BELGIUM. 



67 



arrondissements and communes into which 

 each province is divided : 



The movement of population was as follows 

 in 1874: 



From these tables we derive the following 

 facts : The number of boys born for 100 girls 

 was 104.6 ; the number of inhabitants for one 

 birth, 30.5 ; the number of births per 100 deaths, 

 143.3, and the number of inhabitants for one 

 death, 43.6. In the same year the number of 

 stillborn amounted to 7,749, 4,395 males and 

 3,354 females, and the number of divorces to 

 126. Of the births, 163,348 were legitimate 

 and 12,204 illegitimate; and of the stillborn 

 7,031 were legitimate and 718 illegitimate ; 

 making, in all, 170,379 legitimate and 12,922 

 illegitimate births. 



Instruction is well cared for in all grades. 

 In 1875 there were 5,856 primary schools, with 

 669,192 pupils. Schools for adults have been 

 established in most communes. Their number 

 in 1875 was 2,615, with 204,673 pupils. The 

 number of normal schools for primary teachers 

 was, in 1874, 37, with 2,314 students, of which 

 22 schools, with 1,115 students, were for fe- 

 males. The number of secondary schools in 

 1874-'75 was 169, with 18,498 pupils. Supe- 

 rior instruction is imparted in the two state 

 Universities of Ghent and Lie'ge, and the two 

 free Universities of Brussels and Louvain. The 

 number of students in each of these in 1874 

 was as follows : 



UNIVERSITIES. Students. 



Ghent. ^. .., .. 222 



Liege..., 621 



Brussels 601 



Louvain 954 



Total 



2,298 



Church, at the head of which are the Arch- 

 bishop of Malines and five bishops. The other 

 ecclesiastical benefices consisted, December 31, 

 1875, of 184 deaneries, 230 cures (parishes of 

 the first class), 2,787 succursales (parishes of 

 the second class), 188 chapels, 1,855 vicariates, 

 84 coadjutors, 26 annexes, 695 oratories and 

 chapels of hospitals, colleges, etc. 



The representatives and senators are chosen 

 directly by all citizens paying taxes to the an- 

 nual amount of 43 francs. The number of 

 deputies is fixed according to the population, 

 and cannot exceed one member for every 40,- 

 000 inhabitants, while the number of senators 

 is exactly one-half of that of the deputies. At 

 the last general election in 1870, at which all 

 the provinces voted, 107,099 voters were regis- 

 tered, and 80,575 cast. At the election for the 

 Senate in 1874, the provinces of East Flanders, 

 Hainault, Lie'ge, and Limburg voted. The 

 other provinces voted in the following year for 

 representatives. The number of voters regis- 

 tered and the votes cast on these occasions 

 were as follows : 



Grand total registered, 115,442 ; votes cast, 81,266. 



The Chambers at present consist of 124 repre- 

 sentatives and 62 senators, apportioned as fol- 

 lows among the different provinces. 



Nearly the entire population of Belgium is 

 nominally connected with the Roman Catholic 



No man can be a senator who does not pay 

 at least 1,000 florins in direct taxes. The num- 

 ber thus qualified in 1876 was as follows: 



PROVINCES. Number eligfbU 



Antwerp 58 



Brabant 95 



Flanders, West 54 



Flanders, East 86 



Hainault 76 



Liege 51 



Limburg 11 



Luxemburg 10 



Namur . . 44 



Total. 



.480 



