Belgium's economy is reliant on services, transportation, trade, and industry. Coal mining, which has declined in recent years, and the production of steel, chemicals, and cement are concentrated in the Sambre and Meuse valleys, in the Borinage around Mons, Charleroi, Namur, and Liege, and in the Campine coal basin. Liege is a major steel center.

A well-established metal-products industry manufactures bridges, heavy machinery, industrial and surgical equipment, motor vehicles, rolling stock, machine tools, and munitions.

Chemical products include fertilizers, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and plastics; the petrochemical industry is concentrated near the oil refineries of Antwerp.

Textile production, which began in the Middle Ages, includes cotton, linen, wool, and synthetic fibers; carpets and blankets are important manufactures. Ghent, Kortnjk, Tonrnai, and Verviers are all textile centers; Mechelen, Bruges, and Brussels are celebrated for their lace.

Other industries include diamond cutting (Antwerp is an important diamond center), cement and glass production, and the processing of leather and wood. Over 75% of Belgium's electricity is produced by nuclear power.

Belgian industry is heavily dependent upon imports for its raw materials. Most iron comes from the Lorraine basin in France, while nonferrous metal products made from imported raw materials include zinc, copper, lead, and tin.

Exports include iron and steel, transportation equipment, tractors, diamonds, and petroleum products. Industrial centers are linked with each other and with the main ports of Antwerp and Ghent by the Meuse and Scheldt rivers and their tributaries, by a network of canals (notably the Albert Canal), and by a dense railroad system.

Belgium has much fertile and well-watered soil, although agriculture engages only a small percentage of the workforce. The chief crops are wheat, oats, rye, barley, sugar beets, potatoes, and flax. Cattle and pig raising as well as dairying (especially in Flanders) are also important. Processed foods include beet sugar, cheese, and other dairy items; beer and other beverages are manufactured.

Industrial manufacture is the main basis of the Belgian economy employing just over 55 per cent. of the working population. But, in spite of the importance of industry, agriculture is a flourishing activity and farming and forestry occupy over one-fifth of the actively employed population. One of the outstanding features of Belgian economic life is the way in which agriculture and industry are closely knit together.

After about 1850, when the Industrial Revolution began to have an impact on Belgium, many of the old trading towns took on a new lease of life and developed as industrial centres. Some towns, particularly those in the coal trough region, began to specialize in industry. The Flemings, however, were very much attached to the soil and, though the money to be earned in industry was a great attraction, they were very loath to move into the towns. Thus there developed a situation where many of the menfolk travelled daily into the towns to work in the mills and factories while the womenfolk and children cultivated the fields. This is a common feature to this very day. Special cheap fares are available on the railways for the rural worker.

This rural-industrial life has had a number of important results:

it has helped to maintain village life and the drift to the urban areas has been less marked than in most West European countries; there has not been an overgrowth of industrial towns with their attendant social evils; 

though industrial wages are often lower than elsewhere, the Belgian augments his income from his plot;

in times of industrial stress and unemployment, the Belgian has always managed to eke out an existence from his land; and industry has not outrun agriculture as it has in England.

This rural-industrial life is more especially true of Flanders but it may be said to be characteristic of much of Belgium. There is, therefore, not the great cleavage between rural and industrial life as there is in England. The Belgian embraces both and is at once an agricultural worker and an industrial worker.

34 per cent. arable and orchard, 25 per cent. meadow and pasture, 19 per cent. forest and woodland, 22 per cent. waste and built-up areas- Altogether about 4 million acres are farmed, appreciably less than in Holland. Typically, Belgium is a land of intensive, small-scale farming. In the past intensive agriculture was forced upon the Flemings because of the shortage of land while it has been perpetuated because of the smallness of the farms at the present day- 80 per cent. of the farms are less than 25 acres in extent.

Nearly three-quarters of a million holdings are less than 2 acres in size; these are mainly the smallholdings of the industrial workers referred to above who live in the rural communes. The small size of the plots has meant that the hoe rather than the plough has been the chief mechanical aid and that man rather than the horse or the machine has supplied the motivating power.

The light sandy soils of Flanders and the Campine require constant fertilization and, whilst heavy applications of artificial fertilisers are used, many animals are also kept to provide manure. The best soils are the loams of central Belgium; here, incidentally, are to be found the largest farms. In the Ardennes soils are far the most part poor except locally where there are alluvial deposits along the river valleys and in the north where limestone rocks occur,

Certain districts have developed specialised farming; for instance, around Brussels and Mechelen there is market-gardening, around Hoeilaart, south-east of the capital, there is hot-house culture of grapes and peaches, around Ghent floriculture, and in the. Pays d'Herve (around Liege) and around St. Trond, north-west of Liege, there are numerous orchards.

Despite the small size of Belgium, farming shows considerable regional variety. These variations will be dealt with in the regional section -but it will be useful to summarize the various types of farming associated with the main regions:

The Dune Coastal Belt. though requiring heavy applications of fertilizer, is principally devoted to market-gardening.

The clay polder lands are mainly under grass and given over to cattle farming,

The sandy plains of Flanders and the Kempenland produce varied crops and carry much livestock.

The loam region of large farms is distinguished by its emphasis upon wheat, sugar-beet, and fodder crops.

The northern flanks of the Ardennes, i.e. the Condroz and the Famenne, are largely devoted to cattle, especially dairy cattle.

The high plateau of the Ardennes is a region of subsistence farming and extensive beef cattle and sheep farming.

Land Use in Belgium

3/4 of Belgium fields and forests and % of the rest comprising of both urban and waste land.

There is 1.17 hectare of pasture 1.25 hectare of arable land and 0.88 hectare of woods and forests.

Livestock Farming

The coastal dune belt and behind it the narrow low land belt have been drained and reclaimed into sizeable polders. More than Vi of the dried lands arc under permanent pasture. In the southern Ardennes, the soils are fertile and only suitable foe pastoral farming especially speech for mutton and wool.

Livestock consists chiefly of 2,805,375 head of beef cattle and dairy cows, 2,502, 317 pigs and 162,100 sheep in number. Nevertheless this reflects the Belgian eating habits, for more beef and pork being consumed than lamb and mutton. In all, grazing consists more or less 30 hectares of pasture land.

Agriculture

In Belgium 5% of the working population is engaged in agriculture, more women tending farms than men who work in the industries.

Belgium is well known for her intensive farming methods due to its small size 80% of the 1,660,831 hectares are used for cultivation. In the whole of Belgium there are no more than 300 farms of an area of more than 100 hectares and all these only account for 2.4% of the arable land; 4/5 of the large farms, therefore are found in the Wallon provinces.

Originally, the Flanders plain was sandy and unfertile but through careful intensive cultivation methods, by use of manure and fertilizers, it now yields a large variety of crops, namely: potatoes , sugar beet, rye and fodder crops (hay and lucerne) market Gardening is well practiced to meet the growing demands for potatoes , cabbages, onions, carrots of he Belgium Towns.

Whereas the plain of western interior Flanders drained by the Lys and the Scheldt having sandy clay soils has been improved by heavy manuring, the East rich loamy soils . On the whole , this inland of the plain of Interior Flanders is suitable foe Agriculture: Crops include potatoes , wheat, sugarbeet, oats and Rye; fodder crops Hay and Lucerne are grown on rotation to feed Dairy Cattle. The rich loamy soils are devoted not only to market gardening but also the fruit cultivation and meadows- Flax is intensively grown of the Lys Valley for the production of Linen Textiles.

Degree of Mechanization:

The small area of the Farms and Agriculture Holdings , is one of the reasons why there was little Mechanization; at least until the past years.

Transport and Communication

Belgium has the best system of Road and Railway communication net work in the west Europe. Many people in the Flanders who live on their small Farms travel long distances on order to go to work on the Industrial Town Centres. The electrification of the Railways has gone a long way in increasing the traffic for minerals, fuel other Raw materials : Iron and Steel and other finished goods.

The Scheldt ad the Meuse are the principal Belgium waterways. Both of them have been canalized over the whole lengths of their courses though Belgium to accommodate vessels of up to 1,350 tons. However, the waterways have been deepened in order to allow both large ocean going ships and barges to sail even at low tides. The inland manufacturing areas are brought nearer to the coat for the import and export of raw material and finished goods respectively by the numerous canals.

The Meuse itself was throughout the states of Dinnat, Namur and Liege. Canals are now supplementing a lot of inland water transport. The most important is the Albert canal which links Antwerp with Liege on River Maas. The campaign coalfield and the Sambre - Maas industrial areas arc also served well by the Albert Canal. The Scheldt is linked with lower Sambre and therefore with Namur and Liege via the Blaton and Nimy canal.

Albert Canal, Belgium

Belgium has an excellent network of waterways that includes canals such as the Albert Canal, shown here, in the province of Limburg near the Belgian border with the Netherlands.

The Great Textile city is linked by the Temeuzen canal to the Scheldt Estuary.

The Brussels's industrial region is now properly served by the Brussels Rupel and Charlere canals. In conclusion , all parts of Belgium are well served by an ideal network of Railways, express waterway and roads. Owing to the fine system f transport and communication the Belgium manufactures are now dispersed evenly all over the country.

Economic Structure

Historically, Belgium's economic Development depended on the two important commercial Rivers which cross the Country leading to the North sea -- the Scheldt and the Meuse.

The Maas (Meuse) River together with its tributary the Sambre, fulfills a role comparable to that of the Rhine River on West Germany.

The iron ore is imported from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Lorraine of Eastern France. After the steam engine had revolutionized the industry and fashioned the country's industrial Future, the metal working industry left the Tournal area from Liege and Charleroi Towns to be nearer the coal mines.

The textiles industry has been a traditional Flemish industry foe centuries depending on cotton imported from Egypt and Flax grown locally. Ghent being the main centre; courtrai has specialized in the manufacture of Linen cloth, thanks to the waters of Lys which are soft and well suited to the treatment of Linen Fibre.

There is a wool industry on the East of Belgium , verviers being the leading wool centre because of the waters of the Vesdre, situated on the edge of the Ardennes,

Sketch Map of Map Belgium

Industry

The development of industry and services characterizes the advanced economizes and distinguishes them from the less developed economies on which agricultural produce still represents a vital share o their National product.

Industrialization in Belgium began on the early years of the industrial Revolution on the previous century.

This trend continued through the years and how the Belgium economy is one of the most highly industrialized on the world. The industries are:

1.   metallurgy,

2.   Textile ,

3.   Chemical,

4.   Glass ware ,

5.   Paper and Furniture.

Belgium industry employed 44. 4% of the working population. The services account for 50.3% The agriculture account for 5.3%

Belgium industry which used to concentrate on the manufacture of crude products is now turning increasingly to the manufacture of more sophisticated goods. This is reflected in the changing structure other exports

Coal Mining

In Belgium the position of the coal mines is dominated by two basic facts. The switch from coal consumption to other fuels and the high cost of operating the mines.

The mines which provided the foundation for Belgium industrial power in the previous century, from the Sambre-Meuse valleys, at Liege, Charleroi, Namur, and Mons are now technically difficult to work and therefore expensive.

A new coalfield was developed in the sandy Campine District on the East of Flanders. Despite the heavy investments, yields are in many cases insufficient for the seams to be worked at competitive prices.

In addition to competition from other sources of energy. Belgium coal has to compete with coal from other countries where production is low.

From l957 to 1968 the number of collieries on operation dropped from 120 to 31 collieries. Production also dropped from 29-15 million tons. This affected the Liege and Borinage Regions.

Solution

The Belgium industries as an alternatives have now turned to importing coal from other countries namely High Grade coal from the Ruhr region into West Germany.

It has turned to other fuels especially oil from the Middle East and natural gas from Holland.

 

Steelmaking along the Meuse River at Ougrée, near Liège

Fuel and Power

Until recently coal could be regarded as an important source of energy and supplied the bulk of the power which was consumed in Belgium. But the competition from other cheaper fuels has led to a gradual decline of the coal industry. The share of oil in the National Energy supply has increased while the traditional coal consumption is dropping.

In view of the growing consumption of oil products, Belgium has considerably increased its refining capacity.

The oil industry is located chiefly at Antwerp and its growth has coincided with a comprehensive programmes designed to improve access to the Port.

In order to have constant supplies of crude oil a pipeline from Europort (Rotterdam) bring crude oil to the refineries at Antwerp. Belgium is also switching to other sources of energy including Nuclear power.

Industries

Steel industries: Near the coastal areas where imported Raw materials arrive and their own products can be dispatched for export. Previously, this industry was in the Sambre to the coastal areas because the coal deposits and iron ore within close vicinity of the old steel plants had worked out.

Products include: cutlery. Razor blades, Bicycles flames, car boards , Iron and steel bars.

Chemical Industry: Poudreries yenniers of Welteren, near Ghent is the important are for Chemical manufacture which includes:

Nitrogenous phosphates super phosphates as fertilizers , paints, rubber, synthetic fibres and textiles, detergents and other petro - chemical products.

Ghent is also famous for industrial and military explosives

Reasons for Growth:

The growth is due to the development of new sectors such as plastic materials, man made synthetic fibres among others

The increasing use of both by private consumers and industrial concerns of plastic materials, synthetic rubber, nylon and synthetic detergents had catered for the development of indispensable raw - material such as propylene, ethylene, benzene among others

The mineral oils which are a source of energy are increasingly used and must be constantly imported in order to maintain the expanding industry.

Motor Industry: This has helped to diversify the Flemish industrial region. As Belgium does not produce cars of its own, it has to import automobile parts from produced countries, these are assembled locally whereby the finished vehicles are either for the domestic market or for re export.

Textile industry: The plain of Flanders Towns which are old manufacturing centres of the Middle Ages, Ypres, courtrai and Ghent.

Reasons for growth:

The damp climate together with the soft water of this Lys River are suitable for leaching , dyeing and retting of cotton wool and Linen (Flax) synthetics.

The long acquired skill and hard work of the Belgians has gone a long way in promoting the quality of the textile products. The rearing of sheep in the Ardennes for wool helps the industry to prosper.

Products:

Cotton,

wooded and Linen Goods,

Caroets, (laces + socks , F

oot wear , knit wear)