Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Belgium
conventional short form: Belgium
local long form: Royaume de Belgique/Koninkrijk Belgie
local short form: Belgique/Belgie
Data code: BE
Government type: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch
Capital: Brussels
Administrative divisions: 10 provinces (French: provinces, singular—province; Flemish: provincien, singular—provincie); Antwerpen, Brabant Wallon, Hainaut, Liege, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaams Brabant, West-Vlaanderen note: the Brussels Capitol Region is not included within the 10 provinces
Independence: 4 October 1830 (from the Netherlands)
National holiday: National Day, 21 July (ascension of King
LEOPOLD I to the throne in 1831)
Constitution: 7 February 1831, last revised 14 July 1993;
parliament approved a constitutional package creating a federal state