Military
Military branches: Army, Air Force, Air Defense Force, Interior
Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49: 2,659,236 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 2,083,696 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 77,496 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: 2.4 trillion rubles (1997); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: treaty with Lithuania defining the border awaits demarcation
Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Russia and Western Europe ______________________________________________________________________
BELGIUM
@Belgium:Geography
Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands
Geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total : 30,510 sq km land: 30,230 sq km water: 280 sq km
Area - comparative: about the size of Maryland
Land boundaries:
total: 1,385 km
border countries : France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km,
Netherlands 450 km
Coastline: 64 km
Maritime claims: continental shelf : median line with neighbors exclusive fishing zone: median 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
Elevation extremes: lowest point: North Sea 0 m highest point : Signal de Botrange 694 m
Natural resources: coal, natural gas
Land use: arable land : 24% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 20% forests and woodland: 21% other: 34%
Irrigated land: 10 sq km including Luxembourg (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding is a threat in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes
Environment - current issues: Meuse River, a major source of drinking water, polluted from steel production wastes; other rivers polluted by animal wastes and fertilizers; industrial air pollution contributes to acid rain in neighboring countries
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Law of the Sea
Geography - note: crossroads of Western Europe; majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels which is the seat of both the EU and NATO
@Belgium:People
Population: 10,165,059 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: 17% (male 911,881; female 868,361) 15–64 years: 66% (male 3,385,319; female 3,318,940) 65 years and over : 17% (male 681,432; female 999,126) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.11% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 10.43 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 10.41 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth : 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.19 years male : 73.95 years female: 80.59 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.5 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun: Belgian(s) adjective: Belgian
Ethnic groups: Fleming 55%, Walloon 33%, mixed or other 12%
Religions: Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25%
Languages: Flemish 56%, French 32%, German 1%, legally bilingual 11%
Literacy: definition : age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1980 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
@Belgium:Government
Country name: conventional long form : Kingdom of Belgium conventional short form: Belgium local long form: Royaume de Belgique/Koninkrijk Belgie local short form: Belgique/Belgie
Data code: BE
Government type: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch
National 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 note: constitutional reforms passed by Parliament in 1993 theoretically increased the number of provinces to 10 by splitting the province of Brabant into two new provinces, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant, but this has not been confirmed by the US Government
Independence: 4 October 1830 (from the Netherlands)
National holiday: National Day, 21 July (ascension of King LEOPOLD to the throne in 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) head of government: Prime Minister Jean-Luc DEHAENE (since 6 March 1992) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the king and approved by Parliament elections: none; the king is a constitutional monarch; prime minister appointed by the king and then approved by Parliament
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate or Senaat in Flemish, Senat in French (71 seats; 40 members are directly elected, 31 will be indirectly elected at a later date; members serve four-year terms) and a Chamber of Deputies or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers in Flemish, Chambre des Representants in French (150 seats; members are directly elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last held 21 May 1995 (next to be held by the end of 1999) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CVP 7, SP 6, VLD 6, VU 2, AGALEV 1, VB 3, PS 5, PRL 5, PSC 3, ECOLO 2; note - before the 1995 elections, there were 184 seats; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CVP 17.2%, PS 11.9%, SP 12.6%, VLD 13.1%, PRL 10.3%, PSC 7.7%, VB 7.8%, VU 4.7%, ECOLO 4.0%, AGALEV