Imports - partners:
Germany 17.7%, Netherlands 17.6%, France 11.2%, UK 6.2%, US 5.4%,
Ireland 4.9%, China 4.1% (2007)
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $1.978 billion (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$16.51 billion (2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$1.313 trillion (30 June 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$678.2 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$540.1 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$422.7 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
euro (EUR)
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003)
Communications
Belgium
Telephones - main lines in use:
4.668 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
10.23 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: highly developed, technologically advanced, and completely automated domestic and international telephone and telegraph facilities domestic: nationwide cellular telephone system; extensive cable network; limited microwave radio relay network international: country code - 32; landing point for a number of submarine cables that provide links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 7 (Intelsat - 3) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 7, FM 79, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios:
8.075 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
25 (plus 10 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:
4.72 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.be
Internet hosts:
3.841 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
61 (2000)
Internet users:
5.22 million (2007)
Transportation
Belgium
Airports:
43 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 27 over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 9 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 15 (2007)
Heliports:
1 (2007)
Pipelines:
gas 1,562 km; oil 158 km; refined products 535 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 3,536 km standard gauge: 3,536 km 1.435-m gauge (2,950 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:
total: 152,256 km paved: 119,079 km (includes 1,763 km of expressways) unpaved: 33,177 km (2006)
Waterways:
2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use) (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 79 by type: bulk carrier 20, cargo 9, chemical tanker 1, container 6, liquefied gas 20, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 11, roll on/roll off 10 foreign-owned: 6 (Denmark 4, France 2) registered in other countries: 111 (Bahamas 15, Cyprus 2, France 6, Gibraltar 2, Greece 16, Hong Kong 3, Liberia 4, Luxembourg 7, Malta 15, Mozambique 2, Netherlands 2, Netherlands Antilles 1, Panama 2, Portugal 1, Portugal 7, Russia 4, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 8, Sierra Leone 1, Singapore 8, Vanuatu 4) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Antwerp, Gent, Liege, Zeebrugge
Military
Belgium
Military branches:
Belgian Armed Forces: Land Operations Command, Naval Operations
Command, Air Operations Command (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription suspended (2008)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 2,407,128 females age 16–49: 2,340,039 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 1,973,167 females age 16–49: 1,915,990 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 64,659 female: 61,881 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.3% of GDP (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
Belgium
Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
growing producer of synthetic drugs and cannabis; transit point for US-bound ecstasy; source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for cocaine, heroin, hashish, and marijuana entering Western Europe; despite a strengthening of legislation, the country remains vulnerable to money laundering related to narcotics, automobiles, alcohol, and tobacco; significant domestic consumption of ecstasy
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Belize
Introduction
Belize
Background:
Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include an unsustainable foreign debt, high unemployment, growing involvement in the South American drug trade, growing urban crime, and increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS.
Geography
Belize
Location:
Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and
Mexico
Geographic coordinates:
17 15 N, 88 45 W
Map