Editing Wallonia (section)

==Languages==
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[[Image:Linguistic map of Wallonia.png|thumb|400px|left|A linguistic map of Wallonia. In all areas, except the German-speaking part, French is currently the dominant language.]]

=== Official languages ===
[[French language|French]] is the official language of Wallonia and by far the most used; in the [[Eupen-Malmedy|East Cantons]], [[German language|German]] is also official.<ref name="constitution2">{{cite web|date=May 2007|title=La Constitution belge (Art. 4)|url=http://www.senate.be/doc/const_fr.html|access-date=2009-01-18|publisher=the [[Belgian Senate]]|language=fr|quote=La Belgique comprend quatre régions linguistiques : la région de langue française, la région de langue néerlandaise, la région bilingue de Bruxelles-Capitale et la région de langue allemande.}}</ref> The [[German-speaking Community of Belgium]] accounts for about 2% of the region's population. [[Belgian French]], which is also spoken in the [[Brussels|Brussels-Capital Region]], is similar to that spoken in France, with slight differences in pronunciation and some vocabulary differences, notably the use of the words ''septante'' (70) and ''nonante'' (90), as opposed to ''soixante-dix'' and ''quatre-vingt-dix'' in France.

There are noticeable Walloon accents, with the accent from [[Liège]] and its surroundings being perhaps the most striking. Other regions of Wallonia also have characteristic accents, often linked to the regional language.

=== Regional languages ===
[[Walloons]] traditionally also speak regional Romance languages, all from the ''[[Langues d'oïl]]'' group. Wallonia includes almost all of the area where [[Walloon language|Walloon]] is spoken, a [[Picard language|Picard]] zone corresponding to the major part of the [[Hainaut Province]], the [[Gaume]] (district of [[Virton]]) with the [[Lorrain language]] and a [[Champenois]] zone. There are also regional Germanic languages, such as the [[Luxembourgish language]] in [[Arelerland]] (Land of [[Arlon]]). The regional languages of Wallonia are more important than in France, and they have been officially recognized by the government. With the development of education in French, however, these dialects have been in continual decline. There is currently an effort to revive Walloon dialects; some schools offer language courses in Walloon, and Walloon is also spoken in some radio programmes, but this effort remains very limited.