tal
population: 98% male: NA% female: NA%

Government Belgium

Country name: Kingdom of Belgium conventional short form:
Belgique/Koninkrijk Belgie

Government type: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional
monarch

Capital: Brussels

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces (French: provinces, singular
- province; Dutch: provincien, singular - provincie) and 1 region*
(French: region; Dutch: gewest); Antwerpen, Brabant Wallon, Brussels*
(Bruxelles), Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen,
Vlaams-Brabant, West-Vlaanderen

Independence: 4 October 1830 a provisional government declared
independence from the Netherlands; 21 July 1831 the ascension of King
Leopold I to the throne

National holiday: Independence Day, 21 July (1831)

Constitution: 7 February 1831, last revised 14 July 1993; parliament
approved a constitutional package creating a federal state

Legal system: civil law system influenced by English constitutional
theory; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch: chief of state: King ALBERT II (since 9 August 1993);
Heir Apparent Prince PHILIPPE, son of the monarch head of government:
Prime Minister Guy VERHOFSTADT (since 13 July 1999) cabinet: Council of
Ministers appointed by the monarch and approved by Parliament elections:
none; the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch
and then approved by Parliament note: government coalition - VLD, PRL,
PS, SP, AGALEV, and ECOLO

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate or Senaat
in Dutch, Senat in French (71 seats; 40 members are directly elected by
popular vote, 31 are indirectly elected; members serve four-year terms)
and a Chamber of Deputies or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers in Dutch,
Chambre des Representants in French (150 seats; members are directly
elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to
serve four-year terms) elections: Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last
held 13 June 1999 (next to be held in NA 2003) note: 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; this
reality leaves six governments each with its own legislative assemb