Belgium - Geography

Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational Issues

Belgium is located Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands. The climate is temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy. The terrain is flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast.

Location

This entry identifies the country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
Location : Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands

Geographic coordinates

This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.
Geographic coordinates : 50 50 N, 4 00 E

Map references

This entry includes the name of the Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. Note that boundary representations on these maps are not necessarily authoritative. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
Map references : Europe

Area

This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
Area - total : 30,528 sq km
Area - land : 30,278 sq km
Area - water : 250 sq km

Area - comparative

This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
Area - comparative : about the size of Maryland

Land boundaries

This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When available, official lengths published by national statistical agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.
Land boundaries - total : 1,385 km
Land boundaries - border countries : France 620 km, Germany 167 km, Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km

Coastline

This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
Coastline : 66.5 km

Maritime claims

This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which alone contains the full and definitive descriptions
Maritime claims - territorial sea : 12 nm
Maritime claims - contiguous zone : 24 nm
Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone : geographic coordinates define outer limit
Maritime claims - continental shelf : median line with neighbors

Climate

This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
Climate : temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy

Terrain

This entry contains a brief description of the topography.
Terrain : flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast

Elevation extremes

This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
Elevation extremes - lowest point : North Sea 0 m
Elevation extremes - highest point : Signal de Botrange 694 m

Natural resources

This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Natural resources : construction materials, silica sand, carbonates

Land use

This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for three different types of land use
Land use - arable land : 27.42%
Land use - permanent crops : 0.69%
Land use - other : 71.89%
Land use - note : includes Luxembourg (2005)

Irrigated land

This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
Irrigated land : 400 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources

This entry provides the long-term average water availability for a country in cubic kilometers of precipitation, recharged ground water, and surface inflows from surrounding countries. The values have been adjusted to account for overlap resulting from surface flow recharge of groundwater sources. Total renewable water resources provides the water total available to a country but does not include water resource totals that have been reserved for upstream or downstream countries through international agreements. Note that these values are averages and do not accurately reflect the total available in any given year. Annual available resources can vary greatly due to short-term and long-term climatic and weather variations.
Total renewable water resources : 20.8 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

This entry provides the annual quantity of water in cubic kilometers removed from available sources for use in any purpose. Water drawn-off is not necessarily entirely consumed and some portion may be returned for further use downstream. Domestic sector use refers to water supplied by public distribution systems. Note that some of this total may be used for small industrial and/or limited agricultural purposes. Industrial sector use is the quantity of water used by self-supplied industries not connected to a public distribution system. Agricultural sector use includes water used for irrigation and livestock watering, and does not account for agriculture directly dependent on rainfall. Included are figures for total annual water withdrawal and per capita water withdrawal.
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total : 7.44 cu km/yr (13%/85%/1%)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - per capita : 714 cu m/yr (1998)

Natural hazards

This entry lists potential natural disasters.
Natural hazards : flooding is a threat along rivers and in areas of reclaimed coastal land, protected from the sea by concrete dikes

Environment

Environment - current issues - activities : urbanization, dense transportation network, industry, extensive animal breeding and crop cultivation; air and water pollution also have repercussions for neighboring countries; uncertainties regarding federal and regional responsibilities (now resolved) had slowed progress in tackling environmental challenges
Environment - international agreements - party to : Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Environment - international agreements - signed, but not ratified : none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
Geography - note : crossroads of Western Europe; most West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels, the seat of both the European Union and NATO

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