A Look at Belgium's Economy

19 Pages 4785 Words

the Kingdom of Belgium, lies in the northwestern region of Europe, and bordered to the north by the Netherlands, to the east by Luxembourg and Germany, and to the south by France. Temperature in the capital, Brussels, ranges between about 0 degrees C and 23 degrees C (32-73 degrees F). July is the warmest and wettest month, while March is the driest. Average precipitation throughout the year is about 33.7 inches in the form of rain. Due to its location in relation to the North Sea, the much of Belgium's climate is very temperate and mild.
The terrain of southwestern Belgium is relatively hilly, while some areas in the north, like Flanders, are subject to periodic flooding. The North Sea coast is sandy. Less than 50% of the land is used for agriculture, 20% is considered as forestry, which is concentrated in the Ardennes region.
As for minerals and resources, as of 1995, Belgium produced 637,000 metric tons of Lignite, 24,000 metric tons of Uranium, and 2,186,000 metric tons of chalk. Mining accounted for 0.3% of the GDP, and 0.2% of the labor force (70, 74).
Surface transportation in Belgium includes both passenger and freight rail systems, cars, buses and coaches, goods vehicles, tractors (non-agricultural), and motorcycles and mopeds. As of 1997, there were :

Railways (traffic) Passenger-km 6,984,000
Freight ton-km 7,465,000
Private Cars 4,500,000
Buses and Coaches 14,500
Goods vehicles 400,000
Tractors (non-agricultural) 41,000
Motorcycles and mopeds 225,000

Communications systems as of 1995 included:
Telephones 4,632,000

Fax 165,000,000

Cellular Phones 235,000,000

Radio 8,000,000

Televisions 4,600,000

Newspapers 28

general interest dailies - combined circulation of 1,962,422 copies per issue

In Belgium, the family is focus of most everyone's social life, and happiness is often based on the family. In b...