Editing Flanders

{{Short description|Dutch-speaking region of Belgium}}
{{Redirect2|Flandre|Flandern|the ship|SS Flandre{{!}}SS ''Flandre''|other uses|Flanders (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Flanders
| native_name        = {{native name|nl|Vlaanderen}}
| native_name_lang   = nl
| other_name         = {{native name|fr|Flandre}}<br />{{native name|de|Flandern}}
| settlement_type    = [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|Community and region]]
| image_flag         = Flag of Flanders.svg
| flag_size          = 140px
| flag_alt           = Flag of Flanders
| image_shield       = Flemish coat of arms.png
| shield_size        = 75px
| shield_alt         = Coat of arms of Flanders
| anthem             = ''[[De Vlaamse Leeuw]]''<br />("The Flemish Lion")<br />{{center|[[File:Volkslied - De Vlaamse Leeuw.ogg]]}}
| image_map          = Vlaamse Gemeenschap in Belgium.svg
| map_alt            = Flanders shown within Belgium and Europe
| map_caption        = Present-day Flanders (dark red) shown within Belgium. [[Brussels]] is only part of the Flemish Community, and not of the Flemish Region.
| coordinates        = {{Coord|51|00|N|4|30|E|type:adm1st_source:GNS_scale:2500000_region:BE-VLG|display=title,inline}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Belgium]]
| established_title  = [[County of Flanders]]
| established_date   = 862–1795
| established_title1 = [[Flemish Community|Community]] in Belgium
| established_date1  = 1970
| established_title2 = [[Flemish Region|Region]] in Belgium
| established_date2  = 1980
| seat               = [[City of Brussels]] (partly [[list of capitals outside the territories they serve|outside the territory]])
| established_title4 = Largest cities
| established_date4  = [[Antwerp]], [[Ghent]], [[Bruges]], [[Leuven]], [[Aalst, Belgium|Aalst]], [[Hasselt]]
| leader_title       = Executive
| leader_name        = [[Flemish Government]]
| leader_title1      = [[Diependaele Government|Governing parties <small>(2024-2029)</small>]]
| leader_name1       = [[N-VA]], [[Vooruit_(political_party)|Vooruit]], [[CD&V]]
| area_total_km2     = 13626
| area_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web |title=Metadata: Bebouwde oppervlakte en bijbehorende terreinen |url=https://www.vlaanderen.be/statistiek-vlaanderen/ruimtegebruik/bebouwde-oppervlakte/metadata-bebouwde-oppervlakte-en-bijbehorende-terreinen |publisher=Vlaanderen.be |access-date=27 September 2022}}</ref>
| population_total   = 6,821,770
| population_footnotes = <ref name="statbel.fgov.be">{{Cite web|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/themas/bevolking/structuur-van-de-bevolking|title=Structuur van de bevolking &#124; Statbel|website=statbel.fgov.be}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = 1 January 2024
| population_density_km2 = 501
| population_blank1_title = Official language
| population_blank1  = [[Dutch language|Dutch]]
| population_demonyms = [[Flemish people|Flemish]] (adjective), Fleming (person)<br />''Vlaams'' (adjective), ''Vlaming'' (person)
| demographics_type2 = GDP
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |  url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00003/default/table?lang=en | title=EU regions by GDP, Eurostat|access-date=18 September 2023|website=www.ec.europa.eu}}</ref>
| demographics2_title1 = Total
| demographics2_info1 = €330.495 billion (2022)
| timezone1          = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset1        = +01:00
| timezone1_DST      = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset1_DST    = +02:00
| iso_code           = [[ISO 3166-2:BE|BE-VLG]]
| website            = {{URL|https://www.vlaanderen.be|Vlaanderen.be}}
| footnotes          = The area and population figures are given for the Flemish Region, not the Community.
| leader_title2      = [[Minister-President of Flanders|Minister-President]]
| leader_name2       = [[Matthias Diependaele]] (N-VA)
| leader_title3      = Legislature
| leader_name3       = [[Flemish Parliament]]
| leader_title4      = [[Speaker of the Flemish Parliament|Speaker]]
| leader_name4       = [[Liesbeth Homans]] (N-VA)
| official_name      = 
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|person= Fleming ({{lang|nl|Vlaming}}) |people= [[Flemish people|Flemings]] ({{lang|nl|Vlamingen}}) |language=[[Flemish dialects|Flemish]] ({{lang|nl|Vlaams}}),<br/>[[Flemish Sign Language|VGT]] ({{lang|nl|Vlaamse Gebarentaal}}) |country= Flanders ({{lang|nl|Vlaanderen}})}}
'''Flanders''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|l|ɑː|n|d|ər|z}} {{respell|FLAHN|dərz}}{{Efn|For speakers with the [[trap–bath split|''trap–bath'' split]].}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|l|æ|n|d|ər|z}} {{respell|FLAN|dərz}};{{efn|For speakers without the ''trap–bath'' split.}} {{langx|nl|Vlaanderen}} {{IPA|nl|ˈvlaːndərə(n)||Nl-Vlaanderen.ogg}}){{efn|name=fn1|{{langx|fr|Flandre|links=no}} {{IPA|fr|flɑ̃dʁ||Fr-fr-paris-Flandre.ogg}}.}} is the [[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking northern portion of [[Belgium]] and one of the [[communities, regions and language areas of Belgium]]. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The [[demonym]] associated with Flanders is [[Flemings|Fleming]], while the corresponding adjective is [[Flemish people|Flemish]], which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area, or more generally the Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. 

Most Flemings live within the [[Flemish Region]], which is a federal state within Belgium with its own elected government. However, like Belgium itself, the official capital of Flanders is the [[City of Brussels]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vlaanderen.be/en/discover-flanders |title=Discover Flanders |website=Flanders.be |access-date=22 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023115645/https://www.vlaanderen.be/en/discover-flanders |archive-date=23 October 2017 |url-status=live |date=15 December 2013 }}</ref> which lies within the [[Brussels|Brussels-Capital Region]], not the Flemish Region, and the majority of residents there are French speaking. The powers of the Flemish Government in Brussels are limited mainly to Flemish culture and education.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Powers of the Regions|url=https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/regions/competence|access-date=30 October 2022}}</ref>

Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and incorporates the whole coast of Belgium on the [[North Sea]]. It borders the [[Departments of France|French department]] of [[Nord (French department)|Nord]] to the south-west near the coast, the Dutch provinces of [[Zeeland]], [[North Brabant]] and [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]] to the north and east, and the [[Wallonia|Walloon]] provinces of [[Hainaut Province|Hainaut]], [[Walloon Brabant]] and [[Liège Province|Liège]] to the south. Despite accounting for only 45% of Belgium's territory, more than half the population lives there – 6,821,770 (or 58%) out of 11,763,650 Belgian inhabitants, as of January 2024. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated at {{convert|501|/km2|abbr=on}}. The Brussels Region is an officially bilingual [[enclave]] within the Flemish Region.{{efn|name=fn2|Only about 8% of Brussels inhabitants identify as Flemish, while the rest identify as French-speaking or non-Belgian.<ref name="BruS13EN">{{Cite book|last=Janssens |first=Rudi |url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/en_51_brus13en.pdf |title=Language use in Brussels and the position of Dutch. Some recent findings. |publisher=Brussels Studies |year=2008 |language=en-gb |access-date=24 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194857/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/en_51_brus13en.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=4 December 2017|title=Bruxelles est francophone à 92%, selon les déclarations fiscales|url=https://www.lesoir.be/127560/article/2017-12-04/bruxelles-est-francophone-92-selon-les-declarations-fiscales|access-date=24 July 2020|website=Le Soir|language=fr}}</ref>}} Flanders also has exclaves of its own: [[Voeren]] in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and [[Baarle-Hertog]] in the north consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. Not including Brussels, there are five present-day [[Provinces of Belgium|Flemish provinces]]: [[Antwerp Province|Antwerp]], [[East Flanders]], [[Flemish Brabant]], [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]] and [[West Flanders]]. The official language is Dutch.

The area of today's Flanders has figured prominently in European history since the [[Middle Ages]]. The original [[County of Flanders]] stretched around AD 900 from the [[Strait of Dover]] to the [[Scheldt]] [[estuary]] and expanded from there. This county also still corresponds roughly with the modern-day Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, along with neighbouring parts of France and the Netherlands.{{efn|name=fn3|Although this original meaning is still relevant, in modern times the term "Flanders" came to refer to a larger area, and is used to refer to the entire Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, stretching all the way to the [[Meuse]], as well as cultural movements such as [[Flemish art]].}} In this period, cities such as [[Ghent]] and [[Bruges]] of the historic County of Flanders, and later [[Antwerp]] of the [[Duchy of Brabant]] made it one of the richest and most urbanised parts of Europe, trading, and weaving the [[wool]] of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of [[northern Italy]].

Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th-century [[Industrial Revolution]], but this occurred mainly in French-speaking Wallonia. In the second half of the 20th century, and due to massive national investments in port infrastructure, Flanders' economy modernised rapidly, and today Flanders and Brussels are much wealthier than Wallonia, being among the wealthiest regions in Europe and the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|title=Belgium|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=21 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121042120/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm|archive-date=21 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In accordance with late 20th century [[state reform in Belgium|Belgian state reforms]], Flanders was made into two political entities: the Flemish Region ({{langx|nl|link=no|Vlaams Gewest}}) and the [[Flemish Community]] ({{langx|nl|link=no|Vlaamse Gemeenschap}}). These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a broader cultural mandate, covers Brussels, whereas the Flemish Region does not.

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== Terminology ==
=== Modern Belgium ===
The term "Flanders" has several main modern meanings:

* The "Flemish community" or "Flemish nation", i.e. the social, cultural and linguistic, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the [[Flemings]]. For most purposes this is considered to include the 6.5 million Belgians (approximately 60%) who consider Dutch to be their mother tongue, including many people living in the [[Brussels-Capital Region]].
* In the context of the political subdivisions of Belgium there are the [[Flemish Region]] (competent in mainly economic matters) and the [[Flemish Community]] (competent in mainly cultural matters). The first does not comprise Brussels (which forms a [[Brussels-Capital Region|Region by itself]]), whereas the latter does comprise the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels.
* The political institutions that govern both subdivisions: the operative body or "[[Flemish Government]]", and the legislative organ or "[[Flemish Parliament]]".
* Within Belgian discussions, the two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, [[West Flanders]] and [[East Flanders]], forming the central portion of the historic [[County of Flanders]] are also still collectively referred to as Flanders.

=== Historical ===
{{Main|Terminology of the Low Countries#Flanders}}

The name originally applied to the ''[[ancien régime]]'' territory called the [[County of Flanders]], that existed from the 8th century (Latin ''Flandria'') until its absorption by the [[French First Republic]]. Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of what are now France and the Netherlands.

* In France, one of the historically Flemish regions is now in the [[Nord (French department)|Nord department]]. This is referred to as [[French Flanders]], and can be divided into two smaller regions: [[Walloon Flanders]] and [[Westhoek (region)|Maritime Flanders (Westhoek)]]. The first region was predominantly French-speaking already in the 1600s, the latter became so in the 20th century. The [[Lille|city of Lille]] identifies itself as "Flemish", and this is reflected, for instance, in the name of its local railway station [[TGV]] ''[[Gare de Lille Flandres|Lille Flandres]]''.
* The historically Flemish region which became part of the [[Dutch Republic]], now part of the Dutch province of [[Zeeland]], called [[Zeelandic Flanders]].

However, the term came to be used for a bigger territory, and this is critical to the evolution of modern terminology. Once the Counts of Flanders (who were also Dukes of Burgundy) expanded their regional power to create the bigger entity, now referred to by historians as the [[Burgundian Netherlands]], "Flanders", along with Latin "Belgium", were the first two common names to describe this regional block.<ref>{{Citation|last=Van Der Essen |first=Leon |title= Notre nom national |journal=Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire|volume= 4 |issue= 1| year= 1925| pages= 121–131| doi=10.3406/rbph.1925.6335| url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1925_num_4_1_6335}}</ref> With the breakaway of the northern Netherlands in the [[early modern period]], the term Flanders continued to be associated with the whole southern part of the [[Low Countries]]—the [[Southern Netherlands|Southern]], [[Spanish Netherlands|Spanish]] or [[Austrian Netherlands]], which were the successors of the Burgundian state, and also predecessors of modern Belgium. The restriction of the term Flanders to the Germanic speaking part of the population occurred later.

=== Dutch-speaking part of Belgium ===
The term "Flemish" came to be a term for the language Dutch, and during the 19th and 20th centuries, it became increasingly common to refer exclusively to the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium as "Flanders". Belgium divided itself into official French- and Dutch-speaking parts starting in the early 1960s. Today Flanders extends over the northern part of Belgium, including not only the Dutch-speaking Belgian parts of the medieval [[Duchy of Brabant]], which was united with Flanders since the Middle Ages, but also [[Limburg (Belgium)|Belgian Limburg]], which corresponds closely to the medieval [[County of Loon]], and was never under Burgundian control.

The ambiguity between this wider cultural area and that of the county or province still remains in discussions about the region. In most present-day contexts however, the term Flanders is taken to refer to either the political, social, cultural, and linguistic community (and the corresponding official institution, the [[Flemish Community]]), or the geographical area, one of the three institutional regions in Belgium, namely the [[Flemish Region]].

In the [[history of art]] and other fields, the adjectives Flemish and [[Netherlandish]] are commonly used to designate all the artistic production in this area before about 1580, after which it refers specifically to the southern Netherlands. For example, the term "Flemish Primitives", now outdated in English but used in French, Dutch and other languages, is a synonym for "[[Early Netherlandish painting]]", and it is not uncommon to see [[Mosan art]] categorized as Flemish art. In music the ''[[Franco-Flemish School]]'' is also known as the ''Dutch School''.

Within this Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, French has never ceased to be spoken by some citizens, and Jewish groups have been speaking [[Yiddish]] in Antwerp for centuries. Regardless of nationality or linguistic background, according to Belgian Law education in schools located in the Flemish Region must be mainly in the Dutch language. In Brussels, teaching is also done in French.

== History ==
{{main|History of Flanders}}

=== Early history ===
{{main|Belgae}}

When [[Julius Caesar]] conquered the area he described it as the less economically developed and more warlike part of ''[[Gallia Belgica]]''. His informants told him that especially in the east, the tribes claimed ancestral connections and kinship with the [[Germanic peoples|"Germanic" peoples]] then east of the [[Rhine]]. Under the [[Roman Empire]] the whole of ''Gallia Belgica'' became an administrative province. The future counties of Flanders and Brabant remained part of this province connected to what is now France, but in the east modern Limburg became part of the Rhine frontier province of ''[[Germania Inferior]]'' connected to what is now the Netherlands and Germany. ''Gallia Belgica'' and ''Germania Inferior'' were the two most northerly continental provinces of the [[Roman Empire]].

In the future county of Flanders, the main [[Belgic tribe]] in early Roman times was the [[Menapii]], but also on the coast were the [[Marsacii]] and [[Morini]]. In the central part of modern Belgium were the [[Nervii]], whose territory corresponded to medieval Brabant as well as French-speaking Hainaut. In the east was the large district of the [[Tungri]] which covered both French- and Dutch-speaking parts of eastern Belgium. The Tungri were understood to have links to Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. Another notable group were the [[Toxandrians]] who appear to have lived in the [[Campine|Kempen]] region, in the northern parts of both the Nervian and Tungrian districts, probably stretching into the modern Netherlands. The Roman administrative districts (''[[civitas|civitates]]'') of the Menapii, Nervii and Tungri therefore corresponded roughly with the medieval counties of Flanders, Brabant and [[County of Loon|Loon]], and the modern Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders (Menapii), Brabant and Antwerp (the northern Nervii), and Belgian Limburg (part of the Tungri). Brabant appears to have been separated from the Tungri by a relatively unpopulated forest area, the [[Silva Carbonaria]], forming a natural boundary between northeast and southwest Belgium.

Linguistically, the tribes in this area were under [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] influence in the south, and [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] influence in the east, but there is disagreement about what languages were spoken locally (apart from [[Vulgar Latin]]), and there may even have been an intermediate "[[Nordwestblock]]" language related to both. By the first century AD, [[Germanic languages]] appear to have become prevalent in the area of the Tungri.

As Roman influence waned, Frankish populations settled in the Tungiran area east of the Silva Carbonaria, and eventually pushed through it under [[Chlodio]]. They had kings in each Roman district (''civitas''). In the meantime, the Franks contributed to the Roman military. The first Merovingian king [[Childeric I]] was king of the Franks within the military of Gaul. He became leader of the administration of ''Belgica Secunda'', which included the ''civitas'' of the Menapii (the future county of Flanders). From there, his son [[Clovis I]] managed to conquer both the Roman populations of northern France and the Frankish populations beyond the forest areas.

=== Historical Flanders ===
{{Main|County of Flanders}}
[[File:Archive-ugent-be-79D46426-CC9D-11E3-B56B-4FBAD43445F2 DS-90 (cropped).jpg|thumb|A Flemish lady and gentleman in the year 1400, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted by [[Lucas de Heere|Lucas d'Heere]] in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in the [[Ghent University Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel par Luc Dheere peintre et sculpteur Gantois[manuscript]|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:79D46426-CC9D-11E3-B56B-4FBAD43445F2#?c=&m=&s=&cv=49&xywh=-2919,638,11313,6316|access-date=25 August 2020|website=lib.ugent.be}}</ref>]]

The County of Flanders was a [[feudal]] [[fief]] in [[West Francia]]. The first certain Count in the comital family, [[Baldwin I of Flanders]], is first reported in a document of 862, when he eloped with a daughter of his king [[Charles the Bald]]. The region developed as a medieval economic power with a large degree of political autonomy. While its trading cities remained strong, it was weakened and divided when districts fell under direct French royal rule in the late 12th century. The remaining parts of Flanders came under the rule of the counts of neighbouring imperial [[County of Hainaut|Hainaut]] under [[Baldwin V of Hainaut]] in 1191.

During the late [[Middle Ages]], Flanders's trading towns (notably [[Ghent]], [[Bruges]] and [[Ypres]]) made it one of the richest and most urbanized parts of Europe, weaving the [[wool]] of neighbouring lands into cloth for both domestic use and export. As a consequence, a sophisticated culture developed, with impressive art and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the [[Franc of Bruges]] formed the [[Four Members]], a form of parliament that exercised considerable power in Flanders.<ref>''Philip the Good: the apogee of Burgundy'' by Richard Vaughan, p201</ref>

Increasingly powerful from the 12th century, the territory's autonomous urban [[Medieval commune|communes]] were instrumental in defeating a French attempt at annexation (1300–1302), finally defeating the French in the [[Battle of the Golden Spurs]] (11 July 1302), near [[Kortrijk]]. Two years later, the [[Franco-Flemish War (1297-1305)|uprising was defeated]] and Flanders indirectly remained part of the French Crown. Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, due to widespread European population decline following the [[Black Death]] of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to [[Worstead]] and [[North Walsham]] in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the woolen industry.

The County of Flanders started to take control of the neighbouring [[County of Brabant]] during the life of [[Louis II, Count of Flanders]] (1330–1384), who fought his sister-in-law [[Joanna, Duchess of Brabant]] for control of it.

The entire area, straddling the ancient boundary of France and the Holy Roman Empire, later passed to [[Philip the Bold]] in 1384, the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Duke of Burgundy]], with his capital in [[Brussels]]. The titles were eventually more clearly united under his grandson [[Philip the Good]] (1396 – 1467). This large Duchy passed in [[<!--same year: Great Privilege + Habsburg by her marriage-->Mary of Burgundy|1477]] to the [[Habsburg]] dynasty, and in [[<!--Charles V abdicated-->Philip II of Spain|1556]] to the kings of Spain. Western and southern districts of Flanders were confirmed under French rule under successive treaties of [[Treaty of the Pyrenees|1659]] (Artois), [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)|1668]] and [[Treaties of Nijmegen|1678]].

The County of Loon, approximately the modern Flemish province of Limburg, remained independent of France, forming a part of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] until the French Revolution, but surrounded by the Burgundians, and under their influence.

=== Low Countries ===
{{main|Low Countries}}

==== Beeldenstorm ====
In 1500, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] was born in [[Ghent]]. He inherited the [[Seventeen Provinces]] (1506), Spain (1516) with its colonies and in 1519 was elected [[Holy Roman Emperor]].<ref>William Robertson, The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V (NY, 1874), p 116</ref> Charles V issued the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1549]], which established the Low Countries as the Seventeen Provinces (or [[Spanish Netherlands]] in its broad sense) as an entity separate from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and from France. In 1556 Charles V abdicated due to ill health (he suffered from crippling [[gout]]).<ref>William Robertson, The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V (NY, 1874), p 456</ref> Spain and the Seventeen Provinces went to his son, [[Philip II of Spain]].

Over the first half of the 16th century [[Antwerp]] grew to become the second-largest European city north of the [[Alps]] by 1560. Antwerp was the richest city in Europe at this time.<ref>{{cite book
 |last = Dunton
 |first = Larkin
 |title = The World and Its People
 |url = https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop05duntgoog
 |publisher = Silver, Burdett
 |year = 1896
 |page = [https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop05duntgoog/page/n171 163]}}</ref> According to Luc-Normand Tellier "It is estimated that the port of Antwerp was earning the Spanish crown seven times more revenues than the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Americas]]."<ref>Luc-Normand Tellier (2009). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC&pg=PA308 Urban world history: an economic and geographical perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025052002/https://books.google.com/books?id=cXuCjDbxC1YC&pg=PA308 |date=25 October 2015 }}''. PUQ. p. 308. {{ISBN|2-7605-1588-5}}.</ref>

[[File:Incendio Ayuntamiento Amberes.jpg|thumb|The [[Sack of Antwerp]] in 1576, in which about 7,000 people died]]

Meanwhile, Protestantism had reached the Low Countries. Among the wealthy traders of Antwerp, the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] beliefs of the German [[Hanseatic (class)|Hanseatic]] traders found appeal, perhaps partly for economic reasons. The spread of Protestantism in this city was aided by the presence of an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] cloister (founded 1514) in the St. Andries quarter. Luther, an Augustinian himself, had taught some of the monks, and his works were in print by 1518. The first Lutheran martyrs came from Antwerp. The [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] resulted in consecutive but overlapping waves of reform: a Lutheran, followed by a militant [[Anabaptist]], then a [[Mennonite]], and finally a [[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] movement. These movements existed independently of each other.

[[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed protector of the [[Counter-Reformation]], [[suppression of dissent|suppressed]] Calvinism in Flanders, [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] and Holland (what is now approximately [[Limburg (Belgium)|Belgian Limburg]] was part of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] and was Catholic ''de facto''). In 1566, the wave of [[iconoclasm]] known as the ''[[Beeldenstorm]]'' was a prelude to religious war between Catholics and Protestants, especially the Anabaptists. The ''Beeldenstorm'' started in what is now [[French Flanders]], with open-air sermons ({{langx|nl|hagepreken}}) that spread through the Low Countries, first to Antwerp and Ghent, and from there further east and north.

==== The Eighty Years' War and its consequences ====
Subsequently, Philip II of Spain sent [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|the Duke]] of [[Duchy of Alba|Alba]] to the Provinces to repress the revolt. Alba recaptured the southern part of the Provinces, who signed the [[Union of Arras|Union of Atrecht]], which meant that they would accept the Spanish government on condition of more freedom. But the northern part of the provinces signed the [[Union of Utrecht]] and settled in 1581 the [[Republic of the Seven United Netherlands]]. Spanish troops quickly started fighting the rebels, and the Spanish armies conquered the important trading cities of Bruges and Ghent. Antwerp, which was then the most important port in the world, also had to be conquered. But before the revolt was defeated, a war between Spain and England broke out, forcing Spanish troops to halt their advance. On 17 August 1585, Antwerp fell. This ended the Eighty Years' War for the (from now on) [[Southern Netherlands]]. The [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] (the Northern Netherlands) fought on until 1648 – the [[Peace of Westphalia]].

[[File:Het Kranenhoofd aan de Schelde te Antwerpen Rijksmuseum SK-A-1699.jpeg|thumb|Winter scene at the Scheldt river in Antwerp by [[Sebastian Vrancx]], 1622]]

During the war with England, the rebels from the north, strengthened by refugees from the south, started a campaign to reclaim areas lost to [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]]'s Spanish troops. They conquered a considerable part of Brabant (the later [[North Brabant]] of the Netherlands), and the south bank of the Scheldt estuary ([[Zeelandic Flanders]]), before being stopped by Spanish troops. The front at the end of this war stabilized and became the border between present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch (as they later became known) had managed to reclaim enough of Spanish-controlled Flanders to close off the river [[Scheldt]], effectively cutting Antwerp off from its trade routes.

The [[fall of Antwerp]] to the Spanish and the closing of the [[Scheldt]] caused considerable emigration.{{efn |An ''Antverpian'', derived from ''Antverpia'', the Latin name of [[Antwerp]], is an inhabitant of this city; the term is also the [[adjective]] expressing that its substantive is from or in that city or belongs to it.}} Many Calvinist merchants of Antwerp and other Flemish cities left Flanders and migrated north. Many of them settled in [[Amsterdam]], which was a smaller port, important only in the [[Baltic trade]]. The Flemish exiles helped to rapidly transform Amsterdam into one of the world's most important ports. This is why the exodus is sometimes described as "''creating a new Antwerp''".

Flanders and Brabant, went into a period of relative decline from the time of the [[Thirty Years' War]].<ref name="FiifAntwHist">{{cite web
|title=Antwerp – History
|work=Find it in Flanders
|publisher=Tourism Flanders & Brussels, Flanders House, London, UK
|url=http://www.visitflanders.co.uk/cont61_Antwerp_history.aspx
|access-date=2 January 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929214129/http://www.visitflanders.co.uk/cont61_Antwerp_history.aspx
|archive-date=29 September 2006
|url-status=live
}}</ref> In the Northern Netherlands, the mass emigration from Flanders and Brabant became an important driving force behind the [[Dutch Golden Age]].

==== Southern Netherlands (1581–1795) ====
[[File:Flandria (Vlaanderen Flanders) 1584 Map by Abraham Ortelius.jpg|thumb|1584 map of the county of Flanders]]

Although arts remained relatively impressive for another century with [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (1577–1640) and [[Anthony van Dyck]], Flanders lost its former economic and intellectual power under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. Heavy taxation and rigid imperial political control compounded the effects of industrial stagnation and Spanish-Dutch and Franco-Austrian conflict. The Southern Netherlands suffered severely under the [[Franco-Dutch War]], [[Nine Years' War]] and [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. But under the reign of Empress Maria-Theresia, these lands again flourished economically. Influenced by [[Age of Enlightenment|the Enlightenment]], the Austrian Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] was the first sovereign who had been in the Southern Netherlands since King Philip II of Spain left them in 1559.

==== French Revolution and Napoleonic France (1795–1815) ====
In 1794, the [[History of France#Revolution|French Republican Army]] started using Antwerp as the northernmost naval port of France.<ref name="FiifAntwHist" /> The following year, France officially annexed Flanders as the ''[[The 130 départements|départements]]'' of [[Lys (département)|Lys]], [[Escaut (département)|Escaut]], [[Deux-Nèthes]], [[Meuse-Inférieure]] and [[Dyle (département)|Dyle]]. Obligatory (French) army service for all men aged 16–25 years was a main reason for the uprising against the French in 1798, known as the ''Boerenkrijg'' (''Peasants' War''), with the heaviest fighting in the [[Campine]] area.

==== United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) ====
After the defeat of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] at the 1815 [[Battle of Waterloo]] in [[Province of Brabant|Brabant]], the [[Congress of Vienna]] (1815) gave sovereignty over the [[Austrian Netherlands]] – Belgium minus the [[East Cantons]] and Luxembourg – to the [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|United Netherlands]] (Dutch: ''Verenigde Nederlanden'') under Prince William I of Orange Nassau, making him [[William I of the Netherlands|William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands]]. William I started rapid industrialisation of the southern parts of the Kingdom. But the political system failed to forge a true union between the north and south. Most of the southern [[bourgeoisie]] was Roman Catholic and French-speaking, while the north was mainly Protestant and Dutch-speaking.

In 1815, the Dutch Senate was reinstated (Dutch: ''Eerste Kamer der Staaten Generaal''). The nobility, mainly coming from the south, became increasingly estranged from their northern colleagues. Resentment grew between the Roman Catholics from the south and the Protestants from the north, and also between the powerful liberal bourgeoisie from the south and their more moderate colleagues from the north. On 25 August 1830 (after the showing of the opera '[[La Muette de Portici]]' of [[Daniel Auber]] in Brussels) the [[Belgian Revolution]] sparked. On 4 October 1830, the [[Provisional Government of Belgium|Provisional Government]] (Dutch: ''Voorlopig Bewind'') proclaimed its independence, which was later confirmed by the [[National Congress of Belgium|National Congress]] that issued a new Liberal Constitution and declared the new state a [[Constitutional Monarchy]], under the House of [[Saxe-Coburg]]. Flanders now became part of the Kingdom of Belgium, which was recognized by the major European Powers on 20 January 1831. The cessation was recognized by the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] on 19 April 1839.

=== Kingdom of Belgium ===
{{further|History of Belgium}}

In 1830, the [[Belgian Revolution]] led to the splitting up of the two countries. Belgium was confirmed as an independent state by the [[Treaty of London, 1839|Treaty of London]] of 1839, but deprived of the eastern half of Limburg (now Dutch Limburg), and the Eastern half of Luxembourg (now the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg). Sovereignty over [[Zeelandic Flanders]], south of the [[Westerscheldt]] river delta, was left with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which was allowed to levy a toll on all traffic to Antwerp harbour until 1863.<ref name="FiifAntwHist" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.planetware.com/map/belgium-kingdom-of-belgium-map-b-belg.htm |title=Kingdom of Belgium map (politically outdated) |website=Planet Ware |access-date=15 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203029/http://www.planetware.com/map/belgium-kingdom-of-belgium-map-b-belg.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Rise of the Flemish Movement ====
{{main|Flemish Movement}}

In 1873, Dutch became an official language in public secondary schools. In 1898, Dutch and French were declared equal languages in laws and Royal orders. In 1930, the first Flemish university was opened.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES |title=GHENT UNIVERSITY FLEMISH. Belgian Parliament Votes to Have All Instruction in That Tongue |url=https://nyti.ms/3U3banV |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=New York Times Company |date=28 February 1930}}</ref>

The first official translation of the Belgian constitution in Dutch was not published until 1967.

==== World War I and its consequences ====
[[File:Gesneuvelden Koksijde - België.jpg|thumb|[[Koksijde]], a memorial to soldiers killed in [[World War I]]]]

Flanders (and Belgium as a whole) saw some of the greatest loss of life on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] of the [[First World War]], in particular from the three battles of [[Ypres]].

The war strengthened Flemish identity and consciousness. The occupying German authorities took several Flemish-friendly measures. The resulting suffering of the war is remembered by Flemish organizations during the yearly [[Ijzerbedevaart|Yser pilgrimage]] in [[Diksmuide]] at the monument of the [[IJzertoren|Yser Tower]].

==== Right-wing nationalism in the interbellum and World War II ====
{{main|Flemish National Union|Verdinaso|Dietsland|Cyriel Verschaeve}}

During the interbellum and [[World War II]], several right-wing [[fascist]] and/or national-socialistic parties emerged in Belgium. Since these parties were promised more rights for the Flemings by the German government during World War II, many of them collaborated with the Nazi regime. After the war, collaborators (or people who were ''Zwart'', "Black" during the war) were prosecuted and punished, among them many Flemish nationalists whose main political goal had been the emancipation of Flanders. As a result, until today [[Flemish nationalism]] is often associated with [[right-wing politics]]. Flemish nationalism is however a direct consequence of the events of the years prior to the first World War, in which many were oppressed by the French speaking majority. This ultimately gave way to a rising feeling of cultural autonomy and even a sense of a nationalism.

==== Flemish autonomy ====
{{main|State reform in Belgium|2007–2011 Belgian political crisis|Partition of Belgium}}

After World War II, the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians became clear in a number of conflicts, such as the [[Royal Question]], the question whether King Leopold III should return (which most Flemings supported but Walloons did not) and the use of Dutch in the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]]. As a result, several [[State reform in Belgium|state reforms]] took place in the second half of the 20th century, which transformed the unitary Belgium into a federal state with [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|communities, regions and language areas]]. This resulted also in the establishment of a [[Flemish Parliament]] and [[Flemish Government|Government]]. During the 1970s, all major political parties split into a Dutch and French-speaking party.

Several Flemish parties still advocate for more Flemish autonomy, some even for Flemish independence (see [[Partition of Belgium]]), whereas the French-speakers would like to keep the current state as it is. Recent governments (such as [[Verhofstadt I Government]]) have transferred certain federal competences to the regional governments.

On 13 December 2006, a [[Flemish Secession hoax|spoof news broadcast]] by the Belgian Francophone public broadcasting station [[RTBF]] announced that Flanders had decided to declare independence from Belgium.

The [[Belgian federal election, 2007|2007 federal elections]] showed more support for Flemish autonomy, marking the start of the [[2007–2011 Belgian political crisis]]. All the political parties that advocated a significant increase of Flemish autonomy gained votes as well as seats in the [[Belgian federal parliament]]. This was especially the case for [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams|Christian Democratic and Flemish]] and [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA) (who had participated on a shared [[electoral list]]). The trend continued during the [[Belgian regional elections, 2009|2009 regional elections]], where CD&V and N-VA were the clear winners in Flanders, and N-VA became even the largest party in Flanders and Belgium during the [[Belgian federal election, 2010|2010 federal elections]], followed by the [[2010–2011 Belgian government formation|longest-ever government formation]] after which the [[Di Rupo I Government]] was formed excluding N-VA. Eight parties agreed on a [[Sixth Belgian state reform|sixth state reform]] which aim to solve the disputes between Flemings and French-speakers. However, the [[Belgian provincial and municipal elections, 2012|2012 provincial and municipal elections]] continued the trend of N-VA becoming the biggest party in Flanders.

However, sociological studies show no parallel between the rise of nationalist parties and popular support for their agenda. Instead, a recent study revealed a majority in favour of returning regional competences to the federal level.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160124_02088008 |title=Staatshervorming richting België wint aan politieke steun |language=nl |trans-title=State reform towards Belgium is gaining political support |date=25 January 2016 |author=Peter De Lobel |work=De Standaard |access-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312005648/http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20160124_02088008 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Government and politics ==
{{main|Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium}}
[[File:Kris Peeters 675.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kris Peeters]], former [[Minister-President of Flanders]], promoting [[Flanders in Action]]]]

Both the [[Flemish Community]] and the [[Flemish Region]] are constitutional institutions of the Kingdom of Belgium, exercising certain powers within their jurisdiction, granted following a series of [[state reform in Belgium|state reforms]]. In practice, the Flemish Community and Region together form a single body, with its own [[Flemish Parliament|parliament]] and [[Flemish Government|government]], as the Community legally absorbed the competences of the Region. The parliament is a directly elected legislative body composed of 124 representatives. The government consists of up to 11 members and is presided by a [[Minister-President of Flanders|Minister-President]], currently [[Geert Bourgeois]] ([[New Flemish Alliance]]) leading a coalition of his party (N-VA) with [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams]] (CD&V) and [[Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten]] (Open VLD).

The area of the Flemish Community is represented on the maps above, including the area of the [[Brussels-Capital Region]] (hatched on the relevant map). Roughly, the Flemish Community exercises competences originally oriented towards the individuals of the Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), [[Flemish education|education]], and the use of the language. Extensions to personal matters less directly associated with language comprise sports, health policy (curative and preventive medicine), and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.)<ref name="fedgov2">{{cite web|title=The Communities|work=.be Portal|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2686|access-date=23 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184122/http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2686|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref>

The area of the Flemish Region is represented on the maps above. It has a population of more than 6 million (excluding the Dutch-speaking community in the Brussels Region, grey on the map for it is not a part of the Flemish Region). Roughly, the Flemish Region is responsible for territorial issues in a broad sense, including economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade. It supervises the provinces, municipalities, and intercommunal utility companies.<ref name="fedgov3">{{cite web|title=The Regions|work=.be Portal|publisher=Belgian Federal Government|url=http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2690|access-date=23 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184618/http://www.belgium.be/eportal/application?origin=navigationBanner.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.refresh&pageid=indexPage&navId=2690|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref>

The number of Dutch-speaking [[Flemish people]] in the Capital Region is estimated to be between 11% and 15% (official figures do not exist as there is no language census and no official subnationality). According to a survey conducted by the [[Université catholique de Louvain|University of Louvain]] (UCLouvain) in [[Louvain-la-Neuve]] and published in June 2006, 51% of respondents from Brussels claimed to be bilingual, even if they do not have Dutch as their first language.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf Report of study by the Université Catholique de Louvain] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823190132/http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf |date=23 August 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://taalunie.org/actueel|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313084633/http://taalunieversum.org/nieuws/1349/|url-status=dead|title=Taalunie|archivedate=13 March 2007|publisher=taalunie.org}}</ref> They are governed by the Brussels Region for economics affairs and by the Flemish Community for educational and cultural issues.

[[File:Brussels - Vlaams Parlement.jpg|thumb|The [[Flemish Parliament]]]]

As mentioned above, Flemish institutions such as the [[Flemish Parliament]] and [[Flemish Government|Government]], represent the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. The region and the community thus ''de facto'' share the same parliament and the same government. All these institutions are based in Brussels. Nevertheless, both types of subdivisions (the Community and the Region) still exist legally and the distinction between both is important for the people living in Brussels. Members of the Flemish Parliament who were elected in the Brussels Region cannot vote on affairs belonging to the competences of the Flemish Region.

The [[official language]] for all Flemish institutions is [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. French enjoys a limited official recognition in [[municipalities with language facilities|a dozen municipalities]] along the borders with French-speaking Wallonia, and a large recognition in the bilingual Brussels Region. French is widely known in Flanders, with 59% claiming to know French according to a survey conducted by [[Université catholique de Louvain|UCLouvain]] in [[Louvain-la-Neuve]] and published in June 2006.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf Report of study by Université Catholique de Louvain] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823190132/http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf |date=23 August 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://taalunieversum.org/nieuws/1349/ Taaluniversum.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313084633/http://taalunieversum.org/nieuws/1349/ |date=13 March 2007 }}, summarising report</ref>

=== Politics ===
{{Main|Politics of Flanders|Political parties in Flanders}}

Historically, the political parties reflected the [[pillarisation]] (''verzuiling'') in Flemish society. The traditional political parties of the three pillars are [[Christian-Democratic and Flemish]] (CD&V), the [[Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats]] (Open Vld) and the [[Socialist Party – Differently]] (sp.a).

However, during the last half century, many new political parties were founded in Flanders. One of the first was the nationalist [[People's Union (Belgium)|People's Union]], of which the right nationalist [[Vlaams Blok|Flemish Block]] (now [[Vlaams Belang|Flemish Interest]]) split off, and which later dissolved into the now-defunct Spirit or [[Social Liberal Party (Belgium)|Social Liberal Party]], moderate nationalism rather left of the spectrum, on the one hand, and the [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA), more conservative but independentist, on the other hand. Other parties are the leftist alternative/ecological [[Groen!|Green]] party; the short-lived anarchistic libertarian spark [[ROSSEM]] and more recently the conservative-right liberal [[Lijst Dedecker|List Dedecker]], founded by [[Jean-Marie Dedecker]], and the socialist [[Workers' Party of Belgium|Workers' Party]].

Particularly the [[Flemish Block]]/[[Flemish Interest]] has seen electoral success roughly around the turn of the century, and the [[New Flemish Alliance]] during the last few elections, even becoming the largest party in the [[Belgian federal election, 2010|2010 federal elections]].

=== Flemish independence ===
{{Main|Flemish Movement}}
{{Pie chart
|caption = 2011 survey by ''[[Het Nieuwsblad]]'' and {{ill|Koppen (TV program)|lt=''Koppen''|nl|Koppen (televisieprogramma)}} on whether Flemings feel proud of their Belgian nationality.<ref name="survey">{{cite web|url=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/5a3gld44|title=Sire, er zijn toch nog Belgen|work=[[Het Nieuwsblad]]|access-date=2024-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605152716/https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/5a3gld44|archive-date=2017-06-05|url-status=live|date=2011-10-06|language=nl-be}}</ref>
|value1 = 20
|label1 = Very proud
|color1 = green
|value2 = 53
|label2 = Proud
|color2 = lime
|value3 = 18
|label3 = Not proud
|color3 = red
|value4 = 8
|label4 = Very not proud
|color4 = maroon
|other = 1
|other-label = No opinion
}}
[[File:Menen - Border crossing 1 cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Border crossing sign near [[Menen]].]]

For some inhabitants, Flanders is more than just a geographical area or the federal institutions (Flemish Community and Region). Supporters of the Flemish Movement even call it a nation and pursue Flemish independence, but most people (approximately 75%) living in Flanders say they are proud to be Belgian and opposed to the dissolution of Belgium. 20% is even ''very proud'', while some 25% are not proud and 8% is ''very not proud''. Mostly students claim to be proud of their nationality, with 90% of them saying so. Of the people older than 55, 31% claim to be proud of being a Belgian. Particular opposition to secession comes from women, people employed in [[Service (economics)|services]], the highest social classes and people from big families. Strongest of all opposing the notion are housekeepers—both housewives and house husbands.<ref name="survey"/>

In 2012, the Flemish government drafted a "Charter for Flanders" (''Handvest voor Vlaanderen'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.vlaamsparlement.be/docs/biblio/opendigibib/monografie/2012/280_handvest_voor_vlaanderen_20120524.pdf|title=Handvest voor Vlaanderen|website=vlaamsparlement.be|language=nl-be}}</ref> of which the first article says ''"Vlaanderen is een deelstaat van de federale Staat België en maakt deel uit van de Europese Unie."'' ("Flanders is a [[federated state|component state]] of the federal State of Belgium and is part of the European Union").

== Geography ==
{{Further|Geography of Belgium}}
[[File:Zoniënwoud bospad (Forêt de Soignes chemin) 2011.jpg|thumb|The [[Sonian Forest]]]]

Flanders shares its borders with Wallonia in the south, Brussels being an enclave within the Flemish Region. The rest of the border is shared with the [[Netherlands]] ([[Zeelandic Flanders]] in [[Zeeland]], [[North Brabant]] and [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]]) in the north and east, and with France ([[French Flanders]] in [[Hauts-de-France]]) and the [[North Sea]] in the west. [[Voeren]] is an [[exclave]] of Flanders between Wallonia and the Netherlands, while [[Baarle-Hertog]] in Flanders forms a complicated series of enclaves and exclaves with [[Baarle-Nassau]] in the Netherlands. Germany, although bordering Wallonia and close to [[Voeren]] in Limburg, does not share a border with Flanders. The [[German-speaking Community of Belgium]], also close to Voeren, does not border Flanders either. (The commune of [[Plombières]], majority French speaking, lies between them.)

Flanders is a highly urbanised area, lying completely within the [[Blue Banana]]. [[Antwerp]], [[Ghent]], [[Bruges]] and [[Leuven]] are the largest cities of the [[Flemish Region]]. [[Antwerp]] has a population of more than 500,000 citizens and is the largest city, [[Ghent]] has a population of 250,000 citizens, followed by [[Bruges]] with 120,000 citizens and [[Leuven]] counts almost 100,000 citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bruges or Ghent – either way you win in Belgium|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/bruges-or-ghent-either-way-you-win-in-belgium-559589|access-date=3 March 2021|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|date=10 June 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Brussels]] is a part of Flanders as far as community matters are concerned, but does not belong to the Flemish Region.

Flanders has two main geographical regions: the coastal [[Yser]] basin plain in the north-west and a central plain. The first consists mainly of sand dunes and [[clay]]ey [[alluvial]] soils in the [[polder]]s. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by [[dike (construction)|dikes]] or, a little further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. With similar soils along the lowermost [[Scheldt]] basin starts the central plain, a smooth, slowly rising fertile area irrigated by many waterways that reaches an average height of about {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=off|spell=in}} above sea level with wide valleys of its rivers upstream as well as the [[Campine]] region to the east having sandy soils at altitudes around thirty metres.{{efn|The altitude of Mechelen, approximately in the middle of the central plain forming the large part of Flanders, is {{cvt|7|m|ft}} above sea level. Already closer to the higher southern Wallonia, the more eastern Leuven and Hasselt reach altitudes up to about {{cvt|40|m|ft}}}} Near its southern edges close to Wallonia one can find slightly rougher land, richer in [[calcium]], with low hills reaching up to {{convert|150|m|ft|abbr=on}} and small valleys, and at the eastern border with the Netherlands, in the [[Meuse]] basin, there are [[marl]] caves (''mergelgrotten''). Its [[exclave]] around [[Voeren]] between the Dutch border and Wallonia's [[Liège Province]] attains a maximum altitude of {{convert|288|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title       = Flood management in Flanders with special focus on navigable waterways
 |author      = Ir. Jan Strubbe in collaboration with Frank Mostaert and Ir. Koen Maeghe
 |publisher   = Ministry of the Flemish Community, department Environment and Infrastructure (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium, Flanders Hydraulics Research, Administratie Waterwegen en Zeewezen)
 |url         = http://watlab.lin.vlaanderen.be/documents/Position%20paper%20Flanders%20def3.pdf
 |quote       = Flanders is covered by the three major catchment basins (Yser, Scheldt and Meuse). This rather lowlying nearly flat region ({{convert|2|to|150|m|ft|abbr=on}}altitude above sea-level) ...
 |access-date  = 15 May 2007
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070614115231/http://watlab.lin.vlaanderen.be/documents/Position%20paper%20Flanders%20def3.pdf
 |archive-date = 14 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="inbo">{{cite book |title=Biodiversity Indicators 2006 – State of Nature in Flanders (Belgium) |author1=Myriam Dumortier |author2=Luc De Bruyn |author3=Maarten Hens |author4=Johan Peymen |author5=Anik Schneiders |author6=Toon Van Daele |author7=Wouter Van Reeth |author8=Gisèle Weyembergh |author9=Eckhart Kuijken |publisher=Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels |year=2006 |isbn=90-403-0251-0 |url=http://www.inbo.be/docupload/2648.pdf |quote=The altitude ranges from a few meters above sea-level in the Polders to {{convert|288|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above sea-level in the south eastern exclave.|access-date=15 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614115227/http://www.inbo.be/docupload/2648.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|Provinces of Belgium|List of municipalities of the Flemish Region}}
[[File:VlaanderenProvincies.png|right|Provinces of Flanders]]

The present-day '''[[Flemish Region]]''' covers {{convert|13625|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} and is divided into [[Provinces of Belgium|five provinces]], [[Arrondissements of Belgium|22 arrondissements]] and [[List of municipalities of the Flemish Region|285 cities or municipalities]].

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" | Province !! Capital city !! Administrative arrondissements !! Municipalities !! Population<br />{{small|(1 January 2024)}}<ref name="statbel.fgov.be"/>!! Area<ref name="bestat.statbel.fgov.be">{{Cite web|url=https://bestat.statbel.fgov.be/bestat/crosstable.xhtml?view=90c1e218-dc4f-4827-824d-9b25abfefe59|title=be.STAT|website=bestat.statbel.fgov.be}}</ref>!! Density
|-
| 1 || {{flag|Antwerp}} (''Antwerpen'') || [[Antwerp]] (''Antwerpen'') || [[Arrondissement of Antwerp|Antwerp]], [[Arrondissement of Mechelen|Mechelen]], [[Arrondissement of Turnhout|Turnhout]] || 67 || style="text-align:right" | 1,926,522 || {{convert|2876|km2|abbr=on}} || {{convert|652|/km2|abbr=on}}
|-
| 2 || {{flag|Limburg (Belgium)|name=Limburg}} || [[Hasselt]] || [[Arrondissement of Hasselt|Hasselt]], [[Arrondissement of Maaseik|Maaseik]], [[Arrondissement of Tongeren|Tongeren]] || 38 || style="text-align:right" | 900,098 || {{convert|2427|km2|abbr=on}} || {{convert|363|/km2|abbr=on}}
|-
| 3 || {{flag|East Flanders}} (''Oost-Vlaanderen'') || [[Ghent]] (''Gent'') || [[Arrondissement of Aalst|Aalst]], [[Arrondissement of Dendermonde|Dendermonde]], [[Arrondissement of Eeklo|Eeklo]], [[Arrondissement of Ghent|Ghent]], [[Arrondissement of Oudenaarde|Oudenaarde]], [[Arrondissement of Sint-Niklaas|Sint-Niklaas]] || 55 || style="text-align:right" | 1,572,002 || {{convert|3007|km2|abbr=on}} || {{convert|509|/km2|abbr=on}}
|-
| 4 || {{flag|Flemish Brabant}} (''Vlaams-Brabant'') || [[Leuven]] || [[Halle-Vilvoorde administrative Arrondissement|Halle-Vilvoorde]], [[Leuven administrative Arrondissement|Leuven]] || 63 || style="text-align:right" | 1,196,773 || {{convert|2118|km2|abbr=on}} || {{convert|549|/km2|abbr=on}}
|-
| 5 || {{flag|West Flanders}} (''West-Vlaanderen'') || [[Bruges]] (''Brugge'') || [[Arrondissement of Bruges|Bruges]], [[Arrondissement of Diksmuide|Diksmuide]], [[Arrondissement of Ypres|Ypres]], [[Arrondissement of Kortrijk|Kortrijk]], [[Arrondissement of Ostend|Ostend]], [[Arrondissement of Roeselare|Roeselare]], [[Arrondissement of Tielt|Tielt]], [[Arrondissement of Veurne|Veurne]] || 62 || style="text-align:right" | 1,226,375 || {{convert|3197|km2|abbr=on}} || {{convert|376|/km2|abbr=on}}
|}

The province of Flemish Brabant is the most recently created, being formed in 1995 after the splitting of the [[province of Brabant]] on a linguistic basis.

Most municipalities are made up of several former municipalities, now called ''[[deelgemeente]]n''. The largest municipality (both in terms of population and area) is [[Antwerp]], having more than half a million inhabitants. Its nine ''deelgemeenten'' have a special status and are called [[Districts of Antwerp|districts]], which have an elected council and a college. While any municipality with more than 100,000 inhabitants can establish districts, only Antwerp did this so far. The smallest municipality (also both in terms of population and area) is [[Herstappe]] (Limburg).{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

[[File:Bruxelles Brussels-Capital Belgium Map.svg|thumb|Brussels-Capital Region with the [[City of Brussels]] (one of 19 municipalities) in red]]

The '''[[Flemish Community]]''' covers both the [[Flemish Region]] and, together with the French Community, the [[Brussels|Brussels-Capital Region]]. Brussels, an enclave within the province of Flemish Brabant, is not divided into any province nor is it part of any. It coincides with the [[Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital]] and includes [[List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region|19 municipalities]].

The [[Flemish Government]] has its own local institutions in the Brussels-Capital Region, being the ''[[Flemish Community Commission|Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie]]'' (VGC), and its municipal antennae (''Gemeenschapscentra'', community centres for the Flemish community in Brussels). These institutions are independent from the educational, cultural and social institutions that depend directly on the Flemish Government. They exert, among others, all those cultural competences that outside Brussels fall under the provinces.

== Climate ==
The climate is maritime [[temperate]], with significant precipitation in all seasons ([[Köppen climate classification]]: ''Cfb''; the average temperature is {{convert|3|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in January, and {{convert|21|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in July; the average precipitation is {{convert|65|mm|in|abbr=off}} in January, and {{convert|78|mm|in|abbr=off}} in July).

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Belgium|Flemish Diamond|Science and technology in Flanders|Agriculture in Flanders}}

[[File:Zicht op het Delwaidedok.jpg|thumb|The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe.]]

[[File:Lijn11 a12.jpg|thumb|The [[A12 road (Belgium)|A12]] with a railway in the centre.]]

Total [[gross regional product]] (GRP) of Flanders in 2021 was €296 billion (excluding Brussels).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00003/default/table?lang=en | title=EU regions by GDP, Eurostat}}</ref> Per capita GDP at [[purchasing power parity]] was 20% above the EU average.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10474907/1-05032020-AP-EN.pdf |title=Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018 |publisher=Eurostat |date=5 March 2020 |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref> Flemish productivity per capita is about 13% higher than that in Wallonia, and wages are about 7% higher than in Wallonia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=DMA28052005_007 |title=Onze Waalse collega's kunnen niet volgen |language=Dutch |date=29 May 2005 |work=Het Nieuwsblad |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref>

Flanders was one of the first continental European areas to undergo the [[Industrial Revolution]], in the 19th century. Initially, the modernization relied heavily on food processing and textile. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846–50). After World War II, [[Antwerp]] and [[Ghent]] experienced a fast expansion of the [[chemical]] and petroleum industries. Flanders also attracted a large majority of foreign investments in Belgium. The [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and [[1979 oil crisis|1979 oil crises]] sent the economy into a recession. The steel industry remained in relatively good shape. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of Belgium continued to shift further to Flanders and is now concentrated in the populous [[Flemish Diamond]] area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Het belang van de Vlaamse Ruit vanuit economisch perspectief ''The importance of the Flemish Diamond from an economical perspective''|language=nl|author=Vanhaverbeke, Wim|url=http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264|publisher=Netherlands Institute of Business Organization and Strategy Research, [[University of Maastricht]]|access-date=19 May 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314033239/http://edata.ub.unimaas.nl/www-edocs/loader/file.asp?id=264| archive-date = 14 March 2007}}</ref> Nowadays, the Flemish economy is mainly service-oriented.

Belgium is a founding member of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951, which evolved into the present-day [[European Union]]. In 1999, the [[euro]], the single European currency, was introduced in Flanders. It replaced the [[Belgian franc]] in 2002.

The Flemish economy is strongly export-oriented, in particular of high value-added goods.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.flanderstrade.com/site/internetEN.nsf/vPAG/aboutflanders__Economic?opendocument |title=Flanders: export-driven economy |access-date=26 January 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224091510/http://www.flanderstrade.com/site/internetEN.nsf/vPAG/aboutflanders__Economic?opendocument |archive-date=24 February 2017}}</ref> The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and non-ferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a [[customs union|customs]] and [[currency union]]—the [[Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union]]. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/international-trade/Development-of-a-common-agricultural-policy|title=international trade - Development of a common agricultural policy &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref>

Antwerp is the number one diamond market in the world, diamond exports account for roughly 1/10 of Belgian exports. The Antwerp-based [[BASF]] plant is the largest BASF-base outside Germany, and accounts on its own for about 2% of Belgian exports. Other industrial and service activities in Antwerp include car manufacturing, telecommunications, and photographic products.

Flanders is home to several science and technology institutes, such as [[IMEC]], VITO, Flanders DC, and [[Flanders Make]].

=== Infrastructure ===
{{Main|Transport in Belgium}}

Flanders has developed an extensive transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways. The [[Port of Antwerp]] is the second-largest in Europe, after [[Port of Rotterdam|Rotterdam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portofantwerp.com/portal/page/portal/POA_EN/Focus%20op%20de%20haven/Een%20wereldhaven|title=Focus on the port|publisher=Port of Antwerp|access-date=27 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828050144/http://www.portofantwerp.com/portal/page/portal/POA_EN/Focus%20op%20de%20haven/Een%20wereldhaven|archive-date=28 August 2008}}</ref> Other ports are [[Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge|Bruges-Zeebrugge]], [[Port of Ghent|Ghent]] and [[Port of Ostend|Ostend]], of which Zeebrugge and Ostend are located at the {{interlanguage link|Belgian coast|nl|Belgische Kust}}.

Whereas railways are managed by the federal [[National Railway Company of Belgium]], other public transport ([[De Lijn]]) and roads are managed by the Flemish region.

The main airport is [[Brussels Airport]], the only other civilian airport with scheduled services in Flanders is [[Antwerp International Airport]], but there are two other ones with cargo or charter flights: [[Ostend-Bruges International Airport]] and [[Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport]], both in West Flanders.

== Demographics ==
{{Further|Demographics of Belgium|Flemish people|List of cities in Flanders}}

The highest population density is found in the area circumscribed by the [[Brussels]]-[[Antwerp]]-[[Ghent]]-[[Leuven]] agglomerations that surround Mechelen and is known as the [[Flemish Diamond]], in other important urban centres as [[Bruges]], [[Roeselare]] and [[Kortrijk]] to the west, and notable centres [[Turnhout]] and [[Hasselt]] to the east. On 1 January 2015, the Flemish Region had a population of 6,444,127 and about 15% of the 1,175,173<!--2015-01-01--> people in the Brussels Region are also considered Flemish.{{efn |name="Note_Nationality-Minority-Education" |The relation between nationality, genetic ethnicity, native and mainly spoken language(s) (within a group of same ethnicity and age, in presence of elders, in ethnically mixed groups), and minority group identification, can be complex: Dutch nationals constituting one of the largest groups of foreigners, share the [[Dutch language|standard language]] with Flemish locals but their accent is enough to immediately distinguish them. The majority of immigrants from certain other countries had belonged to a minority or disadvantaged group there. Children born in Belgium from residents of foreign nationality very often acquired Belgian citizenship. Regardless of nationality, according to Belgian Law, obligatory education in schools located in the Flemish Region are in the Dutch language. In Brussels, teaching is also done in French. The determination of statistical samples and interpretation of publicized figures can easily lead to false assumptions or conclusions.}}<ref name="statbel">{{cite web |url=http://statbel.fgov.be/ |title=Statistics Belgium |publisher=[[Federal Public Service Economy]] |access-date=27 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630061938/http://statbel.fgov.be/ |archive-date=30 June 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

=== Religion ===
{{Further|Religion in Belgium}}
[[File:Houthalen - Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Zeven Weeënkerk.jpg|thumb|left|A church in [[Houthalen]]. A typical church, similar to those in many villages in Flanders]]

The Belgian constitution provides for [[Freedom of religion in Belgium|freedom of religion]], and the various governments in general respect this right in practice. Since independence, [[Catholicism]], counterbalanced by strong [[freethought]] movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics, since the 20th century in Flanders mainly via the Christian trade union [[Confederation of Christian Trade Unions|ACV]] and the [[Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams|Christian Democratic and Flemish]] party (CD&V). According to the ''2001 Survey and Study of Religion'', about 47 percent of the Belgian population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church, while Islam is the second-largest religion at 3.5 percent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Belgium|work=International Religious Freedom Report 2004|year=2004|publisher=US Department of State, [[Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor]]|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35444.htm|access-date=1 March 2021}}</ref> A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered more religious than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious, and 36% believed that God created the world.<ref>Inquiry by 'Vepec', 'Vereniging voor Promotie en Communicatie' (Organisation for Promotion and Communication), published in Knack magazine 22 November 2006 p. 14 The Dutch language term 'gelovig' is in the text translated as 'religious', more precisely it is a very common word for believing in particular in any kind of God in a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] sense, and/or in some [[afterlife]].</ref>

Jews [[History of the Jews in Belgium|have been present]] in Flanders for a long time, in particular [[History of the Jews in Antwerp|in Antwerp]]. More recently, Muslims have immigrated to Flanders, now forming the largest minority religion with about 3.9% in the Flemish Region and 25% in Brussels.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} Jan Hertogen, [http://www.indymedia.be/en/node/29363 In België wonen 628.751 moslims] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924073507/http://www.indymedia.be/en/node/29363 |date=24 September 2009 }}, Indymedia, 12 September 2008</ref> The largest Muslim group is Moroccan in origin, while the second largest is Turkish in origin.

=== Education ===
{{Further|Education in Flanders}}
[[File:Castle Arenberg, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven adj.jpg|thumb|right|[[Arenberg Castle]], part of the [[Katholieke Universiteit Leuven]], the oldest university in Belgium and the Low Countries.]]

Education is compulsory from the ages of six to 18, but most [[Flemish people|Flemings]] continue to study until around 23. Among the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] countries in 1999, Flanders had the third-highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in [[postsecondary education]]. Flanders also scores very high in international comparative studies on education. Its secondary school students consistently rank among the top three for mathematics and science. However, the success is not evenly spread: ethnic minority youth score consistently lower, and the difference is larger than in most comparable countries.{{efn |name="Note_Nationality-Minority-Education"}}

Mirroring the historical political conflicts between the secular and Catholic segments of the population, the Flemish educational system is split into a secular branch controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, and a [[subsidy|subsidised]] religious—mostly Catholic—branch. For the subsidised schools, the main costs such as the teacher's wages and building maintenance completely borne by the Flemish government. Subsidised schools are also free to determine their own teaching and examination methods, but in exchange, they must be able to prove that certain minimal terms are achieved by keeping records of the given lessons and exams. It should however be noted that—at least for the Catholic schools—the religious authorities have very limited power over these schools, neither do the schools have a lot of power on their own. Instead, the Catholic schools are a member of the Catholic umbrella organisation {{interlanguage link|VSKO|nl|Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen}}. The VSKO determines most practicalities for schools, like the advised schedules per study field. However, there's freedom of education in Flanders, which doesn't only mean that every pupil can choose his/her preferred school, but also that every organisation can found a school, and even be subsidised when abiding the different rules. This resulted also in some smaller school systems follow 'methodical pedagogies' (e.g. [[Waldorf education|Steiner]], [[Montessori]], or [[Freinet]]) or serve the Jewish and Protestant minorities.

During the school year 2003–2004, 68.30% of the total population of children between the ages of six and 18 went to subsidized private schools (both religious schools or 'methodical pedagogies' schools).<ref>{{cite web|title=Education in Flanders|work=A broad view of the Flemish educational landscape|year=2005|publisher=Ministry of the Flemish Community|url=http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/2005/educationinflandersbroadview.pdf|access-date=2 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319163919/http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/2005/educationinflandersbroadview.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

The big freedom given to schools results in a constant competition to be the "best" school. The schools get certain reputations amongst parents and employers. So it's important for schools to be the best school since the subsidies depend on the number of pupils. This competition has been pinpointed as one of the main reasons for the high overall quality of the Flemish education. However, the importance of a school's reputation also makes schools more eager to expel pupils that don't perform well. Resulting in the ethnic differences and the well-known waterfall system: pupils start high in the perceived hierarchy, and then drop towards more professional oriented directions or "easier" schools when they can't handle the pressure any longer.

=== Healthcare ===
{{Further|Healthcare in Belgium}}

Healthcare is a federal matter, but the [[Flemish Government]] is responsible for care, health education and [[preventive care]].

== Culture ==
{{main|Dutch language|Flemish dialects|Flemish people|Flemish Movement}}

=== Language and literature ===
[[File:Guidogezelle.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Guido Gezelle|Gezelle]] in [[Bruges]], by sculptor [[Jules Lagae]]]]

The standard language in Flanders is [[Dutch language|Dutch]]; spelling and grammar are regulated by a single authority, the [[Dutch Language Union]] (''Nederlandse Taalunie''), comprising a committee of ministers of the Flemish and Dutch governments, their advisory council of appointed experts, a controlling commission of 22 parliamentarians, and a secretariate.<ref name="Taalunie1">{{Cite web | url = http://taalunieversum.org/taalunie/wie_zijn_wij/ | title = De Taalunie – Wie zijn wij? | language = nl | publisher = Nederlandse Taalunie | access-date = 19 February 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110323042427/http://taalunieversum.org/taalunie/wie_zijn_wij/ | archive-date = 23 March 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Taalunie2">{{Cite web | url = http://taalunieversum.org/taalunie/werkwijze_en_beleid/ | title = De Taalunie – Werkwijze en beleid | language = nl | publisher = Nederlandse Taalunie | access-date = 17 February 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110318083841/http://taalunieversum.org/taalunie/werkwijze_en_beleid/ | archive-date = 18 March 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref> The term [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]] can be applied to the Dutch spoken in Flanders; it shows many regional and local variations.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://odur.let.rug.nl/~hoeksema/divid-4.ppt |format = ppt |title = College 4 – 1830 Belgische onafhankelijkheid, Noord-Zuidverschillen, Dialecten en de rijksgrens, Frans-Vlaanderen |language = nl |author = Hoeksema, Jack |publisher = [[University of Groningen]] (host site) |access-date = 19 February 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724164852/http://odur.let.rug.nl/~hoeksema/divid-4.ppt |archive-date = 24 July 2011 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The earliest example of literature in non-[[standardized dialect]]s in the current area of Flanders is [[Hendrik van Veldeke]]'s ''Eneas Romance'', the first courtly romance in a [[Germanic language]] (12th century). With a writer of [[Hendrik Conscience]]'s stature, [[Flemish literature]] rose ahead of French literature in Belgium's early history.<ref name="Letterkundig-Museum">{{Cite web |url = http://www.letterkundigmuseum.nl/tabid/92/BiographyID/19/BiographyName/HendrikConscience/Mode/BiographyDetails/Default.aspx |title = Hendrik Conscience (biography) |language = nl |publisher = Letterkundig Museum, The Hague, The Netherlands |access-date = 21 February 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724094015/http://www.letterkundigmuseum.nl/tabid/92/BiographyID/19/BiographyName/HendrikConscience/Mode/BiographyDetails/Default.aspx |archive-date = 24 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="Couttenier">{{Cite web |url = http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/cout003nati01_01/cout003nati01_01_0001.php |title = Nationale beelden in de Vlaamse literatuur van de negentiende eeuw |author = Couttenier, Piet |work = Nationalisme in België. Identiteiten in beweging 1780–2000. (Deprez, Kas; Vos, Louis – red.) |pages = 60–69 |language = nl |publisher = Houtekiet, Antwerpen/Baarn (online by [[Digital library for Dutch literature|dbnl]]) |year = 1999 |access-date = 21 February 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110614205621/http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/cout003nati01_01/cout003nati01_01_0001.php |archive-date = 14 June 2011 |url-status = live }}</ref> [[Guido Gezelle]] not only explicitly referred to his writings as Flemish but used it in many of his poems, and strongly defended it:

'''Original''' <small>from ''kleengedichtjes'' (1860?)</small><ref name="kleengedichtjes1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sP9ySIDdZ-cC&pg=PA320 |title=Guido Gezelle: volledig dichtwerk |language=vls |page=320 |publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij |year=1999 |access-date=18 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527210116/https://books.google.com/books?id=sP9ySIDdZ-cC&pg=PA320 |archive-date=27 May 2016 |url-status=live |isbn=9789020935103 }}</ref><ref name="kleengedichtjes2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/geze002fbau01_01/geze002fbau01_01.pdf |title=Driemaal XXXIII Kleengedichtjes – Gij zegt dat 't vlaamsch te niet zal gaan |trans-title=Three times XXXIII Little Poems – Thou sayst Flemish will fade away |work=Dichtwerken (deel 1 en 2) [Poems (Part 1 and 2)] (ed. Baur, Frank) |language=nl |at=Part 2, p. 505 |author=Gezelle, Guido |publisher=[[Veen (publisher)|Veen]], Amsterdam (1949, 3rd print – online by [[Digital library for Dutch literature|dbnl]]) |access-date=19 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614205634/http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/geze002fbau01_01/geze002fbau01_01.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>Gij zegt dat 't vlaamsch te niet zal gaan:
't en zal!<!--Maintain dialect here, for Standard Dutch "'t Zal niet"-->
dat 't waalsch gezwets zal boven slaan:
't en zal!
Dat hopen, dat begeren wij:
dat zeggen en dat zweren wij:
zoo lange als wij ons weren, wij:
't en zal, 't en zal,
't en zal!</poem></blockquote>

; Translation

<blockquote><poem>You say Flemish will fade away:
It shan't!
that Walloon twaddle will have its way:<!--
   Before 2011-02-17 translated as "Walloonish rantings":
   "Walloonish" is [[Gaelg]], [[Gailck]], [[Manx]], [[Manx Gaelic]]: [http://www.websters-dictionary-online.net/definitions/Walloon].
   Gezelle did not mix dialects or languages, "waalsch" referred to Wallonia precisely as "vlaamsch" to Flanders.
   Informal singular "gezwets" from verb "zwetsen" (modern [Hollandic] Dutch "gelul"), not loudy as "rant[ing[s]]" implies.
   Hence, "waalsch gezwets" is "Walloon twaddle" in English [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/twaddle?view=uk]{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
   (or "Walloon prattle", or dialect "Walloon twattle"). -->
It shan't!
This we hope, for this we hanker:
this we say and this we vow:
as long as we fight back, we:
It shan't, It shan't,
It shan't!</poem></blockquote>

The distinction between [[Dutch literature|Dutch]] and Flemish literature, often perceived politically, is also made on intrinsic grounds by some experts such as Kris Humbeeck, professor of literature at the [[University of Antwerp]].<ref name="de-Ridder">{{Cite web |url = http://mededelingen.over-blog.com/article-31749051.html |title = Inleiding tot een proefschrift over de activistische tegentraditie in de Vlaamse letteren ('Introduction to a dissertation on the activist tradition in Flemish literature') (descriptive title) |language = nl |author = de Ridder, Matthijs (doctoral candidate [[University of Antwerp]]) |date = 22 May 2009 |publisher = Mededelingen van het Centrum voor Documentatie & Reëvaluatie (a republishing Blog about French and Dutch Literature) |access-date = 21 February 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615014817/http://mededelingen.over-blog.com/article-31749051.html |archive-date = 15 June 2011 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Humbeeck"><!-- Web site abc2004.be out of use ('for sale'), 'title' and name of web site indicate unlikeliness of finding this source elsewhere; new source fully corroborating the last statement of former sentence: added 2011-02-21. OBSOLETE: {{cite web|url=http://www.abc2004.be/login/components/public/main.php?action=getStatenItem&id=4&lang=1 |title=De beste bron van informatie over abc2004 |publisher=Abc2004.be |access-date=11 May 2010}} AVAILABLE: --> {{Cite journal|author=Polis, Harold (ed. red. at [[J.M. Meulenhoff|Meulenhoff/Manteau]])|date=25 June 2004|title=Vlamingen en Nederlanders moeten hun verschillen leren aanvaarden|url=http://taalschrift.org/discussie/000564.html|url-status=live|journal=Taalschrift|language=nl|publisher=[[Nederlandse Taalunie]]|issue=Ed. 77|issn=1570-5560|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722110548/http://taalschrift.org/discussie/000564.html|archive-date=22 July 2011|access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> Nevertheless, most [[Dutch language|Dutch-language]] literature read (and appreciated to varying degrees) in Flanders is the same as that in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.buchmesse.de/images/fbm/dokumente-ua-pdfs/2016/flandern_webseite_2016_en_57470.pdf|title=Flanders (Belgium)|website=Frankfurter Buchmesse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202053515/http://www.buchmesse.de/images/fbm/dokumente-ua-pdfs/2016/flandern_webseite_2016_en_57470.pdf|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Influential Flemish writers include [[Ernest Claes]], [[Stijn Streuvels]] and [[Felix Timmermans]]. Their novels mostly describe rural life in Flanders in the 19th century and at beginning of the 20th. Widely read by the older generations, they are considered somewhat old-fashioned by present-day critics. Some famous Flemish writers of the early 20th century wrote in French, including Nobel Prize winners (1911) [[Maurice Maeterlinck]] and [[Emile Verhaeren]]. They were followed by a younger generation, including [[Paul van Ostaijen]] and [[Gaston Burssens]], who ''[[Activism|activated]]'' the [[Flemish Movement]].<ref name=de-Ridder/> Still widely read and translated into other languages (including English) are the novels of authors such as [[Willem Elsschot]], [[Louis Paul Boon]] and [[Hugo Claus]]. The recent crop of writers includes the novelists [[Tom Lanoye]] and [[Herman Brusselmans]], and poets such as the married couple [[Herman de Coninck]] and [[Kristien Hemmerechts]].

==== Languages ====
At the creation of the Belgian state, French was the only official language. Historically Flanders was a Dutch-speaking region. For a long period, French was used as a [[second language]] and, like elsewhere in Europe, commonly spoken among the aristocracy. There is still a French-speaking minority in Flanders, especially in the [[municipalities with language facilities]], along the language border and the [[municipalities with language facilities#Rim municipalities|Brussels periphery]] (Vlaamse Rand), though many of them are French-speakers that migrated to Flanders in recent decades.

In [[French Flanders]], French is the only official language and now the native language of the majority of the population, but there is still a minority of Dutch-speakers living there. French is also the primary language in the officially bilingual [[Brussels Capital Region]] (see [[Francization of Brussels]]).

Many Flemings are also able to speak French, children in Flanders generally get their first French lessons in the 5th primary year (normally around 10 years). But the current lack of French outside the educational context makes it hard to maintain a decent level of French. As such, the proficiency of French is declining. Flemish pupils are also obligated to follow English lessons as their third language. Normally from the second secondary year (around 14 years old), but the ubiquity of English in movies, music, IT and even advertisements makes it easier to learn and maintain the English language.

=== Media ===
{{Further|Television in Belgium}}

The public radio and television broadcaster in Flanders is [[Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie|VRT]], which operates the TV channels [[VRT 1]], [[Canvas (Belgium)|VRT Canvas]], [[Ketnet]], and (together with the Netherlands) [[BVN]]. Flemish provinces each have up to two TV channels as well. Commercial television broadcasters include [[VTM (TV channel)|vtm]] and [[Vier]] (VT4). Popular TV series are for example ''[[Thuis]]'' and ''[[F.C. De Kampioenen]]''.

The five most successful Flemish films were ''[[Loft (2008 film)|Loft]]'' (2008; 1,186,071 visitors), ''[[Koko Flanel]]'' (1990; 1,082,000 tickets sold), ''[[Hector (1987 film)|Hector]]'' (1987; 933,000 tickets sold), ''[[Daens (film)|Daens]]'' (1993; 848,000 tickets sold) and ''[[The Alzheimer Case|De Zaak Alzheimer]]'' (2003; 750,000 tickets sold). The first and last ones were directed by [[Erik Van Looy]], and an American remake is being made of both of them, respectively ''[[The Loft (2012 film)|The Loft]]'' (2012) and ''[[The Memory of a Killer]]''. The other three ones were directed by [[Stijn Coninx]].

Newspapers are grouped under three main publishers: [[De Persgroep]] with {{Lang|nl|[[Het Laatste Nieuws]]}}, the most popular newspaper in Flanders, ''[[De Morgen]]'' and ''[[De Tijd]]''. Then [[Corelio]] with ''{{interlanguage link|De Gentenaar|nl}}'', the oldest extant Flemish newspaper, {{Lang|nl|[[Het Nieuwsblad]]}} and {{Lang|nl|[[De Standaard]]}}. Lastly, [[Concentra]] publishes {{Lang|nl|[[Gazet van Antwerpen]]}} and ''[[Het Belang van Limburg]]''.

Magazines include ''[[Knack (magazine)|Knack]]'' and ''[[HUMO]]''.

=== Sports ===
{{Further|Sport in Belgium}}
[[File:Kim Clijsters 2006.jpg|thumb|Kim Clijsters was [[WTA Awards|WTA Player of the Year]] in 2005 and 2010]]

Association football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in both parts of Belgium, together with cycling, tennis, swimming and judo.<ref>{{cite book|title=Belgium|author=George Wingfield|publisher=Infobase Publishing|editor=Charles F. Gritzner|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7910-9670-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/belgium00wing/page/94 94–95]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/belgium00wing/page/94}}</ref>

In cycling, the [[Tour of Flanders]] is considered one of the five "[[Classic cycle races|Monuments]]". Other "[[Flanders Classics]]" races include ''[[Dwars door Vlaanderen]]'' and [[Gent–Wevelgem]]. [[Eddy Merckx]] is widely regarded as the greatest cyclist of all time, with five victories in the [[Tour de France]] and numerous other cycling records.<ref>{{cite news|title=Great, but there are greater|author=Majendie, Matt|work=BBC Sport|date=18 April 2005|quote=[the Author's] top five [cyclists] of all time: 1 Eddy Merckx, 2 [[Bernard Hinault]], 3 [[Lance Armstrong]], 4 [[Miguel Indurain]], 5 [[Jacques Anquetil]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/3925265.stm|access-date=20 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824143546/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/3925265.stm|archive-date=24 August 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> His hour speed record (set in 1972) stood for 12 years.

[[Jean-Marie Pfaff]], a former Belgian goalkeeper, is considered one of the greatest in the history of football (soccer).<ref>"[http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com/keeper/goalkeeping_greats.htm Goalkeeping Greats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630215858/http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com/keeper/goalkeeping_greats.htm |date=30 June 2008 }}" Goalkeepersaredifferent.com. Retrieved on {{Nowrap|29 June}} 2008</ref>

[[Kim Clijsters]] (as well as the French-speaking Belgian [[Justine Henin]]) was [[WTA Awards|Player of the Year]] twice in the [[Women's Tennis Association]] as she was ranked the number one female tennis player.

[[Kim Gevaert]] and [[Tia Hellebaut]] are notable track and field stars from Flanders.

The [[1920 Summer Olympics]] were held in Antwerp. [[Jacques Rogge]] was president of the [[International Olympic Committee]] from 2001 to 2013.

The Flemish government agency for sports is [[Bloso]].

=== Music ===
{{Further|Music of Belgium}}
Flanders is known for its music festivals, like the annual [[Rock Werchter]], [[Tomorrowland (festival)|Tomorrowland]] and [[Pukkelpop]]. The [[Gentse Feesten]] is another very large yearly event.

The best-selling Flemish group or artist is the (Flemish-Dutch) group [[2 Unlimited]], followed by (Italian-born) [[Rocco Granata]], [[Technotronic]], [[Helmut Lotti]] and [[Vaya Con Dios (band)|Vaya Con Dios]].

The weekly charts of best-selling singles is the [[Ultratop 50]]. "Kvraagetaan" by the [[Fixkes]] holds the current record for longest time at No. 1 on the chart.

==See also==
* [[Burgundian Netherlands]]
* [[Count of Flanders]]
* [[Flemish Movement]]
* [[Flemish Parliament]]
* [[Early Netherlandish painting|Flemish Primitives]]
* [[Seventeen Provinces]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* De Vries, André. ''Flanders: a cultural history'' (Oxford University Press, 2007). [https://www.amazon.com/Flanders-Cultural-History-Landscapes-Imagination/dp/019531493X/ excerpt]
* Demets, Lisa, Jan Dumolyn, and Els De Paermentier. "Political ideology and the rewriting of history in fifteenth-century Flanders." ''BMGN-THE LOW COUNTRIES HISTORICAL REVIEW'' 134.1 (2019): 73–95. [https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8566140/file/8609764.pdf online]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Flanders | volume= 10 |last= Edmundson |first= George |author-link= George Edmundson| pages = 478&ndash;480 |short= 1}}
* Humes, Samuel. ''Belgium: Long United, Long Divided'' (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/Belgium-Long-United-Divided/dp/1849041466/ online]

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Flanders}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Flanders}}

{{Flanders topics}}
{{Portal bar|Belgium|European Union}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Flanders| ]]
[[Category:Regions of Belgium]]
[[Category:Autonomous regions]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where Dutch is an official language]]