Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
5°
6°
3°
4°
THE NETHERLANDS
ANTWERP
FLANDERS
51°
51°
LIMBURG
WEST FLANDERS
EAST FLANDERS
FLEMISH
BRABANT
GERMANY
Brussels
WALLOON
BRABANT
LIEGE
HAINAUT
FRANCE
WALLONIA
NAMUR
Capital City
Boundaries between
language regions
International boundary
Provincial boundary
Flemish language region
French language region
German language region
Bilingual region
(Capital city of Brussels)
Figure 6.3
Divided Belgium.
Flemish, French,
and German dominate the different
administrative areas in Belgium.
Adapted
with permission from
: A. B. Murphy,
“Belgium's Regional Divergence along
the Road to Federation,” in G. Smith,
ed.,
Federalism: The Multiethnic Challenge
.
London: Longman, 1995, p. 82.
50°
LUXEMBOURG
LUXEMBOURG
0
15
30
45 Kilometers
30 Miles
0
15
4°
5°
6°
bounce back. Flanders, on the other hand, has an unemployment rate below 6 per-
cent, which gives it one of the lower unemployment rates in Europe.
The vast majority of power and decision making rests with the individual
governments of Flanders and Wallonia rather than in a centralized government in
Brussels. With their newfound wealth, many in Flanders wanted to see a greater
federalization of the country, which would put even more power in each of the
two regions. Today, no political party in Belgium operates at the national scale.
Wallonia and Flanders each have their own political parties that vie for power in
their respective regions. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that it took
Belgium nine months to form a government after the spring 2007 elections. In
June 2010, Belgium held regional elections, and a moderate separatist party won
the most parliamentary seats in the more prosperous Flanders region. The
New
York Times
quoted the political leader of the separatist Flemish nationalist party
as saying, “We do not want a revolution. We do not want to declare Flanders inde-
pendent overnight. But we do believe in a gradual evolution.”
Brussels is going in another direction entirely, serving as the principal capital
of the European Union (EU). Brussels is home to the EU Council and Commission.
Moreover, much of the committee work done by the European Parliament takes
place in Brussels (the formal home of the Parliament is in Strasbourg, France). The
role Brussels serves as the European Union capital may prevent Belgium from split-
ting into two countries. Both Flanders and Wallonia have vested interests in Brussels,
so neither would abandon it lightly. And the French-speaking majority in Brussels has
little interest in casting its lot with the region in which it is situated—Flanders. Some
have proposed making Brussels a capital district for the European Union, much as
the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) serves in the United States.
The example of Belgium gives us a multitude of insights into language.
Language questions are often politicized. Language frequently is tied to other
identity issues such as socioeconomic status. And while all of the debates about
