Francs

317,592,000

242,893,000

238,113,000

There was, besides, a transit trade valued at 49,520,000l. The following table shows the share of the leading countries in the commerce of Belgium in 1882:

The commercial intercourse of Belgium with Great Britain is shown in the subjoined tabular statement in each of the five years 1879 to 1883 :

The principal articles of export from Belgium to the United Kingdom are woollen yarn and flax, the first, of the value of 1,422,1597., and the second of 835,3927. in 1883; sugar, refined and unrefined, 1,621,4827.; bar iron and manufactures, of the value of 719,3971.; butter, of the value of 262,1937.; eggs, 612,4197.; and poultry and game, including rabbits, of the value of 332,5657. in 1883. The export of cotton manufacture from Belgium to Great Britain was 545,5951. in 1883, and only 201,0147. in 1879. The imports of British produce into Belgium consist in the main of iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 423,8111., woollens of the value of 1,299,0841. (yarn 183,0617.), and cottons of the value of 2,201,3697. (yarn 861,6927.) in the year 1883.

About one-seventh of the area of Belgium is under woods and forests, and one-third under corn-crops, chiefly wheat, rye, and oats. In 1882 Belgium imported 1,315,064 tons and exported 522,668 tons of cereals. Beetroot cultivation is important; in 1882 the export of sugar was 50,385 tons more than the import. In 1880 there were 46,210 horses, 411,551 oxen, and 90,100 sheep.

The coal mines in Belgium in 1882 numbered 271, employing 103,701 miners, and producing in 1882 17,590,989 tons, of the value of 7,035,8241., of which one-third was exported, mainly to France. The produce in 1883 was 18,500,000 tons.

Although Belgium only produces about 250,000 tons of iron-ore annually, the iron industry is of great importance in the country; of pig and wrought iron alone 1,004,543 tons were produced in 1881, of the value of 4,563,640/.; and in 1882, 1,563,977 tons, valued at 6,894,6527.; exclusive of the production of foundries for which no official statistics exist, but which probably averages 80,000 tons per annum, valued at 600,000l. The produce of quarries was valued at 1,552,720l. in 1881, and 1,691,880l. in 1882. The international commerce of the kingdom is almost entirely carried on by foreigners, chiefly under the British flag. The commercial marine consisted at the end of 1882 of 62 vessels of an aggregate burthen of 82,647 tons, inclusive of 46 steamers of a total burthen of 75,897 tons; on January 1, 1884, the number of vessels was 61, including 43 steamers. There were 299 vessels, of 10,476 tons, engaged in fishing. In 1883, 6,469 vessels, of 4,278,723 tons, entered Belgian ports, about three-fifths British, and less than one-fifth Belgian.

The subjoined tabular statement shows the length of railways, distinguishing State and private lines, open in Belgium at the end of 1883:

The total number of stations in 1883 was 997.

The gross receipts in 1883 amounted to 162,069,150 francs, and expenses to 95,201,828 francs. Up to the end of 1882 the State had spent 34,095,6667. on the first cost of its railways, besides purchasing lines by means of annuities, the capital value of which is estimated at 12,791,9457.

The work of the Post Office in Belgium was as follows in the year 1883:

On the 1st of January 1884 there were 869 Post Offices in Belgium.

The total revenue of the Post Office in the year 1883 amounted to 13,345,313 francs, and the expenditure to 8,288,536 francs.

The Telegraphs in Belgium carried 7,039,368 despatches, private and official, in the year 1883. On the 1st of January 1884 the total length of public telegraph lines was 3,713 miles, and the length of wires 16,830 miles. There were at the same date 865 telegraph stations. Receipts (1883) 2,654,499 francs; expenses 3,461,670 francs.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF BELGIUM IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Baron Solyyns, appointed October 18, 1872.
Councillor.-Baron Whettnall.

Secretary of Legation.-Baron C. Goffinet.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN BELGIUM.

Envoy and Minister. Hon. Hussey Crespigny Vivian, formerly Envoy to the Swiss Confederation; Envoy to Denmark 1881-4. Appointed Envoy to Belgium, December 15, 1884.

Secretaries of Legation.-Hon. Thomas G. Grosvenor, C.B.; Hon. W. J. G. Napier.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Belgium, and the British equivalents, are as follows:

The Franc.

The Kilogramme

MONEY.

Intrinsic rate of exchange, 25.221 to £1 sterling.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

=

Tonne.

Mètre.

=

Hectare

Square Kilomètre

=

=

=

2-20 lbs. avoirdupois.
2,200

2.75 imperial bushels.
22 imperial gallons.

3.28 feet.

35.31 cubic feet.

1,093 yards.

2.47 English acres. 247.11 English acres, or 0.386 square miles. Belgium was one of the four Continental States-comprising, besides, France, Italy, Greece, and Switzerland-which formed a Monetary League in 1865. The four States entered into a Convention by which they agreed upon the decimal system, establishing perfect reciprocity in the currency of the four countries, and giving the franc, lira, or drachma, the monetary unit of each of them, as well as its multiples or fractions in gold or silver, the same course and value throughout the extent of their respective territories.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Belgium.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Almanach Royal Officiel de Belgique, contenant les attributions et le personnel de tous les services publics du royaume. Année 1883. Bruxelles 1883. Annuaire statistique de la Belgique. 3. Bruxelles, 1884.

Documents statistiques, publiés par le départ. de l'Intérieur, avec le concours de la commission centrale de statistique. Bruxelles, 1880.

Projet de loi contenant le Budget général pour l'exercice 1885. Bruxelles, 1884.

Statistique générale de la Belgique, publiée par le Ministre de l'Intérieur. 8. Bruxelles, 1865-81.

Statistique de la Belgique. Population. Recensement général (31 Décembre, 1880). Bruxelles, 1884.

Tableau général du commerce avec les pays étrangers, publiée par le Ministre des Finances. 4. Bruxelles, 1884.

Report by Mr. J. Savile Lumley, Secretary of Legation, on the commerce and industry of Belgium, dated Brussels, January 24, 1878; in Reports from H.M.'s Secretaries and Legation.' No. I. 1878. 8. London, 1878.

Report by Sir Henry Barron, Secretary of Legation, on the finances and railways of Belgium, dated Brussels, April 16, 1880; in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1880. 8. London, 1880. Report by Sir Henry Barron on the finances of Belgium, in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1882.

Report by Sir H. Barron on the commerce and industry of Belgium in 1881 and 1882, in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy.' Part III. London, 1883.

Report by Mr. Consul Grattan on the trade and commerce of Antwerp, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part VII. 1882.

་

Report by Consul-General Grattan on the trade and commerce of Antwerp for the year 1883, in Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part VIII. London, 1884. Trade of Belgium with the United Kingdom; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries for the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annuaire financier de la Belgique. 8. Bruxelles, 1884.

Bavary (Ch. Victor de), Histoire de la Révolution belge de 1830. 8. Bruxelles, 1876.

Janssens (Eug.), Annuaire de la mortalité, ou tableau statistique des causes de décès et du mouvement de la population. 8. Bruxelles, 1884.

Malou (J.), Notice historique sur les finances de la Belgique. Fol. Paris, 1868. Meulemans (Aug.), La Belgique, ses ressources agricoles, industrielles et commerciales. 8. Bruxelles, 1866.

Reclus (Elisée), Nouvelle Géographie universelle. Tome IV. L'Europe du Nord-Ouest. Paris, 1879.

DENMARK.

(KONGERIGET DANMARK.)

Reigning King.

Christian IX., born April 8, 1818, the fourth son of the late Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and of Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel. Appointed to the succession of the Crown of Denmark by the treaty of London, of May 8, 1852, and by the Danish law of succession of July 31, 1853. Succeeded to the throne on the death of King Frederik VII., November 15, 1863. Married, May 26, 1842, to Queen Louise, born Sept. 7, 1817, the daughter of Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.

Children of the King.

I. Prince Frederik, heir-apparent, born June 3, 1843; married July 28, 1869, to Princess Lowisa, daughter of King Carl XV. of Sweden and Norway. Offspring of the union are six children :— 1. Prince Christian, born Sept. 26, 1870. 2. Prince Karl, born August 3, 1872. 3. Princess Lowisa, born Feb. 17, 1875. 4. Prince Harald, born Oct. 8, 1876. 5. Prince Ingeborg, born Aug. 2, 1878. 6. Princess Thyra, born March 14, 1880.

II. Princess Alexandra, born Dec. 1, 1844; married, March 10, 1863, to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. (See page 202.)

III. Prince Wilhelm, born Dec. 24, 1845; admiral in the Danish navy; elected King of the Hellenes, under the title of Georgios I., by the Greek National Assembly, March 31, 1863; married Oct. 27, 1867, to Olga Constantinowna, Grand-Duchess of Russia.

IV. Princess Maria Dagmar (Empress Maria-Feodorovna), born Nov. 26, 1847; married, Nov. 9, 1866, to Alexander III., Emperor of Russia. (See page 389.)

V. Princess Thyra, born Sept. 29, 1853; married, Dec. 21, 1878, to Prince Ernest August, Duke of Cumberland. (See page 203.) VI. Prince Waldemar, born Oct. 27, 1858.

Brothers and Sisters of the King.

I. Princess Frederica, born Oct. 9, 1811; married, Oct. 30, 1834, to Duke Alexander of Anhalt-Bernburg; widow Aug. 19, 1863. II. Prince Friedrich, born Oct. 23, 1814; married, Oct. 16, 1841, to Princess Adelaide of Schaumburg-Lippe, of which union there are issue five children:-1. Princess Augusta, born Feb. 27, 1844. 2. Prince Friedrich, born Oct. 12, 1855. 3. Princess Louise, born Jan. 6, 1858. 4. Princess Marie, born Aug. 31, 1859. 5. Frince Albert, born March 15, 1863.