable land 24%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and
pastures 20%; forest and woodland 21%; other 34%, includes irrigated
NEGL%

_#_Environment: air and water pollution

_#_Note: majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of
Brussels; crossroads of Western Europe; Brussels is the seat of the EC

_*_People
_#_Population: 9,921,910 (July 1991), growth rate 0.1% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Belgian(s); adjective--Belgian

_#_Ethnic divisions: Fleming 55%, Walloon 33%, mixed or other 12%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 75%, remainder Protestant or other

_#_Language: Flemish (Dutch) 56%, French 32%, German 1%; legally
bilingual 11%; divided along ethnic lines

_#_Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980 est.)

_#_Labor force: 4,200,000; services 69%, industry 28%, agriculture
3% (1988)

_#_Organized labor: 70% of labor force

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Kingdom of Belgium

_#_Type: constitutional monarchy

_#_Capital: Brussels

_#_Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (French--provinces,
singular--province; Flemish--provincien, singular--provincie);
Antwerpen, Brabant, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur,
Oost-Vlaanderen, West-Vlaanderen

_#_Independence: 4 October 1830 (from the Netherlands)

_#_Constitution: 7 February 1831, last revised 8-9 August 1980; the
government is in the process of revising the Constitution, with the