History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 27

lowermost Scheldt basin starts the central plain, a smooth, slowly rising fertile area
irrigated by many waterways that reaches an average height of about five metres
(16.4 ft) above sea level with wide valleys of its rivers upstream as well as the
Campine region to the east having sandy soils at altitudes around thirty metres. Near
its southern edges close to Wallonia one can find slightly rougher land richer of
calcium with low hills reaching up to 150 m (492 ft) and small valleys, and at the
eastern border with the Netherlands, in the Meuse basin, there are marl caves
(mergelgrotten). Its exclave around Voeren between the Dutch border and the
Walloon province of Liège attains a maximum altitude of 288 m (945 ft) above sea
level.
The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen
climate classification: Cfb; the average temperature is 3 °C (37 °F) in January, and 18
°C (64 °F) in July; the average precipitation is 65 millimetres (2.6 in) in January, and
78 millimetres (3.1 in) in July).
ECONOMY
Total GDP of the Flemish Region in 2004 was € 165,847 million (Eurostat figures). Per
capita GDP at purchasing power parity was 23% above the EU average.
Flanders was one of the first continental European areas to undergo the Industrial
Revolution, in the 19th century. Initially, the modernization relied heavily on food
processing and textile. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in
severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846–50). After World War II, Antwerp
and Ghent experienced a fast expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries.
Flanders also attracted a large majority of foreign investments in Belgium, among
others thanks to its well-educated and industrious labour force. The 1973 and 1979 oil
crises sent the economy into a recession. The steel industry remained in relatively
good shape. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the Belgium continued to
shift further to Flanders. Nowadays, the Flemish economy is mainly service-oriented,
although its diverse industry remains a crucial force. Flemish productivity per capita is
between 20 and 25% higher than that in Wallonia.
Flanders has developed an excellent transportation infrastructure of ports, canals,
railways and highways. Antwerp is the second-largest European port, after Rotterdam.
In 1999, the euro, the single European currency, was introduced in Flanders. It
replaced the Belgian franc in 2002. The Flemish economy is strongly export oriented,
in particular of high value-added goods. The main imports are food products,
machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing
and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food
products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and
nonferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade
market within a customs and currency union—the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic
Union. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United
Kingdom, Italy, the United States and Spain.

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