Arelerland
The Land of Arlon is the traditionally Luxembourgish-speaking part of Belgian Lorraine, which is now predominantly French-speaking. Arlon is the city of this region. The area has borders with the Gaume to the west and with the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg to the east and it lies to the south of the Ardennes. It coincides largely with the arrondissement of Arlon, part of the province of Luxembourg, in the Land of Arlon, the traditional language is Luxembourgish, which is spoken in the adjacent Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. In 1990, the French Community of Belgium recognised the regional languages on its territory, of which Luxembourgish is one, the following data are the linguistic results of the census as they appeared in the Belgian Official Journal. Here the language shift from Luxembourgish to French is clearly visible, NL, Dutch FR, French DE, German Language that is mostly or exclusively spoken Known languages These are the municipalities, with their sections and villages, in the Land of Arlon
Constitution of Belgium
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since Belgium has been a monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy. The Constitution established Belgium as a unitary state. However, since 1970, through successive state reforms, Belgium has gradually evolved into a federal state, the last radical change of the constitution was carried out in 1993 after which it was published in a renewed version in the Belgian Official Journal. The Court therefore developed into a court and in May 2007 it was formally redesignated Constitutional Court. This court has the authority to examine whether a law or a decree is in compliance with Title II, in 1831 Belgium was a unitary state organised at three levels, the national level and municipalities. State reform in Belgium added a level to the existing structure. Since 1993, the first article of the Constitution stipulates that Belgium is a state composed of Communities. This means that there are two types of devolved entities at the level, with neither taking precedence over the other.
Article 4 divides Belgium into four areas, The Dutch language area, the French language area, the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital. Each municipality of the Kingdom is part of one of four language areas only. The borders of the areas can be changed or corrected only by a law supported by specific majorities of each language group of each Chamber. Article 5 divides the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region into five provinces each, Article 6 determines that the provinces can be subdivided only by Law. The borders of the State and municipalities can be changed or corrected only by Law, the act inserting this article was published in the Belgian Official Journal on 26 April 2007. Title II of the Belgian Constitution is titled The Belgians and their rights, in this title a number of rights and freedoms are enumerated. Although the Constitution speaks of the rights of the Belgians, in principle apply to all persons on Belgian soil. In addition to the rights enumerated in Title II of the Constitution, Articles 8 and 9 determine how the Belgian nationality can be obtained.
Article 10 determines that all Belgians are equal before the law, Article 11 determines that all rights and freedoms must be guaranteed without discrimination
Prime Minister of Belgium
The Prime Minister of Belgium or the Premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government in the Kingdom of Belgium. The political importance of the King of the Belgians has decreased over time, since the independence of Belgium in 1830, governments have been designated with the name of the minister who formed the government as formateur, but that position did not have a specific status. The title of Prime Minister or Premier was used for the first time in 1918 in official documents, only in 1970 the title was incorporated in the Belgian Constitution with the first state reform. Gradually, the Head of Cabinet replaced the King more often during the first half of the twentieth century, given his newly acquired prominence, as a member of the cabinet the Head of Cabinet continued to lead a ministerial department. Since then, coalition governments have been necessary, which has made the task of forming a government by the appointed formateur more difficult, the formateur increasingly gained greater respect, and much prestige.
Thus the formateur became prominent as a position of leadership, as the ministers of the government now represented various political parties, there was a need for someone to coordinate the proceedings of the various ministers. The Prime Minister was now asserted as the head of government. Besides coordinating government policies, the Prime Minister is responsible for the execution of the coalition agreement. He presides at meetings of the Council of Ministers and manages conflicts of competencies between the ministers, in addition, the Prime Minister represents the government coalition in public, both at home and abroad. It is the Prime Minister who maintains contact with the King and he can ask Parliament for a vote of confidence, which can even lead to the governments resignation in the case of a constructive vote of no confidence. Unless the Prime Minister resigns because of a matter, the whole government resigns when he resigns. The Prime Minister represents Belgium in the various international organisations, the day after the federal elections, the incumbent Prime Minister offers the resignation of his government to the King.
The King asks the government to continue as a caretaker government until a new government is formed. The King consults a number of prominent politicians in order to ascertain the different possibilities of forming a government and he usually consults the presidents of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, the most important political parties, and other people of political and socio-economic importance. After the consultations, the King appoints an informateur who is in charge of collecting information from the different political parties about their demands for formation of a new government. After these consultations, the reports to the King so that the King can find a suitable formateur. Usually, it is the formateur of the government who becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister or Premier is appointed by the King, alongside the other ministers, as the head of government, he is the first to be appointed
Belgians
Belgians are the citizens of the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. There is a substantial Belgian diaspora, settling primarily the United States, Belgians are a relatively new people. The 1830 revolution led to the establishment of an independent country under a provisional government, the Belgian people are descendants of the Celtic Belgae and Germanic peoples such as the Frisians and the Saxons. The Latin name was revived in 1790 by the short-lived United Belgian States which was created after a revolution against Austrian rule took place in 1789, from the sixteenth century, the The Low Countries or The Netherlands, were referred to as Belgica in Latin. Belgians are primarily a nationality or citizen group, by jus soli, known as birthright citizenship, since many Belgians are at least bilingual, or even trilingual, it is common for business and family networks to include members of the various ethnic groups composing Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region occupies a unique political and cultural position since geographically and linguistically it is an enclave within the unilingual Flemish Region.
Since the independence of Belgium in 1830, the title of the Belgian head of state is the King of the Belgians rather than the King of Belgium. Within Belgium the Flemish, about 60% of the population, form a clearly distinguishable group, set apart by their language, the popular perception of being a single polity varies greatly, depending on subject matter and personal background. Generally, Flemings will seldom identify themselves as being Dutch and vice versa, Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon Region. They may speak languages such as Walloon. Though roughly three-quarters of Belgiums French speakers live in Wallonia, it is important to note that French-speaking residents of Brussels tend not to identify as Walloons, the German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three constitutionally recognized federal communities of Belgium.
Bordering the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the area has its own parliament and government at Eupen, the German-speaking community is composed of the German-speaking parts of the lands that were annexed in 1920 from Germany. However, in these localities, the German language is endangered due to the adoption of French. Roman Catholicism has traditionally been Belgiums majority religion with approximately 65% of the Belgians declaring themselves to be Catholics, however, by 2004, nationwide Sunday church attendance was only about 4 to 8%. Belgium had a population of 10,839,905 people on 1 January 2010, between 1990 and 2000 the increase was only 291,000. The population of Flanders and Brussels on 1 January 2010 was 6,251,983,3,498,384 and 1,089,538, list of Belgians Flemish people Walloons Belgian American Belgian Brazilian Flemish Canadian
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants and minority groups speaking their own languages.
The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls.
After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
Belgian French
Belgian French is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard and Lorrain. The French language spoken in Belgium differs very little from that of France or Switzerland and it is characterized by the use of some terms that are considered archaic in France, as well as loanwords from languages such as Walloon and Dutch. French is one of the three languages of Belgium alongside Dutch and German. It is spoken natively by around 39% of the population, primarily in the region of Wallonia. While a number of Oïl languages have traditionally spoken in different areas of Wallonia. This was a result of heavy French cultural influence on the region over the past few centuries. Owing to the diversity of languages, the French language in Wallonia was influenced by them, with words from Walloon, Champenois. Until the 20th century, Walloon was the majority language of Wallonia, while the French spoken in Wallonia was influenced by local languages, the variant spoken in Brussels was influenced by Dutch, specifically the local Brabantian dialect.
The city, geographically located within the Flanders region, was originally just a Dutch-speaking city, however, a gradual Frenchification took place beginning in the 19th century and intensifying towards the end of that and continuing throughout the next century. Today, many Dutch idioms or expressions have been translated into French and are used as such in the Brussels area, regional accents however, can vary from city to city, but on the whole they may vary more according to ones social class and education. Within the French community of Belgium, standard French pronunciation is taught to students, the following differences vary among speakers, depending on their level of education and the region they come from. Major phonological differences include, Lack of the approximant /ɥ/, The combination /ɥi/ is replaced by /wi/, thus for most Belgian speakers, the words enfuir and enfouir are homophones. The nasal vowels are pronounced like in French of France, the distinction between the nasal vowels /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ is upheld in Belgian French, whereas in many regions of France, these two sounds have merged.
Thus, in Parisian French brin and brun are pronounced the same way, the distinction between the vowels /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ is upheld, whereas in France, these two sounds have merged. The words mettre and maître are pronounced differently in Belgian French, a stronger distinction exists between long and short vowels. While long vowels are constrained to closed syllables in French of France, Belgian French has them in absolute final position, ⟨ée⟩, ⟨aie⟩ #, ⟨ue⟩ #, ⟨ie⟩ #, ⟨oue⟩ # and ⟨eue⟩ #. As a result, almost all feminine adjectives are distinct from their masculine counterparts for Belgians. The marginal phoneme /ɑ/ is most of the time rendered as a version of /a/
Flag of Wallonia
The Flag of Wallonia is called the bold rooster or Walloon Rooster. It is the emblem of Wallonia and of the French Community of Belgium and it features a red bold rooster, bold meaning its right leg is lifted and its mouth is closed, on a yellow background. Those colors come from the city of Liège, the flag is used by the Walloon Movement. On 15 July 1998, the Walloon Flag was officially recognised as the Flag of Wallonia by the Walloon Region, Flag of Belgium Flag of Flanders Flag of the Brussels-Capital Region Notice on the Walloon Flag based on the online Encyclopedia of the Walloon Movement. The official flag of the French Community of Belgium on its website, anthem & flag on the official website of the Walloon Parliament
Parti Socialiste (Belgium)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic French-speaking political party in Belgium. As of the 2014 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, the party is led by Elio Di Rupo, who was Prime Minister of Belgium from 6 December 2011 until 11 Oktober 2014. The party supplies the Minister-president of the Walloon Region, the French Community, in the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei. The party, or its members, have time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery. The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region, results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium. The ideology and image of the PS is a mix of social-democracy, combined with a modern electoral marketing
German-speaking Community of Belgium
The German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km2 within the province of Liège in Wallonia, traditionally speakers of Low Dietsch and Moselle Franconian varieties, the local population numbers over 75, 000—about 0. 70% of the national total. Bordering the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the area has its own parliament and government at Eupen, the German-speaking Community of Belgium is composed of the German-speaking parts of the lands that were annexed in 1920 from Germany. However, in these localities, the German language is declining due to the expansion of French, the area known today as the East Cantons consists of the German-speaking Community and the municipalities of Malmedy and Waimes, which belong to the French Community of Belgium. The East Cantons were part of the Rhine Province of Prussia in Germany until 1920, but were annexed by Belgium following Germanys defeat in World War I, thus they became known as the cantons rédimés, redeemed cantons.
The peace treaty of Versailles demanded the questioning of the local population, in the mid-1920s, there were secret negotiations between Germany and the kingdom of Belgium that seemed to be inclined to sell the region back to Germany as a way to improve Belgiums finances. A price of 200 million gold marks has been mentioned, at this point the French government, fearing for the complete postwar order, intervened at Brussels and the Belgian-German talks were called off. The new cantons had been part of Belgium for just 20 years when in 1940 they were retaken by Germany in World War II, the majority of people of the east cantons welcomed this as they considered themselves German. In 1973, three communities and three regions were established and granted internal autonomy, the legislative Parliament of the German-speaking Community, Rat der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft, was set up. Today the German-speaking Community has a degree of autonomy, especially in language and cultural matters. One of the proponents of full autonomy for the German-speaking Community is Karl-Heinz Lambertz.
Especially regional autonomy for spatial planning, city building and housing should be considered, the German-speaking Community has its own government, which is appointed for five years by its own parliament. The Government is headed by a Minister-President, who acts as the minister of the Community. Compare to a total of 73,675 on 1 January 2007, in 1989, there was a call for proposals for a flag and arms of the Community. In the end the coat of arms of the Community was designed by merging the arms of the Duchy of Limburg, the coat of arms, in heraldic blazon, is, Argent, a lion rampant gules between nine cinquefoils azure. The flag shows a red lion together with nine blue cinquefoils on a white field, the colours of the German-speaking Community are white and red in a horizontal position. Government website Parliament website KOKAISL, Petr, KOKAISLOVÁ, journal of Social Research & Policy, Vol.6, Issue 1, July 2015
Government of the French Community
The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the executive branch of the French Community of Belgium, and it sits in Brussels. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the Parliament of the French Community and is headed by a Minister-President, following the 25 May 2014 election, the PS and CDH parties formed a coalition. A few days later, Milquet was replaced by Marie-Martine Schyns, Schyns took over the Compulsory Education portfolio, which she was already in charge of during the previous legislature. Greoli took over Culture and Child Care from Milquet and received the Sports portfolio from René Collin, walloon Cabinet Flemish Cabinet Politics and Government of the Brussels-Capital Region Website of the Government of the French Community
Wallonia
Wallonia is a region of Belgium. Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of the territory of Belgium, unlike Flanders, the Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium which is the political entity that is responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education. The German-speaking minority in the east forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, during the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the wealth, from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. Since World War II the importance of industry has greatly diminished. Wallonia now suffers high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major sources of conflict in Belgium and is a major factor in Flemish separatism. The capital of Wallonia is Namur but the city with the greatest population is Charleroi, most of Wallonias major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley, the former industrial backbone of Belgium.
To the north lies the Central Belgian Plateau, like Flanders, is relatively flat, in the south-east lie the Ardennes and sparsely populated. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands in the north, France to the south and west, Wallonia has been a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. The term Wallonia can mean different things in different contexts. One of the three regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the Walloon Region, but the regions government has renamed it Wallonia. In practice, the difference between the two terms is small and what is meant is usually clear, based on context, the root of the word Wallonia, like the words Wales and Wallachia, is the Germanic word Walha, meaning the strangers. Wallonia is named after the Walloons, the population of the Burgundian Netherlands speaking Romance languages, in Middle Dutch, the term Walloons included the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries.
Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 57 BC, the Low Countries became part of the larger Gallia Belgica province which originally stretched from southwestern Germany to Normandy and the southern part of the Netherlands. The population of territory was Celtic with a Germanic influence which was stronger in the north than in the south of the province. The ancestors of the Walloons became Gallo-Romans and were called the Walha by their Germanic neighbours, the Walha abandoned their Celtic dialects and started to speak Vulgar Latin. The Merovingian Franks gradually gained control of the region during the 5th century, the language border began to crystallize between 700 under the reign of the Merovingians and Carolingians and around 1000 after the Ottonian Renaissance
Subdivisions of Belgium
