90 



BELGIUM. 



and official occupations, 913,841 in various oc- 

 cupations and independent, and 2,834,985 with- 

 out profession or condition. The land is divided 

 up into very small parcels; in 1882 there were 

 1,160,149 individual owners. About 800,000 

 persons are engaged in the various agricultural 

 pursuits. 



The number of marriages in 1882 was 39,214, 

 of births 176,345, of deaths 114,298, natural 

 increment 62,047. Of the births 8'1 per cent, 

 were illegitimate. There is a yearly excess of 

 immigration, which in 1882 was 1,852. 



The population of the principal cities in 1883 

 was as follows : Brussels, 389,782 ; Antwerp, 

 180,447; Ghent, 136,234; Liege, 129,206. 



Nearly the whole of the population belongs 

 to the Koman Catholic Church. At the last 

 census there were 1,559 convents, 213 with 

 4,027 male inmates, and 1,346 with 20,645 fe- 

 male inmates. Every commune is obliged to 

 maintain a school for elementary public edu- 

 cation, one third of the expense being divided 

 between the Government and the province, and 

 the remainder defrayed by the commune. In 

 1880 the proportion of totally illiterate persons 

 over fifteen years of age was 32 per cent., but 

 between seven and fifteen years of age only 

 29'4 per cent. 



Commerce and Industry. The special commerce 

 in 1882 was valued at 1,607,600,000 francs of 

 imports and 1,325,900,000 francs of exports. 

 The principal imports were cereals of the value 

 of 385,089,000 francs; wool, 125,170,000 francs; 

 flax and hemp, 88,712,000 francs ; metals and 

 minerals, 70,236,000 francs; hides, 64,554,000 

 francs; timber, 52,882,000 francs; oil-seeds, 

 44,577,000 francs; live animals, 43,390,000 

 francs; cotton, 42,195,000 francs; petroleum, 

 38,682,000 francs; coffee, 38,315,000 francs; 

 all others, 613,798,000 francs. The largest ex- 

 ports were cereals, of the value of 134,015,000 

 francs; coal, 84,564,000 francs; woolen and 

 cotton goods, 83,736,000 francs; machinery, 

 77,386,000 francs; linen yarn, 69,677,000 

 francs; wrought-iron, 68,099,000 francs; stone, 

 62,092,000 francs; glass, 52,915,000 francs; 

 flax and hemp, 52,583,000 francs ; woolen 

 yarns, 41,961,000 francs; hides, 40,489,000 

 francs; raw sugar, 33,993,000 francs; raw zinc, 

 31,939,000 francs; all other exports, 490,451,- 

 000 francs. 



The value of the merchandise imported from 

 France was 317,592,000 francs ; from Germany, 

 242,893,000 francs; from the Netherlands, 238,- 

 11 3, 000 francs; from Great Britain, 198,219,- 

 000 francs; from the United States, 185,343,- 

 000 francs; from Russia, 138,677,000 francs. 

 The value of the exports to France was 441,- 

 368,000 francs; to Great Britain, 261,908,000 

 francs ; to Germany, 226,868,000 francs ; to 

 the Netherlands, 162,692,000 francs; to the 

 United States, 44,677,000 francs. 



About one third of the area of Belgium is 

 devoted to grain cultivation. The imports of 

 cereals in 1882 were in quantity 1,315,064 tons, 

 the exports 522,668 tons. The beet-root is ex- 



tensively cultivated. The sugar export exceed- 

 ed the import in 1882 by 50,385 tons. The 

 product of the coal-mines in 1882 was 17,590,- 

 989 tons, of which one third was exported, 

 chiefly to France. The quantity of pig and 

 wrought iron produced, mostly from imported 

 ore, was 1,563,977 tons. 



During nine months of 1883 there were ex- 

 ported to the United States window-glass of 

 the value of 7,957,136 francs, manufactures of 

 steel of the value of 3,230,649 francs, raw hides 

 of the value of 1,673,119 francs, iron manufact- 

 ures of the value of 1,181,089 francs, and plate- 

 glass, arms, machines, silk goods, zinc, and 

 clothes of over 500,000 francs in value each. 

 The chief imports from the United States dur- 

 ing the same period were wheat of the value 

 of 51,745,945 francs, rye of the value of 5,745,- 

 945 francs, corn and oats of the value of 1,979.- 

 593 francs, cotton of the value of 17,893,686 

 francs, crude petroleum of the value of 16,453,- 

 000 and refined of the value of 1,020,531 francs, 

 tobacco of the value of 12,331,430 francs, meat 

 of the value of 9,264,307 francs, lard and grease 

 of the value of 8,387,576 francs, and flour of 

 the value of 4,948,983 francs. 



Navigation. The merchant navy in the begin- 

 ning of 1883 consisted of 46 steamers, of 75,- 

 879 tons, and 16 sailing-vessels, of 6,750 tons. 

 In 1883 the tonnage entered at Belgian ports 

 was 4,278,723, not quite one fifth of which was 

 Belgian and about three fifths British. 



The Post-Office* The number of private let- 

 ters forwarded in 1883 was 86,429,304 ; official 

 letters, 13,189,700; postal-cards, 23,270,582; 

 packets, 46,570,000; newspapers, 91,319,000. 

 The receipts were 13,345,313 francs; expendi- 

 tures, 8,288,536 francs. 



Telegraphs. The number of messages in 1883 

 was 7,039,368. The length of lines 3,713, of 

 wires 16.830 miles. The receipts amounted to 

 2,654,499 francs; expenses, 3,461,670 francs. 



Railroads* The length of lines worked by the 

 state was 1,915, by companies 785 miles at the 

 end of 1888. The gross receipts in 1883 were 

 162,069,150 francs, the expenses 95,201,828 

 francs. 



The Army. The army is recruited partly by 

 conscription, to which every able-bodied man 

 is liable at the completion of his nineteenth 

 year, and partly by enlistment. The period of 

 service is eight years, but furloughs are usually- 

 granted for two thirds of the period. The ef- 

 fective strength provided for in the budget of 

 1885 is 3,052 officers and 44,720 men, with 

 9,000 horses and 204 guns. The total strength 

 on the war footing is 103,860 men, besides the 

 civic guard of 32,108 men, and the gendarmerie, 

 numbering 2,004 men. 



Finance* In the budget for 1885 the revenue 

 is estimated at 327,025,274 francs, including 

 5,159,884 francs of extraordinary receipts, and 

 the expenditure at 374,880,424 francs, includ- 

 ing extraordinary disbursements amounting to 

 44,974,750 francs. Of the 321,865,390 francs 

 of ordinary revenue, 23,429,400 francs are set 



