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    Flemish Community
Vlaamse Gemeenschap (Dutch)
Information
Official language Dutch
Capital Brussels
Official website www.vlaanderen.be
Institutions
Minister-President Kris Peeters
Established 1993
Celebration day July 11
Location

The Flemish Community in Belgium
Brussels-Capital Region, Flemish Region, Walloon Region
Flemish Community, French Community,
German-speaking Community

The term Flemish Community has two distinct, though related, meanings:

  1. Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemish people" or the "Flemish nation" (in a similar sense as the Basque, Catalan, Galician, Scottish, Welsh, or Quebec people or nations, referring to a national identity). Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages A minister-president (Ministerpräsident is the Head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments who presides over the council of ministers Kris Peeters ( 18 May, 1962) is a Flemish politician and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party who is currently Minister-President Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The Flemish Region ( Dutch: Vlaams Gewest) is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region The Walloon Region, commonly called Wallonia, is one of the three Regions of Belgium. The French Community of Belgium (Communauté française de Belgique Franse Gemeenschap van België Französische Gemeinschaft Belgiens is one of the three official communities The German-speaking Community of Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. The terms Fleming and Flemings ( Vlaming and Vlamingen in Dutch) denote respectively a person and people and the Flemings or Historically, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian realms ( Asturias, León, Galicia Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context Historically, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian realms ( Asturias, León, Galicia Scottish national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity and common culture of Scottish people and is shared by a considerable majority The Welsh people ( Welsh: Cymro ("Welshman" Cymraes ("Welsh woman" Cymry ("Welshmen/women" Cymry The culture of Quebec is a Western culture that is rooted in the history and society of the French -speaking majority A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered The term "community" should then not be capitalized.
  2. Politically, it is the name of which both elements are normally capitalized, for one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital. Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four language areas. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831 Since then Belgium has been a Parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of Ministerial Unlike in the French Community of Belgium[1], the competences of the Flemish Community have been unified with those of the Flemish Region and are exercised by one directly elected Flemish Parliament based in Brussels. The French Community of Belgium (Communauté française de Belgique Franse Gemeenschap van België Französische Gemeinschaft Belgiens is one of the three official communities The Flemish Region ( Dutch: Vlaams Gewest) is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region The Flemish Parliament ( Dutch: Vlaams Parlement, and formerly called Flemish Council or Vlaamse Raad) constitutes the legislative power Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is

Contents

Legal Authority

Main article: Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium

Under the Belgian constitution, the Flemish Community has legal responsibility for the following:

As the Flemish Community's institutions (parliament, government and ministry) absorbed all competencies of the Flemish region, they became also competent for the following areas:

Members of the Flemish Parliament who were elected in Brussels region, have no right to vote on Flemish regional affairs. They can only vote on community affairs, since affairs concerning their region are governed by the Brussels Parliament.

Legally speaking, in the regions of Brussel-Capital as well as of Flanders, the Flemish Community is responsible not for individual people, but for Flemish institutions such as schools, theatres, libraries and museums. The reason for this is that no distinct sub-national status exists in Belgium.

Language

Dutch is the official language of the Flemish Community. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Minorities speak French, Yiddish, Turkish, Arabic, Berber, Italian, Spanish, English and German. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Though most of these groups are recent immigrants, since the Middle Ages, Jews have formed the oldest minority to retain its own identity. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************

Compared to most areas in the Netherlands, the historical dialects of Flemish people still tend to be strong and particular to locality. Since the Second World War however, the influences of radio and television, and of a generally prolongued education, as well as the higher mobility for short trips or for moving towards farther localities, have resulted in a deterioration of the traditional 'pure' dialects — in particular amongst younger people. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Some of the differences between the dialects are eroding, and mainly in localities or suburbs with a considerable influx from other areas, new intermediate dialects have appeared, with various degrees of influence by standard Dutch. In Dutch, these are often called tussentaal ('in-between language', often used for near-standard Dutch interspersed with typical dialect aspects) or, rather derogatorily, verkavelingsvlaams (a mix of more or less 'cleaned-up' dialects as heard in a newly built-up suburban area with people influenced by different dialects). More recently, a number of local initiatives have been set up to save the traditional dialects and their diversity.

In Brussels, the local dialect is heavily influenced by French, both in pronunciation and in vocabulary. Nowadays, most Flemings in Brussels do not speak the local dialect. This is due in part to the relatively large numbers of young Flemings coming to Brussels, after a long period of many more others moving out while French-speakers moved in.

In certain municipalities along the border with the Walloon and the Brussels-Capital regions, French-speakers enjoy "language facilities". The municipalities with language facilities, occasionally called municipalities with linguistic facilities or shortly municipalities with facilities ( Dutch These cover rights such as to receive official documentation in their own tongue. Similar facilities are enjoyed by Dutch-speakers in some Walloon municipalities bordering the Flemish Region, by German-speakers in two municipalities in the French language area of the Walloon Region, and by French-speakers in the territory of the German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Community of Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. The geographical limitations of the communities require the French Community to ensure Dutch basic education in its municipalities with facilities for speakers of Dutch, and the Flemish Community to finance French schools in its municipalities with facilities. The minimum number of pupils set by the French Community has prevented Dutch-speaking schools to be supported in any municipality of the Walloon Region, which has caused the Flemish Community to exceed its constitutional boundaries by financing one such primary school in Comines. Comines-Warneton (Komen-Waasten is a Walloon Municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut.

Flemish institutions in Brussels

Where responsibilities of the Flemish Region can be devolved to the provincial level, no such equivalent exists in the Brussels-Capital Region, which itself exercises many competencies for territorial tasks elsewhere assigned to the provinces. The community competencies (education, culture and social welfare) there, are exercised by the two affected institutional communities. The Flemish Community therefore established a local elected council and executive (the Flemish Community Commission or 'VGC') to cater for intermediate-level decision making & public services. The Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (or VGC, or in English, the Flemish Community Commission) is the local representative of the Flemish authorities The VGC then recognised local, municipal institutions to take care of the purely local public service in these community areas (called gemeenschapscentra or community centres).

Media

Flanders has an official radio and television broadcasting company, the Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroep or VRT in Dutch. Since 1989, several private companies for region-wide radio and television broadcasting have become established. There are also so-called "regional" broadcast companies of which the range is limited to only smaller parts of the Flemish Region. The written press is dominated by a number of 'quality' dailies (such as De Tijd, De Morgen and De Standaard), several 'popular' dailies (such as Het Laatste Nieuws and Het Nieuwsblad) and a huge number of general and specialised magazines. De Tijd ( English: The Times) formerly De Financieel-Economische Tijd ( The Financial Economical Times) is a Belgian De Morgen (The Morning is a Flemish Newspaper with a circulation of 53860. De Standaard ( The Standard) is a Flemish Tabloid -format daily Newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio Het Laatste Nieuws (in English The Latest News) is a Dutch language Newspaper based in Brussels, Belgium. Het Nieuwsblad ( English: The News Paper) is a Belgian Newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics culture

Notes

  1. ^ The parliament of the French Community is distinct from that of the Walloon Region; this is more obvious for the parliament of the German-speaking Community because its much smaller territory is within the latter region. The French Community of Belgium (Communauté française de Belgique Franse Gemeenschap van België Französische Gemeinschaft Belgiens is one of the three official communities Wallonia, or Wallonie, (Wallonie Wallonien Wallonië Waloneye is the Meridional part of Belgium belonging to the Romance linguistic field The German-speaking Community of Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium.

External links

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