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The partition of Belgium is a hypothetical situation, which has been discussed by both Belgian and international media, envisioning a split of Belgium along linguistic divisions, with the Flemish Community and the French-speaking Community becoming independent states.
Flemish people or Flemings (Dutch: Vlamingen [ˈvlaːmɪŋə(n)] ⓘ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Flemish Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians , at about 60%.
It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around 500/km 2 (1,300/sq mi). The Flemish Region is distinct from the Flemish Community: the latter encompasses both the inhabitants of the Flemish Region and the Dutch-speaking minority living in the Brussels-Capital Region. It borders the Netherlands and France.
A factor in the Belgian Revolution of the 1830s was the rising dominance of the Dutch language in the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. [1] A conflict arose between the citizenry of the Flemish provinces who wished to engage with the authorities in Dutch, and the largely francophone aristocracy of the southern provinces which became modern-day Belgium.
The term "Flemish" came to be a term for the language Dutch, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly common to refer exclusively to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium as "Flanders". Belgium divided itself into official French- and Dutch-speaking parts starting in the early '60s.
Flemish strijdvlag as adopted by large parts of the Flemish Movement. The Flemish Movement (Dutch: Vlaamse Beweging, pronounced [ˈvlaːmsə bəˈʋeːɣɪŋ]) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders.
The term Flemish itself has become ambiguous. Nowadays, it is used in at least five ways, depending on the context. These include: An indication of Dutch written and spoken in Flanders including the Dutch standard language as well as the non-standardized dialects, including intermediate forms between vernacular dialects and the standard.
The Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap, pronounced [ˈvlaːmsə ɣəˈmeːnsxɑp] ⓘ) [a] is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital.