Tourist blog

Sea connection

Antwerp - sea gate of Belgium. Other important ports: Brugge, Зеєбрюгге, Gent, Bruxelles. Анверпен is knot of all system of waterways and the centre of foreign trade of Belgium. It is also transit port for external and domestic trade of the Rhine area (Germany) and northern France. Except favorable position near the North Sea, this port has one more advantage: sea come in a wide part of the bottom current of small river Sheldi provide sufficient depth for passage of ocean courts.

Belgium - mainly trading country. She long since adheres to a free-trade policy, but necessity for protection and support has forced it to unite in 1921 in the economic union with Luxembourg, known under name БЛЕС, and then, in 1948, to unite with the Netherlands in the Benelux countries. Membership in the European association of coal and constants (1952) and the European economic community (1958, nowadays the European Union) and signing Шенгенсько ї agreements (1990) have pushed Belgium together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg to gradual economic integration with France, Germany and Italy.

Agriculture - intensive, high-efficiency. In the country small and average farms prevail. Leading areas - meat and dairy animal industries, vegetable growing, grain manufacture. Grow up wheat, a rye, barley, an oats, a potato, sugar beets. Belgium - one of the greatest in Europe of the countries from manufacture of milk and dairy products. Develop also beef and pork. Plant the big horned leanness, pigs, hens.

The industrial sector represents about a quarter of all gross national product. Dominating areas of the industry - metallurgy, chemical, textile, food. Presently fast rates the transport mechanical engineering develops.

Metallurgy

The majority of old men of metal works deposits of iron ore in the south of the country settled down near collieries around Шарлеруа and Liege or near. More modern factory which uses the high-quality import iron ore, the Gent-Ternezen located along the channel on the north from Gent.

The Belgian workers differ high professional qualification, and technical schools prepare workers of narrow specialisation. The country has the skilled agricultural shots occupied in высокомеханизированных economy in the centre and on the north of Belgium. However transition to a postindustrial society in which advantage is given to sphere of services, has led to considerable and stable unemployment, especially in Валлонии. A condition for 2000 the rate of unemployment made 8,4 %.

In 2000 the total internal product of Belgium made 259 billion US dollars (the greatest particle in gross national product it is received for the account of sphere of services - 72,6 %, an industry particle-26 %, agriculture - 1,4 %). In calculation per capita the total internal product of the country makes 25,3 billion US dollars.

Belgium has very favorable conditions for agriculture conducting: воздержанные temperatures, uniform seasonal distribution of deposits and the long vegetative period. Грунты in many areas differ high fertility. The most fertile грунты in a seaside part of Flanders and on the central plateaus.

The industry and crafts in Belgium have arisen for a long time, and it partially causes a modern high level of development of the country. Woollen and linen fabrics were developed in middle ages. The wool of English both Flemish sheep and local flax were a raw-material base for this manufacture. Such cities as Brugge and Gent, in the end the Middle Ages became the big centres of the textile industry. In XVІ-XV ІІ centuries manufacture of cotton fabrics became the main area of the industry. On plains on the north from Ardenness has developed sheep breeding, and in найстарішому the centre of the woollen industry - the city of Verv ' є - wool manufacture.

The official name - Kingdom Belgium (Royaume de Belgіque).

Geographical position - located in the Western Europe, at coast of the North Sea.

The territory area - 30,5 thousand sq. km.

The population - 10,2 million persons (according to census of 2002).