BELGIUM, with an area of 11,373 square miles, is one of the smallest countries in Europe. In 1910 it had a population of over 7,500,000. The south-eastern region, which varies in height from 500 to over 2,000 feet, belongs to the plateau of the Ardennes, and consists in the main of Devonian slates, though Cambrian rocks appear in some of the more elevated districts. Along its northern border, partly within the Devonian area, but partly without it, lies a belt of Carboniferous rock which is traversed by the valleys of the Sambre and the Meuse. Beyond this are the Tertiary sands and barns which cover practically the whole of Central Belgium, and of which the most fertile is the loess-like formation known as the " loam of Hesbaye " ; it extends over the greater part of Hesbaye, Brabant, and Hainaut, but its agricultural value varies consider ably from one place to another. The remainder of the country is almost entirely covered with Quaternary formations ; in the north-east, in Antwerp and Limburg, there is a great sandy tract known as the Campine ; and in Flanders, in the north-west, between the loam-lands and the sea, there is first a belt of country covered with sand but underlain in the south by clay, then a stretch of low-lying land which has been drained and formed into polders, and lastly a line of sand-dunes which, along with artificial walls, prevent the encroachment of the sea.
The climate is warm in summer, and, owing to the influence of westerly winds, mild in winter. The mean temperature for July is about 65°F. and for January about except in the Ardennes, where the summers are cooler and the winters more severe. The rainfall, which occurs chiefly in the summer and autumn months, ranges from 20 to 40 inches.