ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Belgium. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Belgium. Assuming the European Union (EU) presidency in the middle of 2001, Belgium sought to downplay its own internal divisions while promoting Continental integration and tolerance. Modern Belgium dates from 1830, when the territory broke away from the Netherlands and formed a constitutional monarchy. Belgium's current coalition government, formed in July 1999, is composed of Greens, Liberals, and Socialists. Belgium has enacted measures to promote sexual equality, including the prohibition of sexual harassment. Legislation mandates that, in the next general parliamentary election, 33 percent of the candidates be women.
