{"id":493,"date":"2020-05-02T00:11:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T22:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/?page_id=493"},"modified":"2020-05-16T15:14:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T13:14:57","slug":"flanders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/index.php\/en\/flanders\/","title":{"rendered":"Flanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flanders, the long march towards emancipation<\/h2>
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Populated by more than 7 million inhabitants including Brussels, Flanders can be considered as the Netherlands of the south. This is the gateway to the Germanic world on the North Sea. Since the beginning of the 14th century, the Flemish have protected their identity in the face of attempts at forced linguistic assimilation. <\/p>

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The Vlaamse Leeuw<\/em>, the Flemish Lion, with black claws and tongue, represents Flanders. This symbol was used in the Middle Ages by the counts of Flanders. It is endorsed by the separatists and autonomists. The official flag of the province of Flanders has a black lion with red claws and tongue. This last version was officially adopted in 1990. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

That which we\nnow call Flanders has never been united in a single state. In the Middle Ages,\nthe territory was divided between many feudal states, the most important being\nthe county of Flanders, the duchy of Brabant and the county of Loon. The county\nof Flanders belonged to the French crown, while other territories were part of\nthe Germanic Holy Roman Empire, except for the county of Loon, which was part\nof the principality-bishopric of Li\u00e8ge. Later, the county of Flanders and the\nduchy of Brabant made up part of the twenty-six provinces, roughly\ncorresponding to the current B\u00e9n\u00e9lux. The latter were dependent on\nCharles V. In 1581, after the Reformation, the twenty-six provinces\ndeclared their independence, except for the southern Netherlands (Belgium)\nwhich remained under Spanish and Catholic rule. Between the 16th and 18th\ncenturies, conflicts between the French, the Austrians and the Spanish in\nFlanders led to the creation of a new kingdom, through the congress of Vienna,\nuniting both the Netherlands and present-day Belgium. But during the Belgian\nrevolution, Belgium broke away and French became the only official language,\nforcing the Flemish to resist.<\/p>

Despite significant advances\nafter the Second World War, the Flemish remained weak. Only in 1971, with the\ncreation of the Council of the Dutch Cultural Community was some autonomy\ngranted, re-enforced by the creation of a parliament in 1980. Today, following\nthe political crisis in Belgium, the question of Flemish independence arises\nagain.<\/p>

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Identity card <\/h3>
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Name <\/em> <\/td>Vlaanderen <\/strong>| Flemish\/Dutch<\/em>
Flandre <\/em><\/strong>| French<\/em>
(Flanders) <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Population <\/em><\/td>7,000,000 inhab.<\/strong> (including 6,589,069 in official Flanders) (2019)<\/td><\/tr>
Area<\/em> <\/td>16,000 km\u00b2<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Languages <\/em> <\/td>Vlaams\/Nederlands<\/strong> | Flemish\/Dutch<\/em> (official)
Fran\u00e7ais<\/em><\/strong> | French<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Number of native speakers<\/em> <\/td> 6,500,000<\/strong> | Flemish\/Dutch<\/em> (2016)<\/td><\/tr>
State of guardianship<\/em> <\/td> Belgium, France <\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Official status<\/em> <\/td> <\/strong> Region and community in Belgium<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Capital<\/em><\/td>Brussel<\/strong> | Flemish\/Dutch<\/em>
Bruxelles <\/strong> | French<\/em>
(Brussels) <\/td><\/tr>
Historic religion<\/em> <\/td> <\/strong> Roman Catholic<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Flag<\/em> <\/td>De Vlaamse Leeuw<\/strong> | Flemish\/Dutch<\/em>
(The Flemish Lion) <\/td><\/tr>
Anthem<\/em> <\/td>De Vlaamse Leeuw<\/strong> | Flemish\/Dutch<\/em>
(The Flemish Lion) <\/td><\/tr>
Motto<\/em> <\/td> None <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>
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Timeline <\/h3>
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