Linguistic Diversity

Belgium is officially tri-lingual. Dutch is spoken in the northern part of Belgium, called Flanders. The Flemish people account for 58 percent of the Belgian population. French is spoken in Wallonia, the southern part of Belgium. The Walloons account for 32 percent of the Belgian population. German is only spoken by a limited number of people, who live in the eastern part of the Walloon Region, close to the German border. Last but not least, the Brussels Capital Region is a bilingual enclave, containing a 10 percent of the population. Belgium’s linguistic diversity has led to political and cultural conflicts throughout the years and this has resulted into a complex system of government. It is good to become familiar with both the Dutch and the French names of places before travelling around, for instance: Antwerpen (in Dutch) is Anvers (in French), Luik (in Dutch) is Liège (in French). Even the Public Transport in Brussels has two different names: MIVB in Dutch and STIB in French.