(1986)
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Bassas da India
(French possession)
- Geography
Total area: undetermined

Comparative area: undetermined

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 35.2 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: claimed by Madagascar

Climate: tropical

Terrain: a volcanic rock 2.4 m high

Natural resources: none

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures;
0% forest and woodland; 100% other (rock)

Environment: surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones

Note: navigational hazard since it is usually under water during
high tide; located in southern Mozambique Channel about halfway between Africa
and Madagascar

- People
Population: uninhabited

- Government
Long-form name: none

Type: French possession administered by Commissioner of the Republic
Daniel CONSTANTIN, resident in Reunion

- Economy
Overview: no economic activity

- Communications
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of France
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Belgium
- Geography
Total area: 30,510 km2; land area: 30,230 km2

Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries: 1,385 km total; France 620 km, Luxembourg
148 km, Netherlands 450 km, FRG 167 km

Coastline: 64 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: not specific;

Exclusive fishing zone: equidistant line with neighbors (extends
about 68 km from coast);

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy

Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged
mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast

Natural resources: coal, natural gas

Land use: 24% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 20% meadows and pastures;
21% forest and woodland; 34% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: air and water pollution

Note: majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels;
crossroads of Western Europe; Brussels is the seat of the EC

- People
Population: 9,909,285 (July 1990), growth rate 0.1% (1990)

Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality r