Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
I debated for a minute whether to speak to the person behind the counter
in French or Flemish. She was speaking Flemish with the person in front of me,
but I decided to use French since my knowledge of that language is better. The
student from Italy who stood behind me in line apparently had no such debate.
She stepped up to the counter, asked her question in English, and received a reply
in excellent English.
Many geographers are initially drawn to the discipline through maps.
However, maps, especially at the world or continental scale, generalize so much
information that they hide the complexities of everyday life. Once you become
a geographer, you begin to question every map you examine. Look at the
European map of languages (Fig. 6.2), and zero in on Belgium. The map shows a
neat line dividing Flemish speakers (a Germanic language) in the northern region
of Flanders from French speakers (a Romance language) in the southern region
of Wallonia.
Behind this neat line on the language map is a complicated, at times con-
tentious, linguistic transition zone. To understand language patterns in Belgium,
we must also study the issue at the local scale. Although the bilingual capital
of Brussels is located in the Flemish-speaking north (Flanders), for an estimated
85 percent of the locals, French is the mother tongue (Fig. 6.3).
In Belgium, economic differences between linguistic groups have been a divi-
sive issue for generations. During the nineteenth century, French speakers con-
trolled the industrial economy and government of the country. The concentration
of industry in southern Belgium strengthened their position. The French-speaking
elite in Brussels and other Flemish cities began a process of “Frenchifi cation.” They
promoted French and used it when interacting with their counterparts in other
countries. By the twentieth century, a majority of the people in Brussels spoke
French, although people in the areas surrounding Brussels continued to speak
Flemish.
Many people in northern Belgium (surrounding Brussels) opposed the growing
Frenchifi cation of Flanders. The leaders of the Flemish movement initially sought
linguistic rights, specifi cally the right of Flemish speakers to use their language in
public affairs, court proceedings, and schools. Yet they were constantly frustrated
with the opposition of French speakers to their demands. By the 1920s, the Flemish
leadership began calling for the country to be partitioned along linguistic lines so
that those living in northern Belgium could control their own affairs.
By the 1960s, a fi xed partition scheme came into being, which divided the
country into Flemish-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia
in the south. The government recognizes Brussels as a distinct region, a bilingual
capital, but places strict limits on the use of French in the rest of northern Belgium.
The partitioning process produced upheavals throughout the country. The
experience helped strengthen the sense of Flemish identity and fueled a counter-
movement among the French Walloons. With language-group identity on the rise,
confl icts between linguistic “communities” became a central feature of Belgian
political life. After the 1960s, Belgian heavy industry became less competitive,
and the country's economy shifted to high technology, light industry, and services,
with much of the new economy concentrating in Flemish-speaking Flanders. As a
result, the economic power in Belgium fl ipped, with the French-speaking indus-
trial south taking a back seat to the Flemish-speaking north. Today, Wallonia has
an unemployment rate of 14 percent, and economists consider unemployment in
Wallonia to be structural, making it diffi cult for the economy or job market to
