^a U.S. population census does not differentiate between Belgians and Walloons, therefore the number of the latter is unknown. Walloons might also identify as French, of which there were as many as 8.2 million. ^b Canadian census does not differentiate between Belgians and Walloons, therefore the number of the latter is unknown and indeterminable. In 2011, 176,615 respondents stated Belgian ethnic origin; this figure definitely includes a substantial number of ethnic Flemings who may also identify as Belgian even though the census differentiates between the two. They may also be inclined to identify as French, of which there were as many as 7 million.
More generally, the term is also extended to refer to the inhabitants of the Walloon region in general, regardless of ethnicity or descent.
Etymology
The term Walloon is derived from *walha, a Proto-Germanic term used to refer to Celtic and Latin speakers.[11]
Walloon originated in Romance languages alongside other related terms, but it supplanted them. Its oldest written trace is found in Jean de Haynin's Mémoires de Jean, sire de Haynin et de Louvignies in 1465,[disputed–discuss] where it refers to Roman populations of the Burgundian Netherlands. Its meaning narrowed yet again during the French and Dutch periods and, at Belgian independence, the term designated only Belgians speaking a Romance language (French, Walloon, Picard, etc.) The linguistic cleavage in the politics of Belgium adds a political content to "the emotional cultural, and linguistic concept".[12] The words Walloon and Wallons can be seen in the book of Charles White, The Belgic Revolution (1835): "The restless Wallons, with that adventurous daring which is their historical characteristic, abandoned their occupations, and eagerly seizing the pike and the musket marched towards the centre of the commotion.".[13][14][15] The Spanish terms of Walon and Walona from the 17th century referred to a Royal Guard Corps recruited in the Spanish Flanders. They were involved in many of the most significant battles of the Spanish Empire.
Albert Henry wrote that although in 1988 the word Walloon evoked a constitutional reality, it originally referred to Roman populations of the Burgundian Netherlands and was also used to designate a territory by the terms provinces wallonnes or Walloon country (Pays wallon), from the 16th century to the Belgian revolution, and later Wallonia.[16] The term 'Walloon country' was also used in Dutch viz. Walsch land.[17][18] The term existed also in German, perhaps Wulland in Hans Heyst's book (1571) where Wulland is translated by Wallonia in English (1814).[19] In German it is however generally Wallonenland : Le païs de Valons, Belgolalia, Wallonenland, in "Le Grand Dictionnaire Royal" Augsbourg, 1767;[20][21]The name of the churches' consecration is in Touraine assemblées, in Brittanypardons, in the northern Departments sometimes kermesses, sometimes as in the Walloon country, ducasses (from dedicatio) [22] In English, it is Walloon country (see further James Shaw).[23] In French (and France (Wand)), it is le Pays wallon: The Walloon country included the greatest part of to-day's Belgium, the Province of Flandre orientale, the Province of Flandre occidentale both named Flandre wallonne, the Province of Namur, the Hainaut, the Limbourg, the pays de Liège and even the Luxembourg[24][25] For Félix Rousseau, Walloon country is, after le Roman pays the old name of the country of the Walloons[26] and the nickname Romande was commonly used to describe Walloons until the late 19th century. [citation needed]
The term "state reform" in the Belgian context indicates a process towards finding constitutional and legal solutions for the problems and tensions among the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly Dutch-speakers of Flanders and French-speakers of Wallonia. In general, Belgium evolved from a unitary state to a federal state with communities, regions and language areas.[27]
Conceptual and emotional aspects
Wallonia
The extent of Wallonia, the area defined by the use of the language, has shifted through the ages. The low-lying area of Flanders and the hilly region of the Ardennes have been under the control of many city-states and external powers. Such changing rule brought variations to borders, culture, and language. The Walloon language, widespread in use up until the Second World War, has been dying out of common use due to growing internationalisation. Although official educational systems do not include it as a language, the French government continues to support the use of French within the "Francophonie" commonwealth.
This is complicated by the federal structure of Belgium, which splits Belgium into three communities with the privilege of using their own tongues in official correspondence, but also into three autonomous regions. The communities are: French community (though not Walloon, but sometimes controversially called Wallonia-Brussels),[28]Flemish community (which uses Dutch), and German-speaking community. The division into political regions does not correspond with the communities: Flemish Region, Walloon Region (including the German community but generally called Wallonia), and the bilingual (French-Dutch) Brussels-Capital Region.
Brussels - not Walloon but mostly French-speaking
Many non-French-speaking observers (over)generalize Walloons as a term of convenience for all Belgian French-speakers (even those born and living in the Brussels-Capital Region). The mixing of the population over the centuries means that most families can trace ancestors on both sides of the linguistic divide. But, the fact that Brussels is around 85% French-speaking, but is located in Dutch-speaking Flanders, has led to friction between the regions and communities. The local dialect in Brussels, Brussels Vloms, is a Brabantic dialect, reflecting the Dutch heritage of the city.
Walloons are historically credited with pioneering the industrial revolution in Continental Europe in the early 19th century.[29] In modern history, Brussels has been the major town or the capital of the region. Because of long Spanish and minor French rule, French became the sole official language. After a brief period with Dutch as the official language while the region was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the people reinstated French after achieving independence in 1830. The Walloon region, a major coal and steel-producing area, developed rapidly into the economic powerhouse of the country. Walloons (in fact French-speaking elites who were called Walloons) became politically dominant. Many Flemish immigrants came to work in Wallonia. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the gradual decline of steel and more especially coal, coupled with too little investment in service industries and light industry (which came to predominate in Flanders), started to tip the balance in the other direction. Flanders became gradually politically and economically dominant. In their turn, Walloon families have moved to Flanders in search of jobs.[citation needed] This evolution has not been without political repercussions.
The Walloon language is an element of Walloon identity. However, the entire French-speaking population of Wallonia cannot be culturally considered Walloon, since a significant portion in the west (around Tournai and Mons) and smaller portions in the extreme south (around Arlon) possess other languages as mother tongues (namely, Picard, Champenois, Luxembourgish, and Lorrain). All of them can speak French as well or better.
A survey of the Centre liégeois d'étude de l'opinion[30] pointed out in 1989 that 71.8% of the younger people of Wallonia understand and speak only a little or no Walloon language; 17.4% speak it well; and only 10.4% speak it exclusively.[31] Based on other surveys and figures, Laurent Hendschel wrote in 1999 that between 30 and 40% people were bilingual in Wallonia (Walloon, Picard), among them 10% of the younger population (18–30 years old). According to Hendschel, there are 36 to 58% of young people have a passive knowledge of the regional languages.[32] On the other hand, Givetcommune, several villages in the Ardennesdépartement in France, which publishes the journal Causons wallon (Let us speak Walloon);[33] and two villages in Luxembourg are historically Walloon-speaking.
Walloons in the Middle Ages
Since the 11th century, the great towns along the river Meuse, for example, Dinant, Huy, and Liège, traded with Germany, where Wallengassen (Walloons' neighborhoods) were founded in certain cities.[34] In Cologne, the Walloons were the most important foreign community, as noted by three roads named Walloonstreet in the city.[35] The Walloons traded for materials they lacked, such as copper, found in Germany, especially at Goslar.
In the 13th century, the medieval German colonization of Transylvania (central and North-Western Romania) also included numerous Walloons. Place names such as Wallendorf (Walloon Village) and family names such as Valendorfean (Wallon peasant) can be found among the Romanian citizens of Transylvania.[36]
Walloons in the Renaissance
In 1572 Jean Bodin made a funny play on words which has been well known in Wallonia to the present:
Ouallonnes enim a Belgis appelamur [nous, les "Gaulois"], quod Gallis veteribus contigit, quuum orbem terrarum peragrarent, ac mutuo interrogantes qaererent où allons-nous, id est quonam profiscimur? ex eo credibile est Ouallones appellatos quod Latini sua lingua nunquam efferunt, sed g lettera utuntur.[37]
Translation: "We are called Walloons by the Belgians because when the ancient people of Gallia were travelling the length and breadth of the earth, it happened that they asked each other: 'Où allons-nous?' [Where are we going?: the pronunciation of these French words is the same as the French word Wallons (plus 'us')], i.e. 'To which goal are we walking?.' It is probable they took from it the name Ouallons (Wallons), which the Latin speaking are not able to pronounce without changing the word by the use of the letter G." One of the best translations of his (humorous) sayings used daily in Wallonia[38] is "These are strange times we are living in."
Shakespeare used the word Walloon: "A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace/Thrust Talbot with a spear in the back." A note in Henry VI, Part I says, "At this time, the Walloons [were] the inhabitants of the area, now in south Belgium, still known as the 'Pays wallon'."[39] Albert Henry agrees, quoting Maurice Piron,[40] also quoted by A.J. Hoenselaars:[41] "'Walloon' meaning 'Walloon country' in Shakespeare's 'Henry VI'..."[42]
Walloons in Sweden
Starting from the 1620s, numerous Walloon miners and iron-workers, with their families, settled in Sweden to work in iron mining and refining.[43] Walloon methods of iron production were incorporated into Swedish practice, to supplement the existing German techniques. Many Walloon workers settled around the mine at Dannemora producing Öregrund iron which represented 15 per cent of Sweden's iron production at that time.[44]
They were originally led by the entrepreneur Louis de Geer, who commissioned them to work in the iron mines of Uppland and Östergötland. The wave of migration continued substantially into the 18th century. Walloons became gradually integrated into Swedish society, but it was not until the end quarter of the 20th century when they were fully integrated, when the Swedish legislation allowed Catholics to become civil servants.[citation needed] Walloon ancestry is traceable through Walloon surnames. Some people of Walloon descent belong to the Sällskapet Vallonättlingar (Society of Walloon Descendants).[45]
A 1786 history of the Netherlands noted, "[The] Haynault and Namur, with Artois, now no longer an Austrian Province, compose the Walloon country. The Walloon name and language are also extended into the adjacent districts of the neighbouring Provinces. A large part of Brabant, where that Province borders on Haynault and Namur, is named Walloon Brabant. The affinity of language seems also on some occasions to have wrought a nearer relation."[46]
The Belgian revolution of 1830
The Belgian revolution was recently described as firstly a conflict between the Brussels municipality which was secondly disseminated in the rest of the country, "particularly in the Walloon provinces".[47] We read the nearly same opinion in Edmundson's book:
The royal forces, on the morning of September 23, entered the city at three gates and advanced as far as the Park. But beyond that point they were unable to proceed, so desperate was the resistance, and such the hail of bullets that met them from barricades and from the windows and roofs of the houses. For three days almost without cessation the fierce contest went on, the troops losing ground rather than gaining it. On the evening of the 26th the prince gave orders to retreat, his troops having suffered severely. The effect of this withdrawal was to convert a street insurrection into a national revolt. The moderates now united with the liberals, and a Provisional Government was formed, having amongst its members Charles Rogier, Van de Weyer, Gendebien, Emmanuel van der Linden d'Hooghvorst[nl], Félix de Mérode and Louis de Potter, who a few days later returned triumphantly from banishment. The Provisional Government issued a series of decrees declaring Belgium independent, releasing the Belgian soldiers from their allegiance, and calling upon them to abandon the Dutch standard. They were obeyed. The revolt, which had been confined mainly to the Walloon districts, now spread rapidly over Flanders.[48]
Jacques Logie wrote: "On the 6th October, the whole Wallonia was under the Provisional Government's control. In the Flemish part of the country the collapse of the Royal Government was as total and quick as in Wallonia, except Ghent and Antwerp."[49]Robert Demoulin, who was Professor at the University of Liège, wrote: "Liège is in the forefront of the battle for liberty",[50] more than Brussels but with Brussels. He wrote the same thing for Leuven. According to Demoulin, these three cities are the républiques municipales at the head of the Belgian revolution. In this chapter VI of his book, Le soulèvement national (pp.93–117), before writing "On the 6th October, the whole Wallonia is free",[51] he quotes the following municipalities from which volunteers were going to Brussels, the "centre of the commotion", in order to take part in the battle against the Dutch troops: Tournai, Namur, Wavre (p.105) Braine-l'Alleud, Genappe, Jodoigne, Perwez, Rebecq, Grez-Doiceau, Limelette[fr], Nivelles (p.106), Charleroi (and its region), Gosselies, Lodelinsart (p.107), Soignies, Leuze, Thuin, Jemappes (p.108), Dour, Saint-Ghislain, Pâturages[fr] (p.109) and he concluded: "So, from the Walloon little towns and countryside, people came to the capital.."[52] The Dutch fortresses were liberated in Ath ( 27 September), Mons (29 September), Tournai (2 October), Namur (4 October) (with the help of people coming from Andenne, Fosses, Gembloux), Charleroi (5 October) (with people who came in their thousands).The same day that was also the case for Philippeville, Mariembourg[fr], Dinant, Bouillon.[53] In Flanders, the Dutch troops capitulated at the same time in Brugge, Ieper, Oostende, Menen, Oudenaarde, Geeraardsbergen (pp.113–114), but nor in Ghent nor in Antwerp (only liberated on 17 October and 27 October). Against these interpretation, in any case for the troubles in Brussels, John W. Rooney Jr wrote:
It is clear from the quantitative analysis that an overwhelming majority of revolutionaries were domiciled in Brussels or in the nearby suburbs and that the aid came from outside was minimal. For example, for the day of 23 September, 88% of dead and wounded lived in Brussels identified and if we add those residing in Brabant, it reached 95%. It is true that if you look at the birthplace of revolutionary given by the census, the number of Brussels falls to less than 60%, which could suggest that there was support "national" (to different provinces Belgian), or outside the city, more than 40%.But it is nothing, we know that between 1800 and 1830 the population of the capital grew by 75,000 to 103,000, this growth is due to the designation in 1815 in Brussels as a second capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the rural exodus that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. It is therefore normal that a large part of the population of Brussels be originating provinces. These migrants came mainly from Flanders, which was hit hard by the crisis in the textile 1826-1830. This interpretation is also nationalist against the statements of witnesses: Charles Rogier said that there were neither in 1830 nor nation Belgian national sentiment within the population. The revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Nothomb ensures that "the feeling of national unity is born today." As for Joseph Lebeau, he said that "patriotism Belgian is the son of the revolution of 1830.." Only in the following years as bourgeois revolutionary will "legitimize ideological state power.[54]
In the Belgian State
A few years after the Belgian revolution in 1830, the historian Louis Dewez underlined that "Belgium is shared into two people, Walloons and Flemings. The former are speaking French, the latter are speaking Flemish. The border is clear (...) The provinces which are back the Walloon line, i.e.: the Province of Liège, the Brabant wallon, the Province of Namur, the Province of Hainaut are Walloon [...] And the other provinces throughout the line [...] are Flemish. It is not an arbitrarian division or an imagined combination in order to support an opinion or create a system: it is a fact..."[55]Jules Michelet traveled in Wallonia in 1840 and we can read many times in his History of France his interest for Wallonia and the Walloons pp 35,120,139,172, 287, 297,300, 347,401, 439, 455, 468 (this page on the Culture of Wallonia), 476 (1851 edition published online)[56]
Relationship with the German-speaking community
The Walloon Region institutionally comprises also the German-speaking community of Belgium around Eupen, in the east of the region, next to Germany which ceded the area to Belgium after the First World War. Many of the 60,000 or so inhabitants of this very small community reject being considered as Walloon and – with their community executive leader Karl-Heinz Lambertz want to remain a federating unit, and to have all the powers of the Belgian Regions and Communities. Even if they do not want them absolutely and immediately (10 July 2008, official speech for the Flanders' national holiday).[57]
Jessé de Forest, Walloon settler, first colonizer of New Netherland and what would become New York City. Monument dedicated and located in Battery Park, Lower Manhattan.
↑ Ethnic Groups Worldwide, a ready reference Handbook, David Levinson, ORYX Press, ( ISBN1-57356-019-7), p. 13: «Walloons are identified through their residence in Wallonia and by speaking dialects of French. They, too, are descended from the original Celtic inhabitants of the region and Romans and Franks who arrived later. Walloons are mainly Roman Catholic.»
↑ Ethnic Groups Worldwide, a ready reference Handbook, David Levinson, ORYX Press, ISBN1-57356-019-7, p.13: "Walloon culture was heavily influenced by the French"
↑ The Encyclopedia of the Peoples of the World, A Henri Holt Reference Book, page 645: «Culturally there is continuity between the French and the Walloons, Wallon culture consisting mainly of dialect literary productions. While historically most Wallons came within France's cultural orbit
↑ John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, English and Welsh, in Angles and Britons: O'Donnell Lectures, University of Cardiff Press, 1963.
↑ French: Au concept sentimental, linguistique et culturel s'est ajouté peu à peu, par la suite de l'évolution intérieure en Belgique, depuis 1880 surtout, un contenu politique Albert Henry, Histoire des mots Wallons et Wallonie, Institut Jules Destrée, Coll. «Notre histoire», Mont-sur-Marchienne, 1990, 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1965), p. 14.
↑ Charles White, The Belgic Revolution of 1830, Whittaker, London, 1835, p. 308, see also, pp. 5, 45, 266, 307 where the same word as in French - Wallons - was used Oxford University's copy
↑ Quoted also by Maurice Bologne, L'insurrection prolétarienne de 1830 en Belgique. Critique politique, n°9, Bruxelles, Juillet 1981, p.56 and passim
↑ Quoted also by Bruno Demoulin and Jean-Louis Kupper (editors) Histoire de la Wallonie, De la préhistoire au XXIe siècle, Privat, Toulouse, 2004, p.241 ISBN2-7089-4779-6
↑ Albert Henry, En 1988, le terme Wallonie évoque (...) une réalité politique et administrative constitutionnellement reconnue (...) En 1830, et au cours des années qui suivirent, on avait continué à se servir des expressions provinces wallonnes, cette dernière déjà employée au seizième siècle, au moins et pays wallon plus rarement attestées avant le dix-huitième siècle, opus citatus, pp. 15-16
↑ Het naembouck van 1562, Tweede druk van het Nederlands - Frans Woordenboek van Hoos Lambrech, published by R.Verdeyen, Liège-Paris, 1945, p.221.
↑ Le païs de Valons, Belgolalia, Wallonennland, in Le Grand Dictionnaire Royal, Augsbourg, 1767 in Etudes d'histoire wallonne, Fondation Plisnier, Bruxelles, 1964 Etudes d'histoire wallonne
↑ Albert Henry, Un témoignage anglais, opus citatus, p.48
↑ Le pays wallon comprenait la plus grande partie de ce qui forme aujourd'hui la Belgique,la Flandre occidentale et orientale, dites ensemble Flandre wallonne, la province de Namur, le Hainaut, le pays de Liège, le Limbourg et même le Luxembourg in Dictionnaire Bescherelle Paris, 1856, Vol II, p. 1664 Bescherelle, Vol II, 1856, Paris, p. 1664
↑ Albert Henry, opus citatus, p.81 quoted the 1846 edition
↑ French " En ce qui concerne les termes employés pour désigner la Terre des Wallons au cours des âges, nous avons noté le Roman pays, ensuite le Pays wallon. Il y eut aussi l'expression: les Provinces wallonnes." Félix Rousseau, La Wallonie, terre romane, 6th edition, Charleroi, 1993, p.120, DL/1993/0276/1
↑ "Belgium is a federal State composed of Communities and Regions."– Article 1 of the Belgian Constitution
↑ From 1 January 2009, "Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI) "will further enhance the visibility of Wallonia-Brussels international activities, both in Belgium and abroad. WBI will pool all of the international relations work of the French Community, the Walloon Region and the French Community Commission of the Brussels-Capital Region. Wallonia-Brussels International
↑ Konrad Gündisch Without a doubt, among the settlers were not only Germans, be they Teutonici from Southern Germany or Saxons from Middle and Northern Germany but also Romanic people from the western regions of the then German Empire. One of the earliest documents on Transylvanian Saxons points at Flandrenses who had at least two independent settler groups. These came from an economically highly developed region of the empire, where during the 11th and 12th centuries shortage of land was overcome through intensive planning and building of dike systems. Cities were developed through the textile industry and trade. Many knights of the first crusade came from here. It is undisputed that Flandrenses played an important role in the German East-Migration. Latins, settlers of Romanic-Walloon origin, were also represented. For example, Johannes Latinus, who arrived as knight but also as one of the first Transylvanian merchants; Gräf Gyan from Salzburg who frightened the bishop of Weißenburg; and Magister Gocelinus, who presented Michelsberg to the Cistercian abbey Kerz. Also to be mentioned is the name of the town Walldorf (villa Latina, "Wallonendorf", town of Walloons) and villa Barbant or Barbantina, a name which brings to mind Brabant in Belgium. Based on the described and often contradictory research results, answers to the question of the origin of Transylvanian Saxons cannot be considered as final. An incontestable clarification cannot be expected since it is probable that the colonists of different religions and ethnic background came in small groups from all regions of the then empire and grew, once in Transylvania, into a group with its own distinct identity, with German language and culture. In any event, their number was negligibly small and has been estimated at 520 families, approximately 2600 persons. in Siebenbürgen und die Siebenbürger Sachsen, Taschenbuch - 304 Seiten (1998) Langen-Müller, München.; ISBN3-7844-2685-9. English translation The History of Transylvania and the Transylvanian SaxonsArchived 7 July 2004 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Histoire des mots wallons et Wallonie, op. cit., note 1, Chapter II, p. 81
↑ Luc Courtois,De fer et de feu l'émigration wallonne vers la Suède (Ouvrage publié avec l'aide du Fonds national de la recherche scientifique), Fondation wallonne, Louvain-la-neuve, 2003 ISBN2-9600072-8-X
↑ French une tension entre l'autorité communale bruxelloise et le pouvoir hollandais dans un premier temps, et une diffusion de la colère dans le reste du pays -notamment dans les principales villes wallonnes - dans un deuxième temps Bruno Demoulin and Jean-Louis Kupper (editors) Histoire de la Wallonie opus citatus, p. 239
↑ George Edmundson The History of Holland Cambridge at the University Press, 1922, pp. 389-404 The History of Holland
↑ Jacques Logie, 1830. De la régionalisation à l'indépendance, Duculot, Gembloux,1980, p.168, ISBN2-8011-0332-2
↑ RobertDemoulin, La Révolution de 1830, La Renaissance du Livre, Bruxelles, 1950, p. 93
↑ French La Belgique est partagée entre deux peuples, les Wallons et les Flamands. Les premiers parlent la langue française; les seconds la langue flamande. La ligne de démarcation est sensiblement tracée. [...] Ainsi les provinces qui sont en deçà de la ligne wallonne, savoir: la province de Liège, le Brabant wallon la Province de Namur, la Province de Hainaut, sont wallonnes [...] Et celles qui sont au-delà de la ligne [...] sont flamandes. Ce n'est point ici une division arbitraire ou un plan fait d'imagination pour appuyer une opinion ou créer un système; c'est une vérité de fait... Louis Dewez, Cours d'histoire de Belgique contenant les leçons publiques données au musée des Lettres ert des Sciences de Bruxelles, tome II, pp. 152-153, JP Méline, Bruxelles, 1833
↑ Neben Flandern, Brüssel und der Wallonie möchten sie [die deutschsprachigen Belgier] ein eigenständiger Bestandteil, eine autonome gliedstaatliche Körperschaft, eine eigene „Gemeinschaft/Region“ bleiben, die für alle Gemeinschaftszuständigkeiten und jene regionalen Zuständigkeiten verantwortlich ist, die sie eigenverantwortlich gestalten will. Und auch wenn sie diese nicht unbedingt und unmittelbar fordert.Ansprache von Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Ministerpräsident der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens, 10. Juli 2008
↑ Paul R. Magocsi (Multicultural History Society of Ontario), Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples, University of Toronto Press, 1999, pp. 257-270 ISBN0-8020-2938-8, ISBN978-0-8020-2938-6
↑ Robin D. Gwynn, Huguenot Heritage, Sussex Academic Press, 2001 ISBN1-902210-34-4
Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut (Wallonia). Its capital and largest city is Wavre.
The Walloon Region, usually simply referred to as Wallonia is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, or Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, the Brussels Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself.
Articles related to Belgium include:
Walloon is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia in Belgium, in some villages of northern France and in the northeast part of Wisconsin, US until the mid-20th century and in some parts of Canada. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, the most prominent member of which is the French language. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the Principality of Liège to the south and west.
The Flemish Movement is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promote Flemish culture and Dutch language as well as those who have sought greater political autonomy for Flanders within Belgium. It also encompasses nationalists who have sought the secession of Flanders from Belgium, either through outright independence or unification with the Netherlands.
The Parliament of Wallonia is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium. The parliament building, the former Hospice Saint-Gilles, is situated in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, at the symbolic confluence of the Meuse and the Sambre, the two main rivers of the most inhabited parts of Wallonia, the Sillon industriel. On the other side of the Meuse, facing the Parliament, is the Élysette, the seat of the Government of Wallonia.
The Flemish Region, usually simply referred to as Flanders, is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. It occupies the northern part of Belgium and covers an area of 13,625 km2 (5,261 sq mi). It is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe with around 490/km2 (1,300/sq mi).
Belgians are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural rather than ethnic. The majority of Belgians, however, belong to two distinct ethnic groups or communities native to the country, i.e. its historical regions: Flemings in Flanders, who speak Dutch, and Walloons in Wallonia, who speak French or Walloon. There is also a substantial Belgian diaspora, which has settled primarily in the United States, Canada, France, and the Netherlands.
Because Belgium is a multilingual country, Belgian literature is divided into two main linguistic branches following the two most prominently spoken languages in the country - Dutch and French. German is the third language in Belgium and is spoken by a small community of about 70,000 German-speakers of the German-speaking Community of Belgium bordering on Germany.
The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. A number of non-official, minority languages and dialects are spoken as well.
The Walloon Movement is an umbrella term for all Belgian political movements that either assert the existence of a Walloon identity and of Wallonia and/or defend French culture and language within Belgium, either within the framework of the 1830 Deal or either defending the linguistic rights of French-speakers. The movement began as a defence of the primacy of French but later gained political and socio-economic objectives. In French, the terms wallingantisme and wallingants are also used to describe, sometimes pejoratively, the movement and its activists.
The Walloon Movement traces its ancestry to 1856 when literary and folkloric movements based around the Society of Walloon language and literature began forming. Despite the formation of the Society of Walloon Literature, it was not until around 1880 that a "Walloon and French-speaking defense movement" appeared, following the linguistic laws of the 1870s. The movement asserted the existence of Wallonia and a Walloon identity while maintaining the defense of the French language.
The partition of Belgium is a hypothetical situation which has been discussed by both Belgian and international media envisioning a split of the country along linguistic divisions, with each of the Flemish Community (Flanders) and the French-speaking Community (Wallonia) becoming independent states. Alternatively, it is hypothesized that Flanders could join the Netherlands and Wallonia could join France.
Rattachism or Reunionism (Réunionisme) is a minor political ideology which calls for the French-speaking part of Belgium or Wallonia to secede from the state of Belgium and become part of France. Brussels, which is majority French-speaking but enclaved in Flanders, may be included within this ideology as may the six Flemish municipalities with language facilities for French-speakers around Brussels. It can be considered a French-speaking equivalent of Orangism or Grootneerlandisme in Flanders.
The history of Wallonia, from prehistoric times to the present day, is that of a territory which, since 1970, has approximately coincided with the territory of Wallonia, a federated component of Belgium, which also includes the smaller German-speaking Community of Belgium. Wallonia is the name colloquially given to the Walloon Region. The French word Wallonie comes from the term Wallon, itself coming from Walh. Walh is a very old Germanic word used to refer to a speaker of Celtic or Latin.
The Manifesto for Walloon Culture, was published in Liège on 15 September 1983 and signed by seventy-five "key figures in artistic, journalistic and university circles" of Wallonia.
Heritage registers in Belgium include immovable heritage such as World Heritage Sites, and National heritage sites, but also intangible cultural heritage. The agency responsible for keeping and updating inventories of immovable heritage is dependent on the region, as is the name for the object, which is called Beschermd erfgoed, Biens classés or Kulturdenkmal depending on the language of the municipality of the location.
The Union des Femmes de Wallonie was a Belgian women's association founded in 1912 by Léonie de Waha, assisted by Marguerite Delchef, to stimulate interest in Walloon culture and politics. Initially, it encouraged women to participate in the revival of Wallonia, especially in regard to the region's language and folklore. Following the organization's re-establishment after the First World War, more attention was given to women's emancipation. In the 1930s, the focus was on women's suffrage, higher education and professional opportunities for women, although some participants continued to stress the importance of the role of women in the home. From 1920 to 1936, the UFW published the journal La Femme wallonne which generally presented a feminist approach in support of overcoming traditional stereotypes and working towards universal suffrage.
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listen ); Walloon : Walons) are a Romance [6] [7] ethnic group native to Belgium, principally its southern region of Wallonia, who primarily speak langues d'oïl such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Walloons are a distinctive ethnic community within Belgium. [8] Important historical and anthropological criteria (ancestry, religion, language, traditions, folklore) bind Walloons to the French people. [9] [10] 
