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A
rich and bubbling vat of beer, chocolate, oil paint and bureaucrats,
Belgium gives off the heady pong of the bourgeoisie. But stir
the pot a little and you'll find an 'artificial state' roughly
made up of two parts Germanic Flemings to one part Celtic-Latin
Walloons. Divided by pride first and language second, the country's
binding agents are a pervasive sense of family and an indomitable
entrepreneurial spirit. And if Belgium's spotlight on the European
stage is a little dim, it's only because its people are rarely
boastful. This country has more history, art, food and architecture
per square centimetre than many of its bigger, louder neighbours.
Full
country name: Kingdom of Belgium
Area: 30,518 sq km
Population: 10.2 million
Capital city: Brussels (pop: 980,000)
People: 55% Flemish (of Teutonic origin), 33% Walloons (French
Latin) and about 10% foreigners.
Language: Flemish, French and German. Most Belgians also speak
English.
Religion: 75% Roman Catholic
Government: constitutional parliamentary monarchy
Prime Minister: Guy Verhofstadt
GDP:
US$259.2 billion
GDP per head: US$25,300
Annual growth: 2.8%
Inflation: 2.2%
Major industries: Services, agriculture, chemicals, engineering,
metal products, car manufacturing, iron and steel, textiles
and food
Major trading partners: EU (esp. Germany, France, Netherlands,
UK), USA
Member of EU: yes
Euro zone participant: yes
Belgium
Flight from UK
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