Part 16
Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars per US dollar - 2 (2002), 2 (2001), 2 (2000), 2 (1999), 2 (1998)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Barbados
Telephones - main lines in use: 108,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 8,013 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: island-wide automatic telephone system international: satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Trinidad and Saint Lucia
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 237,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus two cable channels) (1997)
Televisions: 76,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .bb
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 19 (2000)
Internet users: 6,000 (2000)
Transportation Barbados
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 1,793 km paved: 1,719 km unpaved: 74 km (1999)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Bridgetown, Speightstown (Port Charles Marina)
Merchant marine: total: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 284,222 GRT/439,810 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 1, The Bahamas 1, Canada 4, Germany 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 7, Norway 7, UK 18 (2002 est.) ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 22, combination bulk 1, container 1, petroleum tanker 2
Airports: 1 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)
Military Barbados
Military branches: Royal Barbados Defense Force (including Ground Forces and Coast Guard), Royal Barbados Police Force
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 77,862 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 53,282 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues Barbados
Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Bassas da India
Introduction Bassas da India
Background: This atoll is a volcanic rock surrounded by reefs and is awash at high tide. A French possession since 1897, it was placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Reunion in 1968.
Geography Bassas da India
Location: Southern Africa, islands in the southern Mozambique Channel, about one-half of the way from Madagascar to Mozambique
Geographic coordinates: 21 30 S, 39 50 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 0.2 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 0.2 sq km
Area - comparative: about one-third the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 35.2 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: tropical
Terrain: volcanic rock
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 2.4 m
Natural resources: none
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (all rock) (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: maritime hazard since it is usually under water during high tide and surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: the islands emerge from a circular reef that sits atop a long-extinct, submerged volcano
People Bassas da India
Population: uninhabited (July 2003 est.)
Government Bassas da India
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Bassas da India
Dependency status: possession of France; administered by a high commissioner of the Republic, resident in Reunion
Legal system: the laws of France, where applicable, apply
Flag description: the flag of France is used
Economy Bassas da India
Economy - overview: no economic activity
Transportation Bassas da India
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: none; offshore anchorage only
Military Bassas da India
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of France
Transnational Issues Bassas da India
Disputes - international: claimed by Madagascar
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Belarus
Introduction Belarus
Background: After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place.
Geography Belarus
Location: Eastern Europe, east of Poland
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 28 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 207,600 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 207,600 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries: total: 2,900 km border countries: Latvia 141 km, Lithuania 502 km, Poland 407 km, Russia 959 km, Ukraine 891 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: cold winters, cool and moist summers; transitional between continental and maritime
Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Nyoman River 90 m highest point: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara 346 m
Natural resources: forests, peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, clay
Land use: arable land: 29.76% permanent crops: 0.69% other: 69.55% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,150 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chornobyl' in northern Ukraine
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay
People Belarus
Population: 10,322,151 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.8% (male 885,265; female 848,516) 15-64 years: 68.9% (male 3,456,769; female 3,652,766) 65 years and over: 14.3% (male 490,529; female 988,306) (2003 est.)
Median age: total: 36.7 years male: 34.1 years female: 39.3 years (2002)
Population growth rate: -0.12% (2003 est.)
Birth rate: 10.18 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: 14.05 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 13.87 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 15.13 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.43 years male: 62.54 years female: 74.6 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.34 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 15,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,000 (2001 est.)
Nationality: noun: Belarusian(s) adjective: Belarusian
Ethnic groups: Belarusian 81.2%, Russian 11.4%, Polish, Ukrainian, and other 7.4%
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Languages: Belarusian, Russian, other
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.8% female: 99.5% (2003 est.)
Government Belarus
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Belarus conventional short form: Belarus local short form: none former: Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic local long form: Respublika Byelarus'
Government type: republic
Capital: Minsk
Administrative divisions: 6 voblastsi (singular - voblasts') and one municipality* (harady, singular - horad); Brestskaya (Brest), Homyel'skaya (Homyel'), Horad Minsk*, Hrodzyenskaya (Hrodna), Mahilyowskaya (Mahilyow), Minskaya, Vitsyebskaya (Vitsyebsk); note - when using a place name with the adjectival ending 'skaya,' the word voblasts' should be added to the place name note: voblasti have the administrative center name following in parentheses
Independence: 25 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, 3 July (1944); note - 3 July 1944 was the date Minsk was liberated from German troops, 25 August 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union
Constitution: 30 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Aleksandr LUKASHENKO (since 20 July 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Sergei SIDORSKY (acting; since 10 July 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei KOBYAKOV (since 13 March 2000), Sergei SIDORSKY (since 24 September 2001), Vladimir DRAZHIN (since 24 September 2001), Roman VNUCHKO (since 10 July 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers election results: Aleksandr LUKASHENKO reelected president; percent of vote - Aleksandr LUKASHENKO 75.6%, Vladimir GONCHARIK 15.4% elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; first election took place 23 June and 10 July 1994; according to the 1994 constitution, the next election should have been held in 1999, however LUKASHENKO extended his term to 2001 via a November 1996 referendum; new election held 9 September 2001 (next election to be held by September 2006); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Natsionalnoye Sobranie consists of the Council of the Republic or Soviet Respubliki (64 seats; 56 members elected by regional councils and 8 members appointed by the president, all for 4-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives or Palata Pretsaviteley (110 seats; members elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 4-year terms) election results: party affiliation data unavailable; under present political conditions party designations are meaningless elections: last held October 2000 (next to be held NA 2004)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Constitutional Court (half of the judges appointed by the president and half appointed by the Chamber of Representatives)
Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party or AP [Mikhail SHIMANSKY]; Belarusian Communist Party or KPB [Viktor CHIKIN, chairman]; Belarusian Ecological Green Party (merger of Belarusian Ecological Party and Green Party of Belarus) [leader NA]; Belarusian Patriotic Movement (Belarusian Patriotic Party) or BPR [Anatoliy BARANKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Popular Front or BNF [Vintsuk VYACHORKA]; Belarusian Social-Democrat Party or SDBP [Nikolay STATKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party or Hromada [Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, chairman]; Belarusian Socialist Party [Vyacheslav KUZNETSOV]; Civic Accord Bloc (United Civic Party) or CAB [Anatol LIABEDZKA]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDPB [Sergei GAYDUKEVICH, chairman]; Party of Communists Belarusian or PKB [Sergei KALYAKIN, chairman]; Republican Party of Labor and Justice or RPPS [Anatoliy NETYLKIN, chairman]; Social-Democrat Party of Popular Accord or PPA [Leanid SECHKA]; Women's Party or "Nadezhda" [Valentina POLEVIKOVA, chairperson]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, NAM (observer), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Mikhail KHVOSTOV chancery: 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 986-1805 telephone: [1] (202) 986-1604
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Michael G. KOZAK embassy: 46 Starovilenskaya St., Minsk 220002 mailing address: PSC 78, Box B Minsk, APO 09723 telephone: [375] (17) 210-12-83 FAX: [375] (17) 234-7853
Flag description: red horizontal band (top) and green horizontal band one-half the width of the red band; a white vertical stripe on the hoist side bears a Belarusian national ornament in red
Economy Belarus
Economy - overview: Belarus has seen little structural reform since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of "market socialism." In keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by high inflation and persistent trade deficits, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color the pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $90.19 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.7% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 15% industry: 40% services: 45% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line: 22% (1995 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 5.1% highest 10%: 20% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 21.7 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 42.8% (2002 est.)
Labor force: 4.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: industry and construction NA%, agriculture and forestry NA%, services NA%
Unemployment rate: 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers
Budget: revenues: $4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Industries: metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Industrial production growth rate: 2.5% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production: 24.4 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.5% hydro: 0.1% other: 0.4% (2001) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 26.69 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports: 300 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: 4.3 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production: 37,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 230,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA (2001)
Oil - imports: NA (2001)
Natural gas - production: 200 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 18 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 17.8 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Exports: $7.7 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, mineral products, chemicals, metals; textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners: Russia 50.8%, Latvia 7.3%, Ukraine 6.3%, Lithuania 4.1%, Germany 4.1% (2002)
Imports: $8.8 billion f.o.b. (2002)
Imports - commodities: mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, metals
Imports - partners: Russia 68.2%, Germany 9.4%, Ukraine 3.2% (2002)
Debt - external: $851 million (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $194.3 million (1995)
Currency: Belarusian ruble (BYB/BYR)
Currency code: BYB/BYR
Exchange rates: Belarusian rubles per US dollar - NA (2002), 1,390 (2001), 876.75 (2000), 248.8 (1999), 46.13 (1998)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Belarus
Telephones - main lines in use: 2.313 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 8,167 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company) Beltelcom which is a monopoly domestic: local - Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long; local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity - Belarus has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries' systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational international: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line, and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations
Radio broadcast stations: AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11 (1998)
Radios: 3.02 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 47 (plus 27 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions: 2.52 million (1997)
Internet country code: .by
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 23 (2002)
Internet users: 422,000 (2002)
Transportation Belarus
Railways: total: 5,523 km broad gauge: 5,523 km 1.520-m gauge (875 km electrified) (2002)
Highways: total: 74,385 km paved: 66,203 km unpaved: 8,182 km (2000)
Waterways: NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal and river systems
Pipelines: gas 4,519 km; oil 1,811 km; refined products 1,686 km (2003)
Ports and harbors: Mazyr
Airports: 124 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 28 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 96 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 67 (2002)
Military Belarus
Military branches: Army, Air Force (including air defense), Interior Ministry Troops, Border Guards
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2003 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 2,756,572 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 2,158,875 (2003 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 86,654 (2003 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $176.1 million (FY02)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (FY02)
Transnational Issues Belarus
Disputes - international: 1997 boundary treaty with Ukraine remains unratified over unresolved financial claims, preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal border crossing; boundaries with Latvia and Lithuania remain undemarcated despite European Union financial support
Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to and via Russia, and to the Baltics and Western Europe; lax money-laundering and banking regulations
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Belgium
Introduction Belgium
Background: Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy.
Geography Belgium
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: 66 km
Maritime claims: continental shelf: median line with neighbors territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: median line with neighbors (extends about 68 km from coast)
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: 25% permanent crops: 0% note: includes Luxembourg (1998 est.) other: 75%
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (includes Luxembourg) (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding is a threat in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes
Environment - current issues: the environment is exposed to intense pressures from human activities: urbanization, dense transportation network, industry, extensive animal breeding and crop cultivation; air and water pollution also have repercussions for neighboring countries; uncertainties regarding federal and regional responsibilities (now resolved) have slowed progress in tackling environmental challenges
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, 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-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Geography - note: crossroads of Western Europe; majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels, the seat of both the European Union and NATO
People Belgium
Population: 10,289,088 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 17.2% (male 905,856; female 865,589) 15-64 years: 65.6% (male 3,400,419; female 3,346,182) 65 years and over: 17.2% (male 725,162; female 1,045,880) (2003 est.)
Median age: total: 40 years male: 38.7 years female: 41.3 years (2002)
Population growth rate: 0.14% (2003 est.)
Birth rate: 10.45 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 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: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 4.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 5.16 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.29 years male: 74.97 years female: 81.78 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.62 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 8,500 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)
Nationality: noun: Belgian(s) adjective: Belgian
Ethnic groups: Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11%
Religions: Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25%
Languages: Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and French)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: NA% female: NA%
Government Belgium
Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of Belgium conventional short form: Belgium local short form: Belgique/Belgie local long form: Royaume de Belgique/Koninkrijk Belgie
Government type: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch
Capital: Brussels
Administrative divisions: 10 provinces (French: provinces, singular - province; Dutch: provincies, singular - provincie) and 3 regions* (French: regions; Dutch: gewesten); Antwerpen, Brabant Wallon, Brussels* (Bruxelles), Flanders*, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaams-Brabant, Wallonia*, West-Vlaanderen
Independence: 4 October 1830 a provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands; 21 July 1831 the ascension of King Leopold I to the throne
National holiday: 21 July (1831) ascension to the Throne of King Leopold I
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); Heir Apparent Prince PHILIPPE, son of the monarch head of government: Prime Minister Guy VERHOFSTADT (since 13 July 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch and approved by Parliament elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch and then approved by Parliament note: government coalition - VLD, MR, PS, SP, AGALEV, and ECOLO
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate or Senaat in Dutch, Senat in French (71 seats; 40 members are directly elected by popular vote, 31 are indirectly elected; members serve four-year terms) and a Chamber of Deputies or Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers in Dutch, Chambre des Representants in French (150 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 June 2003 (next to be held in NA May 2007) note: as a result of the 1993 constitutional revision that furthered devolution into a federal state, there are now three levels of government (federal, regional, and linguistic community) with a complex division of responsibilities; this reality leaves six governments each with its own legislative assembly; for other acronyms of the listed parties see the Political parties and leaders entry election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - SP.A-Spirit 15.5%, VLD 15.4%, CD & V 12.7%, PS 12.8%, MR 12.1%, VB 9.4%, CDH 5.6%; seats by party - SP.A-Spirit 7, VLD 7, CD & V 6, PS 6, MR 5, VB 5, CDH 2, other 2 (note - there are also 31 indirectly elected senators); Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - VLD 15.4%, SP.A-Spirit 14.9%, CD & V 13.3%, PS 13.0%, VB 11.6%, MR 11.4%, CDH 5.5%, Ecolo 3.1%; seats by party - VLD 25, SP.A-Spirit 23, CD & V 21, PS 25, VB 18, MR 24, CDH 8 Ecolo 4, other 2