Belgium

B

Political Divisions

Belgium is divided into the ten provinces of Antwerp, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant, and West Flanders and further into arrondissements and municipalities.

C

Principal Cities

The chief cities and their populations are Brussels, the capital, 145,717 (2006 estimate), Antwerp, 464,038 (2006 estimate), and Ghent, 233,925 (2006 estimate).

D

Religion

About 80 per cent of the Belgian population is Roman Catholic, but this percentage and regular church attendance are on the decline. Religious liberty is guaranteed, and part of the stipend of the ministers of all faiths is paid by the government. Other religions practised include a number of Protestant denominations, Islam, and Judaism.

E

Language

In 1963 a law was passed establishing three official languages within Belgium: French (the native tongue of the Walloons and the most dominant language historically, now with at least 4 million speakers) was recognized as the official language in the south; Dutch (the language of the Flemings, and now the most widely spoken language in Belgium with more than 5.6 million speakers) in the north-west; and Standard German (spoken by about 1.5 per cent of the population) along the eastern border. In the city and suburbs of Brussels, both French and Dutch are officially recognized, although French speakers are the larger group.

In 1971 a constitutional change was enacted giving political recognition to the three language communities, providing cultural autonomy for them, and also revising the bilingual and administrative status of Brussels, an enclave in the Dutch-speaking area. Implementation of a three-stage programme to increase the fiscal autonomy of the three ethnolinguistic regions began in the late 1980s, and culminated in 1995 with the formation of a fully federal system of government (see Local Government).

Although it is called Dutch, the language of Belgium is often referred to as Flemish, which shares so many similar vocabulary and grammatical features to Dutch that it is classed by some as the same language (that is, a dialect of Dutch) and therefore labelled as such. However, Flemish is more probably a language in its own right and is not mutually intelligible with dialects of Dutch that are spoken in east Flanders. Flemish is spoken in west Flanders. Standard Dutch is also used by most Flemings, particularly for official purposes. Luxembourgish, a Germanic language, and Picard, a Romance language, are also spoken in Belgium.

F

Education

Although educational freedom was provided by the constitution of 1831, the first law for public elementary education was not passed until 1842. In 1914 compulsory attendance was enacted for children between the ages of 6 and 14. Since 1959 the education system has included state secular schools and private Roman Catholic schools. Educational controversies involving language and religion that arose in Belgium in the 19th century have continued to the present day. Education is full-time and compulsory from ages 6 to 16. It is then part-time until age 18. Since 1963 teaching has been carried out in the language of the region; in Brussels, however, it is in the pupil’s own tongue. In the mid-1990s about 731,500 pupils were attending primary schools each year, and about 792,300 students were in secondary schools.

The oldest Belgian university dates from the Middle Ages. The Catholic University of Louvain, since 1970 divided into independent French- and Dutch-speaking universities, was founded under religious auspices in 1425. The universities of Ghent and Liège were founded in 1817 during the period of Dutch rule, and the Free University of Brussels was opened in 1834 under an enactment by the newly formed Belgian government. Ghent has a Dutch-speaking faculty, Liège a French-speaking one. In 1965 state universities opened in the cities of Mons and Antwerp. In 1970 the Free University of Brussels became two independent institutions, one teaching in Dutch, the other in French.

Royal academies of fine arts and royal conservatories of music are located in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, and Mons. State agricultural institutes are located in Ghent and Gembloux-sur-Orneau. In the early 1990s, total enrolment at universities and other institutions of higher education exceeded 116,250 students.