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Belgian French (French: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The French language spoken in Belgium differs very little from that of France or Switzerland.
Walloon is the historical language of southern Belgium, and most of the areas where French is now spoken were Walloon-speaking. It is also the traditional national language of the Walloons. Though it has been recognized since 1990, like other vernaculars in Belgium, it is spoken mainly by older people.
The French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom: 3.6 million live in the Walloon Region (that is almost the entirety of the inhabitants of this region, apart from people who live in the German-speaking communes, who number around 70,000);
In Belgium, French is an official language in Wallonia and Brussels. [35] French is the primary language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons, which are German-speaking) and in the Brussels-Capital Region, where it is spoken by the majority of the population often as their primary language. [118]
Bilingual French and Dutch street signs in Brussels Area where the Brabantian dialect is spoken. The Francization of Brussels refers to the evolution, over the past two centuries, [1] [2] of this historically Dutch-speaking city [1] [3] [4] into one where French has become the majority language and lingua franca. [5]
the Dutch language area; the French language area; the German language area; the bilingual Brussels-Capital area; All these entities have geographical boundaries. The language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities ...
Belgium's three official languages are Dutch, spoken by about 60% of the population, French, spoken by about 40%, and German, spoken by less than 1%. The vast majority of Belgium's population, 99%, is literate as defined by the Belgian government, i.e. capable of reading and writing in an official language by the time a citizen has reached the ...
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, [33] important historical and anthropological criteria (religion, language, traditions, folklore) bind Walloons to the French people.