Pre-Trip Information

Because of its location at the crossroads of Western Europe, Belgium has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger neighbors. With virtually defenseless borders, Belgium has traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations which surround it through a policy of mediation. This attitude has shaped the position of the people of Belgium in the world today.

 

Belgium's total population is estimated to be about than 10.8 million. Approximately 58 percent of Belgians are Fleming; 31 percent are Walloon. Following the ethnic divisions, about 58 percent of the population speaks Flemish (a Dutch dialect) while 31 percent speak French. German-speakers comprise around 9 percent of the population. Of course, there is a nominally bilingual population in the capital, Brussels. In terms of religious affiliation, 75 percent of Belgians are Roman Catholic; approximately 25 percent are Protestant.

 

In keeping with these ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences, present-day Belgium is divided into three "regions" and three "communities." The three regions are Flanders (the northern, Flemish-speaking part of Belgium), Wallonia (the southern, French-speaking part), and Brussels (the capital city with 19 bilingual communes). The three communities correspond to the various language groups in Belgium: Flemish-speakers, French-speakers, German-speakers, along wiht bilingualism.

 

The Celtics, Romans, Germans, French, Dutch, Spanish and Austrians all influenced present-day Belgian culture. Immigrants who came to Belgium from Southern Europe, Turkey, and North Africa after World War II further contributed to the country's ethnic, religious, and linguistic mix.


Human Development

 

With a high gross domestic product per capita, Belgium is a wealthy country. According to various recent estimates, Belgians have an average life expectancy at birth of 79.4 years of age (76.2 years for males, 82.7 years for females), and the infant mortality rate is 4.38 deaths per 1,000 live births. In terms of literacy, an estimated 99 percent of the population, age 15 and older, can read and write.

About  11.8 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures in this country; about six percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures.  Access to education, sanitation, water, and health is regarded to be very good.

One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Belgium in the very high human development category, at 18th place.

Editor's Note:  Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.