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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 th ...
, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles), which is controversial because its name 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 ...
has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to Francophone
Belgians Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) 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 cultur ...
, and ''not'' to
French people The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the na ...
residing in Belgium. As such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
as "the French-speaking Community of Belgium" for clarity, in analogy to the
German-speaking Community of Belgium 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 ...
. The Community has its own
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
,
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
, and administration. Its official flag is identical to the
Walloon Flag The flag of Wallonia is a sub-national flag in Belgium that represents the Walloon Region and French Community. Designed in 1913, the flag depicts a red rooster, commonly known as the ''bold rooster'' (french: coq hardi) or ''Walloon rooster'' ...
, which is also the official flag of the
Walloons Walloons (; french: Wallons ; wa, Walons) are a Gallo-Romance ethnic group living native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of France. Walloons primarily speak '' langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Wall ...
of
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
. Wallonia is home to 80% of all Francophone Belgians, with the remaining 20% residing in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, which is the seat of parliament of the French Community. Historically, this community spoke variants of Walloon,
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
, Picard,
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...
or Moselle Franconian German, but nowadays, the dominant language is overwhelmingly
Belgian French Belgian French (french: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The Fren ...
, except for some areas alongside the border to the
Grand-Duchy of 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 land ...
(mainly the district called Land of Arlon or
Arelerland The Land of Arlon (Luxembourgish/german: Arelerland, , ; french: Pays d'Arlon, ; Dutch: ''Land van Aarlen'' )In isolation, ''van'' is pronounced . is the traditionally Luxembourgish-speaking part of Belgian Lorraine, which is now predominantly ...
), where Luxembourgish is still widely spoken.


Description

The French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom: * 3.6 million live in the
Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
(that is almost the entirety of the inhabitants of this region, apart from people who live in the German-speaking communes, who number around 70,000); * 900,000 living in the
Brussels Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
(out of 1.2 million inhabitants). French speakers who live in the Flemish Region are not included in the official numbers for the French-speaking Community, since the French Community has no jurisdiction in that region. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status and the discouragement of linguistic criteria in census-taking. Estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000, around 200,000, to around 300,000. The French Community of Belgium makes up about 40% of the total population of Belgium; 60% of the population belongs to the Flemish Community, and 1% to the German-speaking Community.


Alternative name

For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to better demonstrate the link between
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
and
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. These include the creation of several organisations such as ''Wallonie-Bruxelles International'', a public body in charge of international cultural affairs set up jointly by the French Community, the
Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
and the
Commission communautaire française 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 ''A ...
(COCOF, a French-speaking institution of the
Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
). The concept of "''Wallonie-Bruxelles''" is however not mentioned 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 ...
, and appeared only in a few official legal texts, such as the "''Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française fixant le code de qualité et de l'accueil''" of 17 December 2003, mentioning the name "''Communauté Wallonie-Bruxelles''", and the "''Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Communauté française approuvant le programme quinquennal de promotion de la santé 2004–2008''" of 30 April 2004, mentioning the name "''Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles''". In May 2011, the parliament of the Community voted a resolution according to which it would, from then on, use the name "Wallonia-Brussels Federation" (French: "''Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles''") for all its communications, campaigns and in the administration. The move was immediately interpreted as aggressive by the Flemish authorities, the Minister-President of Flanders announcing he would not recognize the federation as an official body and saying that documents that would be sent by the federation would be unconstitutional and therefore would not exist. That name also obscures the fact that this institution does not represent the Flemings living in Brussels, nor their local Flemish Community Commission ('Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie', or VGC) nor the Brussels-Capital Region. While the authorities of the Community acknowledge the fact that the new name is not mentioned in the Belgian Constitution, they insist that their move is not illegal, as long as the new name is used as an additional name for the Community and is not used when it could create a legal issue (such as with the official texts published in the Belgian Official Journal). Although the then Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that the federal government would not use the new name and the Flemish VRT decided not to use the new name in its news programs either,Ne dites pas "Federatie Wallonië-Brussel" sur la VRT
7sur7, 29 September 2011 it is used by the French-speaking media, including the RTBF public network, which is fully controlled by the Community. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation. In September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name.


Politics and government

The French Community of Belgium is governed by the
Parliament of the French Community The Parliament of the French Community (french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament exc ...
, which selects the executive branch, the
Government of the French Community The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium (french: Gouvernement de la Communauté française ) 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 Parliamen ...
.


Parliament

The
Parliament of the French Community The Parliament of the French Community (french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. It consists of all 75 members of the Walloon Parliament exc ...
(french: Parlement de la Communauté française or PCF) is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the . It consists of all 75 members of the
Walloon Parliament The Parliament of Wallonia (french: Parlement de Wallonie) (Walloon Parliament (french: Parlement wallon) in the decrees) is the legislative body of Wallonia, one of the three self-governing regions of Belgium (the other two being Flanders and t ...
except German-speaking members (currently two) who are substituted by French-speaking members from the same party, and 19 members elected by the French linguistic group of the
Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewe ...
within the former body. These members are elected for a term of five years. The current President of the Parliament of the French Community is ( PS).


Current composition (2019-2024)

''Note: Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets (•)''


Executive

The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium (french: Gouvernement de la Communauté française ) is the executive branch of the French Community, and it too sits in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by a
Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...
.


List of Ministers-President of the French Community


Religion

In 2016, 63% of residents of Brussels and Wallonia declared themselves Catholics, 15% were practising Catholics and 30% were non-practising Catholics, 4% were Muslim, 2% were
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, 2% were of another religion and 26% were non-religious.


See also

*
Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
* '' Commission communautaire française (COCOF)'' *
Communities and regions of Belgium 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 la ...
*
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...


Notes


External links

*
Parliament of the French Community of Belgium
official website (some information available in English) {{Authority control Communities of Belgium Society of Belgium Politics of Brussels Politics of Wallonia French-speaking countries and territories