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In modern Belgium, Walloons are, by law, termed a "distinctive linguistic and ethnic community" within the country, as are the neighbouring Flemish, a Dutch (Germanic) speaking community. When understood as a regional identification, the ethnonym is also extended to refer to the inhabitants of the Walloon region in general, regardless of ...
Belgium was subsequently established as an independent Kingdom. [17] According to Flemish and Walloon nationalists, it was established as a ‘buffer state’ to check the ambitions of France. [18] Wallonia and Flanders did not exist in 1830. The National Congress of the Kingdom chose a German prince, Leopold I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as the Head ...
The Flemish Region or Flanders (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest or Vlaanderen) occupies the northern part of Belgium. It has a surface area of 13,626 km 2 (5,261 sq mi), or 44.4% of Belgium, and is divided into 5 provinces which contain a total of 300 municipalities. The official language is Dutch.
The Flemish Region (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest, pronounced [ˌvlaːms xəˈʋɛst] ⓘ), [a] [b] usually simply referred to as Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen [ˈvlaːndərə(n)] ⓘ), [c] is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. [5]
Map of the Seventeen Provinces, red showing the border between the independent (Northern) Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands. The medieval Low Countries, including present-day Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as parts of modern Germany and France, comprised a number of rival and independent feudal states of varying sizes.
Belgium is a federal state made up of three communities and three regions, each with considerable autonomy. One of these is the Walloon Region, which is governed by the Parliament of Wallonia and the executive Government of Wallonia. The Walloon Region's autonomy extends even to foreign policy; Wallonia is entitled to pursue its own foreign ...
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 majority of Belgians, however, belong to two distinct linguistic groups or communities (Dutch: gemeenschap; French: communauté) native to the country, i.e. its historical regions: Flemings in Flanders, who speak Dutch, West Flemish and Limburgish; and Walloons in Wallonia, who speak French or Walloon. There is also a substantial Belgian ...