Editing Belgium (section)

===Communities and regions===
{{Main|Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium}}
[[File:Communities of Belgium.svg|thumb|Communities:<br />{{legend|#fab274|[[Flemish Community]] / Dutch language area}}
{{legend striped|#fab274|#f2536b|up=yes|Flemish & French Community / bilingual language area}}
{{legend|#f2536b|[[French Community of Belgium|French Community]] / French language area}}{{legend|#40bb6a|[[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]] / German language area}}]]
[[File:Regions of Belgium.svg|thumb|Regions:<br />{{legend|#fab274|[[Flemish Region]] / Dutch language area}}{{legend|#2385d2|[[Brussels-Capital Region]] / bilingual area}}{{legend|#f2536b|[[Wallonia|Walloon Region]] / French and German language areas}}]]

Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and Habsburg courts,<ref name="zZuRK">{{cite book|title=Zweisprachigkeit in den Benelux-ländern|language=de|author=Kramer, Johannes|quote=Zur prestige Sprache wurde in den Spanischen Niederlanden ganz eindeutig das Französische. Die Vertreter Spaniens beherrschten normalerweise das Französische, nicht aber das Niederländische; ein beachtlicher Teil der am Hofe tätigen Adligen stammte aus Wallonien, das sich ja eher auf die spanische Seite geschlagen hatte als Flandern und Brabant. In dieser Situation war es selbstverständlich, dass die flämischen Adligen, die im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr ebenfalls zu Hofbeamten wurden, sich des Französischen bedienen mussten, wenn sie als gleichwertig anerkannt werden wollten. [Transl.: The prestigious language in the Spanish Netherlands was clearly French. Spain's representatives usually mastered French but not Dutch; a notable part of the nobles at the court came from Wallonia, which had taken party for the Spanish side to a higher extent than Flanders and Brabant. It was therefore evident within this context that the Flemish nobility, of which a progressively larger number became servants of the court, had to use French, if it wanted to get acknowledged as well.]|publisher=Buske Verlag|year=1984|page=69|isbn=978-3-87118-597-7}}</ref> in the 19th century it was necessary to speak French to belong to the governing upper class, and those who could only speak Dutch were effectively second-class citizens.<ref name="ii8cr">{{cite book|title=Political History of Belgium: From 1830 Onwards|author1=Witte, Els|author2=Craeybeckx, Jan|author3=Meynen, Alain|name-list-style=amp|publisher=Academic and Scientific Publishers|location=Brussels|year=2009|page=56}}</ref> Late that century, and continuing into the 20th century, [[Flemish movement]]s evolved to counter this situation.<ref name="Fitzmaurice1996-p31">[[#Fitzmaurice|Fitzmaurice (1996)]], p. 31.</ref>

While the people in Southern Belgium spoke French or dialects of French, and [[Frenchification of Brussels|most Brusselers adopted French]] as their first language, the Flemings refused to do so and succeeded progressively in making Dutch an equal language in the education system.<ref name="Fitzmaurice1996-p31" /> Following World War&nbsp;II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main linguistic communities.<ref name="EED">{{cite web|url=http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/background.html|title=Belgium|work=[[European Election Database]]|publisher=[[Norwegian Social Science Data Services]]|year=2010|access-date=8 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429005023/http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/belgium/background.html|archive-date=29 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Intercommunal tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimize the potential for conflict.<ref name="EED" />

Based on the four language areas defined in 1962–63 (the Dutch, bilingual, French and German language areas), consecutive [[state reform in Belgium|revisions]] of [[Constitution of Belgium|the country's constitution]] in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique form of a federal state with segregated political power into three levels:<ref name="rolandwillemyns">{{cite journal|title=The Dutch-French Language Border in Belgium|journal=Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development|volume=23|issue=1&2|year=2002|pages=36–49|author=Willemyns, Roland|url=http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/023/0036/jmmd0230036.pdf|access-date=22 June 2007|doi=10.1080/01434630208666453|s2cid=143809695|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626185804/http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/023/0036/jmmd0230036.pdf|archive-date=26 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="constitution2">{{cite web|title=The Belgian Constitution – Article 4|publisher=Belgian House of Representatives|date=January 2009|access-date=26 June 2011|url=http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706134014/http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/publications/constitution/grondwetEN.pdf|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# The [[Belgian federal government|federal government]], based in Brussels.
# The three language communities:
#* the [[Flemish Community]] (Dutch-speaking);
#* the [[French Community of Belgium|French Community]] (French-speaking);{{efn|Since 2011, the French Community has used the name "Wallonia-Brussels Federation" ({{langx|fr|Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles|link=no}}), which is controversial because its name in the [[Constitution of Belgium|Belgian Constitution]] has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=La nouvelle Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles défraye la chronique |url=https://www.lalibre.be/regions/bruxelles/2011/05/25/la-nouvelle-federation-wallonie-bruxelles-defraye-la-chronique-2T2TN7FK7JETVHQP74NJ62TO44/ |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=La Libre.be |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=Une Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles |url=https://www.dhnet.be/archives-journal/2011/04/05/une-federation-wallonie-bruxelles-QGB7F434AZHEJLEGBGW4DC2C44/ |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=DHnet |language=fr}}</ref>}}
#* the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking Community]].
# The three regions:
#* the [[Flemish Region]], subdivided into five [[provinces of Belgium|provinces]];
#* the [[Wallonia|Walloon Region]], subdivided into five provinces;
#* the [[Brussels-Capital Region]].

The [[Language legislation in Belgium|constitutional language areas]] determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters.<ref name="Fitzmaurice1996-p121">[[#Fitzmaurice|Fitzmaurice (1996)]], p. 121</ref> Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both.<ref name="Fitzmaurice1996-p122">[[#Fitzmaurice|Fitzmaurice (1996)]], p. 122.</ref> Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters.{{efn|The Constitution set out seven institutions each of which can have a parliament, government and administration. In fact, there are only six such bodies because the Flemish Region merged into the Flemish Community. This single Flemish body thus exercises powers about Community matters in the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital and in the Dutch language area, while about Regional matters only in Flanders.}}

The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Conflicts about jurisdiction between the bodies are resolved by the [[Constitutional Court of Belgium]]. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully.<ref name="Fitzmaurice" />