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Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
is a
federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
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 language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered into force on 2 August 1963. The division into language areas was included in the
Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...
in 1970. Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s,
regionalisation Regionalisation is the tendency to form decentralised regions. Regionalisation or land classification can be observed in various disciplines: *In agriculture, see Agricultural Land Classification. *In biogeography, see Biogeography#Biogeograph ...
of the
unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only th ...
led to a three-tiered federation: federal, regional, and community governments were created, a compromise designed to minimize linguistic, cultural, social, and economic tensions.


Schematic overview

This is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution. Each of the entities either have their own parliament and government (for the federal state, the communities and the regions) or their own council and executive college (for provinces and municipalities). The entities in ''italics'' do not have their own institutions—arrondissements because they are purely administrative; language areas because they merely define the linguistic regime of a municipality; and the Flemish Region because its powers are exercised by the Flemish Community.


Country subdivisions

The three communities are: * the (Dutch-speaking)
Flemish Community The Flemish Community ( nl, Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; french: Communauté flamande ; german: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilitie ...
() * the
French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...
() * the
German-speaking Community The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...
(, DG) The three regions are: * the Brussels Capital Region (Brussels; french: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, links=no, nl, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, links=no) * the
Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and ...
(Flanders; ) * the Walloon Region (Wallonia, , ) The four language areas (as in Dutch and in German), occasionally referred to as linguistic regions (from French ), are: * the Dutch language area * the French language area * the German language area * the bilingual Brussels-Capital area All these entities have geographical boundaries. The language areas have no offices or powers and exist
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities are thus equally geographically determined. Belgian Communities do ''not'' officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country. All Communities thus have a precise and legally established area where they can exercise their competencies: the Flemish Community has legal authority (for its Community competencies) only within the Dutch language area (which coincides with the Flemish Region) and bilingual Brussels-Capital language area (which coincides with the Region by that name); the French Community analogously has powers only within the French language area of the Walloon Region and in the Brussels-Capital Region, and the German Community in the German language area, which is a small part of the province of Liège in the Walloon region, and borders Germany. The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the institutions empowered for specific matters: Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments, when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to officially merge the Flemish Region into the Flemish Community, with one parliament, one government and one administration, exercising both regional and community competencies, although Flemish parliamentarians from the Brussels-Capital Region cannot vote on competencies of the Flemish Region; thus in the Dutch language area a single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters. While the Walloon Region and the French Community have separate parliaments and governments, the Parliament of the French Community draws its members from the French-speaking members of the Walloon Parliament and the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, and ministers of the Walloon Government often serve as ministers in the Government of the French Community as well.


Subordinate divisions

The Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each comprise five
provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
. The Brussels-Capital Region is not a province, nor does it contain any. The three regions are further subdivided into 581
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
, which in general consist of several sub-municipalities. These sub-municipalities were independent municipalities in the past, but no longer serve an official purpose. Lesser subnational entities include the intra-municipal districts (which currently only exist in the city of
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
), the administrative, the electoral and the judicial
arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
, police districts, as well as the new inter-municipal police zones (lower level than the police districts).


Competences

The Federal State retains a considerable "common heritage". This includes justice, defence ( Belgian Army), federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, and state-owned companies (such as the Belgian Railways which is in fact an exception on regionalized transport; the
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...
was federal as well, but is being privatised). The State is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs. Communities exercise competences only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education, the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly attributed to the language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.) Regions have authority in fields connected with their territory in the widest meaning of the term, thus relating to the economy, employment, agriculture,
water policy Water politics, sometimes called hydropolitics, is politics affected by the availability of water and water resources, a necessity for all life forms and human development. Arun P. Elhance's definition of hydropolitics is "the systematic study o ...
, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specificities. On education for instance, the autonomy of the communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor sets minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters. Each level can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers.


Communities

Communities were created in 1970 as "cultural communities" with limited power. In 1980, more power was transferred from the federal state to these entities and they became simply "communities". Both the Flemish and French Community have jurisdiction over the area of the Brussels-Capital Region. Consequently, they do not have a defined number of inhabitants. The German-speaking Community is the only community with an area over which they have sole jurisdiction as a community. It is located within the Walloon Region, which has even transferred some regional powers to the German-speaking Community with regards to its area.


Regions


Flemish Region

The Flemish Region or Flanders ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, link=no or ) occupies the northern part of Belgium. It has a surface area of , or 44.4% of Belgium, and is divided into 5 provinces which contain a total of 300 municipalities. The official language is Dutch. French can be used for certain administrative purposes in a dozen particular "
municipalities with language facilities There are 27 municipalities with language facilities ( nl, faciliteitengemeenten; french: communes à facilités; german: Fazilitäten-Gemeinden) in Belgium which must offer linguistic services to residents in Dutch, French, or German in addit ...
" around the Brussels-Capital Region and at the border with the Walloon Region. The Flemish Region has no institutions on its own. Upon the creation of the provisional regions in 1974, a provisional Flemish Regional Council was installed with
Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
as seat. However, with the definitive regions in 1980, its competencies were transferred to the
Flemish Community The Flemish Community ( nl, Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; french: Communauté flamande ; german: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilitie ...
in order to have unified
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
institutions that combine both regional and community competencies, namely the
Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament ( Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural commu ...
and
Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, ...
and its administration. Regional laws (called decrees) do however need to mention whether they are applicable to the community, the region or both. Since the capital of the Flemish Community is Brussels and its institutions have their seats there, it also indirectly serves as seat of government of the Flemish Region, even though the city is not part of it. Additionally, the city of
Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
still has a relation to the Flemish Region as seat; it serves as the location for head office during European (and formerly Senate) elections. Flanders contains five provinces:
West Flanders West Flanders ( nl, West-Vlaanderen ; vls, West Vloandern; french: (Province de) Flandre-Occidentale ; german: Westflandern ) is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the No ...
,
East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...
,
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
,
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...
and Limburg.


Brussels-Capital Region

The Brussels-Capital Region ( nl, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, link=no, french: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, link=no, german: Die Region Brüssel-Hauptstadt, link=no) or Brussels Region is centrally located and completely surrounded by the province of
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...
and thus by the
Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and ...
. With a surface area of , or 0.53% of Belgium, it is the smallest of the three regions. It contains the
City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Fl ...
, which acts both as federal and regional capital, and 18 other municipalities. Its official languages are both Dutch and French. In the region ~75% speak French at home and ~25% speak Dutch, although a significant number of people combine these two languages. The Brussels Capital Region contains only one administrative arrondissement, the
Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital The Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital ( nl, Arrondissement Brussel-Hoofdstad; french: Arrondissement de Bruxelles-Capitale; german: Verwaltungsbezirk Brüssel-Hauptstadt) is the only administrative arrondissement in the Brussels Capital Region ...
. However, for juridical purposes, it forms an arrondissement with surrounding
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
areas, the arrondissement of Brussels (equivalent in area to the former electoral district of
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual—French and Dutch— Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilv ...
). Within Brussels, the two Communities have their own institutions that act as "intermediary levels" of government and public service, sitting below the Community institutions, and above the municipal institutions: * Flemish Community Commission (, VGC) and its administration; *
French Community Commission The ''Commission communautaire française'' (COCOF) or the French Community Commission is the local representative of the French-speaking authorities in the Brussels-Capital Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. On 3 December 2001, the '' ...
(, COCOF) and its executive commission and its administration. In addition to these two, a Common Community Commission exists which is the entity when the Brussels-Capital Region exercises community powers. In these cases, there are more requirements for the legislative process in order to safeguard the interests of both linguistic communities (de facto the Flemish community). Since the splitting of the Province of Brabant in 1995 (into
Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...
and Walloon Brabant), the Brussels Region does not belong to any of the provinces. Within the Region, most of the provincial competencies are assumed by the Brussels regional institutions and community commissions. Additionally, there is a
governor of Brussels-Capital The Governor of the Administrative Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Gouverneur de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Gouverneur van Brussel-Hoofdstad'') ...
, analogously to provinces.


Walloon Region

The Walloon Region or Wallonia (french: Région Wallonne or ) occupies the southern part of Belgium. It has a surface area of , or 55.1% of Belgium, and is also divided into 5 provinces which contain a total of 262 municipalities. Its capital is
Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...
. The official languages are
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and, only in the nine eastern municipalities that form the German-speaking Community near the German border,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
. Dutch however, may be used for administrative purposes in the four ''
municipalities with language facilities There are 27 municipalities with language facilities ( nl, faciliteitengemeenten; french: communes à facilités; german: Fazilitäten-Gemeinden) in Belgium which must offer linguistic services to residents in Dutch, French, or German in addit ...
'' at the border with Flanders, and German in two such municipalities near the German-speaking Community. The Walloon Region contains five provinces: Hainaut, Walloon Brabant,
Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...
,
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
and
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
.


See also

*
Language legislation in Belgium This article outlines the legislative chronology concerning the use of official languages in Belgium. 1830: Freedom of languages and linguistic correction A factor in the Belgian Revolution of the 1830s was the rising dominance of the Dutch lan ...
*
Municipalities with language facilities There are 27 municipalities with language facilities ( nl, faciliteitengemeenten; french: communes à facilités; german: Fazilitäten-Gemeinden) in Belgium which must offer linguistic services to residents in Dutch, French, or German in addit ...


Explanatory notes


References

{{Authority control Languages of Belgium Subdivisions of Belgium Communities, regions and language areas Belgium 1 Belgium geography-related lists cs:Belgie#Administrativní rozdělení