Belgium (French Belgique; Dutch België), constitutional monarchy in northwestern Europe. Belgium is one of the smallest and most densely populated European countries. It is also the most urbanized; 97 percent of its people live in urban areas. Together with Netherlands and Luxembourg, Belgium forms the Low, or Benelux, Countries. The country’s name comes from the Belgae, a Celtic people who lived in the region and were conquered by Roman general Julius Caesar in 57 BC. Its capital and largest city is Brussels.

Belgium is situated between France and the plains of northern Europe, and it borders the North Sea. Because of its geographic position as a crossroads of Europe, Belgium has been a major commercial center since the Middle Ages. The North Sea has been the country’s outlet for trade with the rest of the world. Belgium’s geographic location has also given it strategic importance, and many battles have been fought for control of the area. Belgium became an independent country in 1830.

BASIC FACTS

Official name Kingdom of Belgium

Capital Brussels

Area 30,528 sq km

11,787 sq mi

Life expectancy

Total 78.9 years (2007 estimate)

Female 82.2 years (2007 estimate)

Male 75.8 years (2007 estimate)

Infant mortality rate 5 deaths per 1,000 live births

(2007 estimate)

Population per physician 239 people (2004)

Population per hospital bed 145 people (2002)

Literacy rate

Total 99 percent (1995)

PEOPLE

Population 10,392,226 (2007 estimate)

Population growth

Population growth rate 0.12 percent (2007 estimate)

Projected population in 2025 10,453,261 (2007 estimate)

Projected population in 2050 9,882,599 (2007 estimate)

Population density 343 persons per sq km

(2007 estimate)

889 persons per sq mi

(2007 estimate)

Urban/rural distribution

Share urban 97 percent (2005

estimate)

Share rural 3 percent (2005

estimate)

Ethnic groups

Flemish 55 percent

Walloon 33 percent

Mixed or other 12 percent

Religious affiliations

Roman Catholic 81 percent

Protestant 1 percent

Muslims 4 percent

Nonreligious 6 percent

Other 8 percent

Languages

Dutch (official) 56 percent

French (official) 32 percent

German (official) 1 percent

Legally bilingual (divided

along ethnic lines)

11 percent

GOVERNMENTForm of government Constitutional monarchy

Head of state King

Head of government Prime minister

Legislature Bicameral legislature

Chamber of Representatives:

150 deputies

Senate: 71 senators

Voting qualifications Universal and compulsory at

age 18

Constitution 7 February 1831; revised 14

July 1993, June 2001

Highest court Supreme Court of Justice

Armed forces Army, Navy, Air Force

Total number of military

personnel

36,900 (2004)

Military expenditures as a

share of gross domestic

product (GDP)

1.3 percent (2003)

First-level political divisions Ten provinces in three

federal regions

Executive power is vested in the king, who appoints the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and judges. The king is commander in chief of the armed forces and, with the approval of parliament, has the power to declare war and conclude treaties. The rights of the king, according to the constitution, include convening and dissolving parliament, conferring titles of nobility, and granting pardons. All royal acts, however, must be countersigned by a minister, who in turn assumes responsibility for those acts before parliament. Inasmuch as the ministers are responsible to parliament, the king must choose a cabinet that represents a majority in parliament. Cabinets are generally multiparty coalitions.

Under constitutional changes that took effect with the parliamentary elections of 1995, both houses of the Belgian parliament were reduced in size. The Senate was scaled back from 184 members to 71, while the Chamber of Representatives dropped from 212 members to 150. All members of the Chamber of Representatives are directly elected, while the Senate’s membership is elected through a combination of direct and indirect methods. All citizens more than 18 years of age are required to vote in parliamentary elections and may be fined for not doing so.

The Belgian constitution provides for an independent judiciary with powers equal to those of the executive and legislative departments. The highest tribunals are the five courts of appeal, which sit at Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, and Mons; the five labor courts; and the Supreme Court of Justice. Cases are referred to the courts of appeal by the courts of assize, which review both civil and criminal matters. In the assize courts 12 jurors decide all cases by majority vote. A special court was established in 1989 to resolve constitutional conflicts arising from the transfer of power from the central government to regional authorities.

Belgium is divided into the three federal regions of Brussels (population, 2006 estimate, 1,024,492), Flanders (6,095,416), and Wallonia (3,421,985). These regions are further subdivided into the ten provinces of Antwerpen, Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limbourg, Luxembourg, Namur, and West Flanders, and into nearly 600 communes (administrative districts).Belgium has devised a two-tiered system of regional government to address political and cultural differences. Each of the three federal regions elects its own council, which is responsible for territorial matters such as planning, transportation, water, energy, municipalities, and regional development. In 2001 the regions were given greater authority over taxation and expenditure. There are also independent language councils for the Dutch-, French-, and German-speaking communities. These councils are in charge of education, health care, and communications (such as broadcasting) for the communities. Each of the ten provinces has a council of 50 to 90 members who are chosen by direct vote. The provinces are subdivided into administrative districts, often based in cities and towns, called communes. Each commune is administered by a burgomaster appointed by the king. The town council, directly elected to six-year terms, advises the king on this appointment. The council elects an executive body called the board of aldermen. Local government on all levels possesses a large degree of autonomy, a tradition that originated in feudal times.

Sri Lanka, in full, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic in the Indian Ocean, lying off the southeastern tip of the Indian subcontinent. The Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannār separate Sri Lanka from India. The Arabian Sea lies to the west, the Bay of Bengal to the northeast, and the Indian Ocean to the south. Colombo, situated on the western coast, is the largest city and the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The administrative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura (Kotte), located about 16 km (about 10 mi) east of

Colombo.

BASIC FACTS

Official name

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri

Lanka

Capital

Sri Jayawardenepura (legislative

capital)

Colombo (administrative capital)

Area 65,610 sq km

25,332 sq mi

PEOPLE

Population 20,926,315 (2007 estimate)

Population growth

Population growth rate 0.98 percent (2007 estimate)

Projected population in 2025 23,707,228 (2007 estimate)

Projected population in 2050 24,920,558 (2007 estimate)

Population density 323 persons per sq km (2007

estimate)

837 persons per sq mi (2007

estimate)

Urban/rural distribution

Share urban 21 percent (2005 estimate)

Share rural 79 percent (2005 estimate)

Largest cities, with population

Colombo 642,163 (2001)

Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia 209,787 (2001)

Jaffna 145,600 (1997 estimate)

Sri Jayawardenepura 115,826 (2001)

Kandy 110,049 (2001)

The principal ethnic groups in Sri Lanka are the Sinhalese, who form the majority, and the Tamils, who form the largest minority. These two groups tend to be concentrated in different areas of the country, depending on where they settled historically. Their different languages and religions are additional sources of isolation and ethnic tensions, which have existed for centuries. In 1983 these ethnic tensions escalated into a civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and Tamil separatists, who demanded that the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka be made an independent Tamil nation.The Sinhalese constitute more than 70 percent of the population. They form an even greater majority in southwestern Sri Lanka, where their population is concentrated. They are descended from people who began to migrate to the island from northern India about 500 bc. They speak a distinct language, Sinhala, and traditionally practice Buddhism.

Tamils made up about 18 percent of the population at the 1991 census. Their proportion of the population has since declined, mostly as a result of immigration to India. Tamils speak a language called Tamil. They traditionally practice Hinduism, although a small percentage are Christians. Tamils originally immigrated to Sri Lanka from southern India. Those known as Sri Lankan Tamils trace their origins to ancient migrations, whereas the so-called Indian Tamils came as migrant workers during the 19th century.

The president of Sri Lanka is head of state, chief executive, and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is directly elected to a six-year term and may serve no more than two terms. The president appoints the prime minister and the cabinet of ministers, all of whom must be members of the legislature. The president has wide-ranging powers. She or he can dismiss the prime minister or any other minister, dissolve Parliament and call for new parliamentary elections, suspend the sitting of Parliament for a limited period of time, and submit to a national referendum any bill that Parliament has rejected.

The legislature of Sri Lanka is a unicameral (single-chamber) body called Parliament. It has 225 members; 196 members are directly elected and 29 are appointed from national party lists that are compiled according to which parties won at least 5 percent of the vote. Members serve six-year terms. No term limits are imposed. Members are elected under a modified system of proportional representation. The prime minister is traditionally the leader of the political party that obtains a majority of seats in Parliament. If no party gains a majority, a member of Parliament who obtains the support of a majority of members may be appointed prime minister.

The judicial system of Sri Lanka includes a Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, magistrates courts, and primary courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court. It is comprised of seven judges, including a chief justice. The president of the republic appoints the justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. No term limits are imposed for the justices.Under the 1978 constitution, oversight of the judiciary is provided by a three-member Judicial Commission, comprised of the chief justice of the Supreme Court and two other judges. The commission is responsible for reviewing judicial appointments (except those to the Supreme Court) and protecting the judiciary from political interference.The laws of Sri Lanka reflect diverse cultural influences. Criminal laws are based primarily on British law. Civil laws are based on Roman-Dutch law. Marriage, divorce, and inheritance laws are communal, based on Tesavalami (Tamil law), Kandyan law (Sinhalese), and Islamic family law.

In an upsurge of ethnic violence in August 1983, Sinhalese mobs killed more than 300 Tamils and destroyed Tamil properties. More than 100,000 Tamils fled as refugees to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nādu. The LTTE launched a guerrilla war, violently attacking Sinhalese and Muslim civilians, as well as government security forces in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Government forces responded with violent retribution.The Indian government became involved in attempts to resolve the conflict. India’s predominantly Tamil southern states provided bases and supplies for the Sri Lankan Tamil guerrillas. By the terms of an agreement between the governments of India and Sri Lanka in July 1987, an Indian peacekeeping force replaced Sri Lankan troops in the Jaffna Peninsula. Other terms of the agreement included the eventual formation of a Tamil autonomous region in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The JVP and SLFP vehemently opposed the agreement as an abandonment of Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity. Protesting against the deployment of foreign troops in Sri Lanka, the JVP launched a well-orchestrated guerrilla insurgency to destabilize the government. Despite massive disruption by the JVP, presidential elections were held in December 1988. Ranasinghe Premadasaof the UNP won the election by a narrow margin. The government subsequently crushed the JVP insurgency, capturing most of its leadership.

The Indian intervention failed to bring peace, and all Indian troops were withdrawn from Sri Lanka by April 1990. Several major battles were fought between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE in 1991 and 1992. In May 1993 President Premadasa was assassinated during the annual May Day parade. The government alleged the assassin was a member of LTTE, but the LTTE denied the charge.In November 1993 LTTE forces seized a government military base in Pooneryn, near Jaffna. Several days later government forces drove the rebel forces back and recovered the base. The fighting was some of the worst between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil guerrillas, with heavy casualties on both sides.