Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/73

 AREA AND POPULATION. 37

of 4,839,094, on an area of 11,267 English square miles, or 430 per square mile, showing the kingdom to be the densest inhabited country in Europe. About fifty-eight per cent, of the inhabitants are Flemish, the rest Walloon and French, with 30,000 Germans in Luxemburg.

The population of Belgium has increased very steadily since the establishment of the kingdom in 1830, when it amounted to barely four millions. The density of population at that period was that of 118 inhabitants per square kilometre ; and from. 1830 forward it rose almost exactly at the rate of one per annum — 119 in 1831 ; 120 in 1832, and so forth, reaching the figure 169 in 1866. Accord- ing to the last census returns, one-fourth of the population of Belgium is engaged in agricultural pursuits, another fourth in trade and manu- factures, chiefly the great staple industries, the iron and coal trades ; and the remaining two-fourths belong to ' the unproductive classes.'

The tendency, visible in most European countries, of an agglome- ration of the people in the larger towns, is also apparent in Belgium. Of this Brussels is the most striking example. There were, in 1800, only 66,297 inhabitants in the town, and 10,129 in the suburbs of Brussels, while the number at the end of 1866 amounted to 287,241. Besides Brussels, there were, on the 31st December, 1866, eight towns in Belgium with a population of above 30,000 inhabitants, namely, Antwerp, 123,571 ; Ghent, 116,607 ; Liege, 101,699 ; Bruges, 47,205 ; Malines, 35,529 ; Louvain, 32,976 ; Verviers, 32,375 ; and Tournay, 31,525 inhabitants.

Trade and Industry.

The foreign trade of Belgium, the same as that of France, is offi- cially divided into ' general commerce,' including the sum total of all international mercantile intercourse, and ' special commerce,' comprising such imports as are consumed within and such exports as have been produced in the country. During the three years 1867-69, the general commerce of Belgium averaged 2,500,000,000 francs, or 1,000, 000, 000/. in value, rather more than one-half of which sum was represented by imports. The special com- merce, during the same period, averaged 1,400,000,000 francs, or 56,000,000/. in value ; rather more than one-half again was repre- sented by imports. France heads the list of importing countries in the special commerce of Belgium, followed, in order of importance, by Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, and the United States. In the export market of Belgian produce France likewise takes the first place, followed, at a distance, by Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany. The commercial transactions between Belgium and France are altogether of nearly twice the amount in value of those between Belgium and the United Kingdom.