st side),
yellow, and red; the design was based on the flag of France

@Belgium:Economy

Economy - overview: This modern private enterprise economy has
capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed
transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base.
Industry is concentrated mainly in the populous Flemish area in the
north, although the government is encouraging investment in the
southern region of Wallonia. With few natural resources, Belgium must
import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large
volume of manufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the
state of world markets. About three-quarters of its trade is with
other EU countries. Belgium's public debt fell from 127% of GDP in
1996 to 122% of GDP in 1998 and the government is trying to control
its expenditures to bring the figure more into line with other
industrialized countries. Belgium became a charter member of the
European Monetary Union (EMU) in January 1999. The dioxin crisis -
beginning in June 1999 with the discovery of a cancer-causing
substance in animal feed - constituted a serious blow to the
food-processing industry, both domestically and internationally. This
crisis slowed down GDP growth with recovery expected in the year 2000.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $243.4 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.8% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $23,900 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 27%
services: 71.6% (1999 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): 1% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 4.341 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation: services 73%, industry 25%, agriculture
2% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $116.5 billion
expenditures: $119 billion, including capital expenditures of $10.7
billion (1998 est.)

Industries: engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly,
processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles,
glass, petroleum, coal

Industrial production growth rate: -1% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 78.702 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 42.48%
hydro: 0.49%
nuclear: 55.72%
other: 1.31% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 74.543 billion kWh (1998)

Electrici