Kingdom of Belgium

Belgium (its capital Brussels) and neighboring states

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons:
2010: see chart
2010: debt and reserves chart (upper)

Import/export ratio
2010: exports 99.1% of imports -- slighty unfavorable balance

Unemployment rate
2010: 8.5%
2009: 8.3%
2008: 6.5%

Belgium has benefited from its central location, good ports, canals, railroads and highways.

Taxes
For a single worker without children, in the year 2001, including contributions to Social Security, a Belgian earning an average wage paid 55.6% of his or her income for taxes, the highest such taxes in the world. Apparently, much of it has been invested in infrastructure, subsidizing industries and paying off government debt. Belgium is also generous in giving out aid -- including to Palestinians. In 2003 it gave $74.25 in aid per Belgian. The United States that year gave 23.76 for each of its citizens. As for health care, Belgium spent only $2,137 per person, compared to $4,271 in the United States -- money perhaps more efficiently spent than in the United States.

Health
Belgium's constitution guarantees "the right to health." Every Belgian patient pays only a small fee for care.  The rest if paid by government. The elderly receive subsidized cab rides to and from hospitals.

Distribution of Wealth
The top 10% in household income in 1996 did 23% of the nation's consuming. For the lowest 10% of households this was 3.2%, a flatter distribution than in the United States, where these figures for 1997 were 30.5 percent and 1.8%.

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 97%

Belgium has 1,230 persons per square kilometer of arable land, compared to around 31 persons for Kansas and 34 for Alabama, the latter a median state in the U.S. for population density (from the U.S. 2000 census).

Migration
2011: More people arriving than leaving. A net gain of 1.22 migrants per 1,000 population.

Ethnicity and Religion
Belgium has French speakers and those who speak primarily a dialect of Dutch. It is 75% Roman Catholic. The French speakers are Walloons, descendants of the Franks and live primarily in the south and east of the country. The Dutch speakers are Flemings, who live primarily in the north and west. They are also descendants of the Franks. 

Geography

Borders on the North Sea between France and the Netherlands. Belgium has 30,370 square kilometers of land. Arable land is 28% of that.

Government

A federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Recent History

Independence: 1830

A founding member and headquarters for NATO in 1949.

Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community, established in 1957, later to be called the European Union.

Gave independence to the Belgian Congo in 1960.