style="font-size:15px;"> Debt - external: $145 million (FY99/00)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency: Bermudian dollar (BMD)
Currency code: BMD
Exchange rates: Bermudian dollar per US dollar - 1.0000 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use: 52,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 7,980 (1996)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: modern, fully automatic telephone system international: 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 82,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (1997)
Televisions: 66,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .bm
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 20 (2000)
Internet users: 25,000 (2000)
Transportation Bermuda
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 450 km paved: NA note: public roads - 209 km; private roads - 241 km (2002) unpaved: NA
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Hamilton, Saint George's, Dockyard
Merchant marine: total: 102 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,485,450 GRT/8,782,869 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Croatia 5, Denmark 2, Germany 1, Greece 1, Hong Kong 9, Indonesia 1, Norway 2, Sweden 11, United Kingdom 52, United States 13 (2002 est.) ships by type: bulk 28, cargo 4, container 16, liquefied gas 6, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 16, roll on/roll off 9, short-sea passenger 3
Airports: 1 (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2960 m) (2002)
Military Bermuda
Military branches: no regular indigenous military forces; Bermuda
Regiment, Bermuda Police Force, Bermuda Reserve Constabulary
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $4,027,970 (January 2002)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.11% (FY00/01)
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
Transnational Issues Bermuda
Disputes - international: none
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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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 fishing 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: 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, 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
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: 10,274,595 (July 2002 est.)
