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The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. Itis a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as wellas those of other major international organizations, including NATO. Belgiumcovers an area of 30,528 km² (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 10.5 million. It shares borders with France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in allseasons.

Belgium has a private-enterprise economy that has capitalized on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. With few natural resources, Belgium must import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large volume ofmanufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the state of worldmarkets. Roughly three-quarters of its trade is with other EU countries. Public debt is more than 85% of GDP.

On the positive side, the government has succeeded in balancing its budget, and income distribution is relatively equal. Economic growth and foreign direct investment are expected to slow down in 2008, due tocredit tightening, falling consumer and business confidence, and above average inflation. However, with the successful negotiation of the 2008 budget and devolution of power within the government, political tensions seem to be easing and could lead to an improvement in the economic outlook for 2008.