Belgium

G

Culture

Festivals play an important part in Belgian life. One of the most famous is the three-day carnival at Binche, near Mons, held just before Lent. During the carnival, merriment and dancing are led by “Gilles”, men dressed in high, plumed hats and bright costumes. Another famous pageant is the Procession of the Holy Blood, held in Bruges in May. December 6 commemorates St Nicholas’s Day, an important children’s holiday.

General and specialized libraries are located in all the principal cities. The national library and main reference collection is the Bibliothèque Royale Albert I (1837) in Brussels, with some 3 million volumes. The universities of Ghent, Liège, and Louvain also have large libraries.

The Royal Museum for Fine Arts (1890) in Antwerp is noted for its collection of paintings by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (1830), in Brussels, has a collection of artworks of many periods, a concert hall, and a cinema.

The National Theatre (1945) in Brussels is supported by state subsidies. Belgium has contributed to both Flemish and French literature. Among the outstanding authors of the country are Philippe de Comines and Jean Froissart, who wrote in French during the Middle Ages. The works of Charles de Coster and Émile Verhaeren, both of whom wrote in French, and of Hendrik Conscience, who developed the Flemish novel, were popular during the 19th century. Poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, who wrote in French, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1911. However, probably the best-known author of Belgian descent is Georges Simenon. Born in Liège, his Inspector Maigret novels are read worldwide. See also Flemish Language; Flemish Literature.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, northern Europe was one of the centres of the Renaissance. The Flemish painters Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder were among the outstanding artists of this period. Dominant in the 17th century were Rubens and Sir Anthony van Dyck, who are regarded by many as two of the greatest Flemish painters. Among 20th-century painters and graphic artists of international fame are James Ensor, Paul Delvaux, and René Magritte. Belgian architect Victor Horta was one of the originators of the Art Nouveau style of architecture, which had an important influence on European architects of the 20th century. Contemporary Belgian architecture is represented by the designs of Henri van de Velde.

IV

Economy

Primarily an industrial nation, Belgium’s gross national product (GNP) in 2004 was about US$326 billion, yielding an annual income per head of about US$36,140 (World Bank). Belgium imports great quantities of raw materials that are processed mainly for export. The greater part of Belgian industry, including steel, coal, chemical, and petroleum firms, is controlled by six trusts. In the mid-1990s installed electric power capacity was about 14.1 million kW; electric power production was about 79 billion kWh in 2003, with nuclear generation accounting for 57 per cent of production. Parliament has backed a bill to close all the country’s nuclear reactors by 2025. In 2005 annual budget estimates set revenue at about US$156.8 billion and expenditures at about US$156.3 billion. A growing budget deficit, combined with high unemployment rates, hindered Belgium’s overall economic growth in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, growth recovered, only to fall back in 1993. This trend appeared to have been reversed by late 1994, with an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 2 per cent, and although Belgium’s budget deficit had been reduced, it remained the highest in the EU in 1997.

A

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

About 2 per cent of the total labour force works in agriculture, which supplies some 80 per cent of Belgium’s food requirements. About 65 per cent of farms are intensively cultivated units of less than 10 hectares (25 acres). About 45 per cent of the land is used for field crops or stock-raising, and nearly 3 per cent for horticulture. In 2005 the leading crops were sugar beet (6 million tonnes), potatoes (2.65 million), wheat (1.77 million), and barley (306,215). Other important crops include fruits, tomatoes, and flax. Livestock and dairy farming are major agricultural industries; Belgium produces about 95 per cent of its meat requirements and is totally self-sufficient in butter, eggs, and milk. In 2005 the livestock population of Belgium numbered some 6.33 million pigs, 2.69 million cattle, 155,333 sheep, 33,887 horses, and 34.4 million poultry.

Forests cover about 22 per cent of the area of Belgium, and wooded areas are used primarily for recreational purposes. In recent years, stands of conifers have been planted and forestry activity has increased; however, timber is still imported for the country’s paper industry.

Belgium’s main fishing port is Ostend. The fishing fleet exploits the North Atlantic Ocean fisheries from the North Sea to Iceland. The total catch in 2004 amounted to about 27,775 tonnes, primarily herring, sole, cod, shrimp, sprats, and plaice.

B

Mining

Historically, coal was the principal mineral resource of Belgium, but easily accessible supplies have been largely exhausted and production dropped precipitously in the late 1980s. The industry mined 5.6 million tonnes of hard coal in 1986, but output fell to 634,000 tonnes in 1991 and to just 278,000 in 1992. Many mines have been closed in the southern coal-mining regions around Mons, Charleroi, Liège, and Namur; the Campine basin to the north provides nearly all the coal that is still mined. There is no longer an economically significant mining industry; the contribution of mining to GDP is less than 0.5 per cent. Because of this, coal must be imported for steel-making and other industries. Belgium is also a major importer of crude oil.

C

Manufacturing

Belgium is one of the most highly industrialized countries of Europe, largely because of its geographical location and transport facilities. Industrial production increased steadily after World War II, but began to decrease in the 1950s. However, the establishment of the European Economic Community (now the EU) in 1957 and the introduction by the government of an investment-incentive programme resulted in a new surge in Belgian industry. Belgium ranks high among world producers of iron and steel, and more than half the total output is exported. About 10.8 million tonnes of crude steel were produced annually in the mid-1990s.

The textile industry, dating from the Middle Ages, produces cottons, woollens, linens, and synthetics. With the exception of flax, all raw materials are imported. Centres of the textile industry are Bruges, Brussels, Limburg, Ghent, Liège, Kortrijk (Courtrai), and Mechelen. In the early 1990s about 52,000 tonnes of cotton fabrics, 28,000 tonnes of wool fabrics, and 34,200 tonnes of rayon and acetate fabrics were produced annually. Carpet-making is an important industry in Saint-Nicolas; Brussels and Bruges are noted for the manufacture of lace, fine lawn, and damask.

The Belgian chemical industry leads the world in the production of cobalt and radium salts and also ranks high in the production of coal tar, fertilizers, and plastics. Pharmaceuticals, photographic supplies, glassware, furniture, paper and cartons, and cement are also important manufactures.

The non-ferrous-metals industry furnishes the metallurgical, chemical, and other industries with a wide variety of metals, including copper, zinc, lead, platinum, germanium, and uranium.

The bulk of the metal-manufacturing industry is engaged in the production of heavy machinery, structural steelwork, and industrial equipment. Other important industries are shipbuilding, which is centred in Antwerp, and the manufacture of railway equipment. The diamond-cutting industry, also based in Antwerp, is one of the world’s largest sources of cut industrial diamonds.