Belgian heritage takes its impetus from a variety of sources. The Romans, the French, The Dutch and of course the Germans have all left their imprint on the small nation.
Even the British had their input, by using it as a way to connect 3 feuding nations.
Gallia Belgica was the name given by the Romans for the northern part of Gaul; the northern limit of their empire. In modern times, the name was used as an erudite synonym for the ‘low countries’.
However, after the 1830 revolution and the establishment of an independent kingdom, Belgium became the official name of the country.
Location and Geography
Belgium the country of Northwestern Europe is located at the western end of the northern European plain, covering an area of 11,780 square miles (30,510 square kilometres); the neighbouring states are France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The two main rivers are the Schelde and the Meuse, both of which begin in France and flow toward the Netherlands. The land rises progressively toward the south.
Flanders (the northern part of the country) is less hilly than Wallonia (the southern part). The German-speaking population lives at the borders with Germany and Luxembourg. Discoveries of coal in the hills of northern Wallonia led to the early industrialization of the area.
Belgian Heritage
Demography. Belgium is one of the most urbanized and densely inhabited countries in the world with about 97 percent of the 11.56 million inhabitants living in cities in 2020. Brussels, the capital, has approximately 1 million residents, and the second city, Antwerp, has half a million.
The central and northern parts of the country are covered by a dense network of medium-size and small cities, and people may live in one city and work in another. Around 55 percent of the population lives in Flanders, 35 percent in Wallonia, and 10 percent in Brussels.
The nation’s cultural diversity has been enriched by international and local immigration. Supported by the influx of Internationals because of the EU zone and NATO HQ in the capital.
The Flemish and the Walloons
The high numbers of Flemish names in the south and The Walloons in the north indicate a long time of internal mobility.
In the last hundred years, the most important immigrant groups were Jews who formed a sizable community in Antwerp.
Followed by the influx of Polish immigrants, who came in the early 1930s and after the fall of communism; Italians (in the 1930s and 1950s); and North Africans and Turks, who arrived in the 1960s.
There has been a recent revival in celebrating black history in Belgium, considered a form of reparations for the horrific atrocities committed by the Butcher of Congo.
There are many recent immigrants from other countries in the European Union as well as many expatriates working in or around European Union institutions and NATO headquarters. The percentage of noncitizens in the population is high at 15 percent nationally and 28 percent in Brussels.
Languages and affiliation
The main languages are Dutch and French; they are also the joint official languages. Although German is also recognized as the third national language, it is not used frequently in the national administration.
French became the language of the political elite by feudal lords of French origin, particularly the Dukes of Burgundy, who choose Brussels as their main city of residence. In the eighteenth century, French was widely adopted by the bourgeoisie, and in 1830, it was adopted as the official language.
Through education and social promotion, French replaced the local dialects in Wallonia and Brussels, but it was not as widely adopted in Flanders. The Flemish in Flanders are holding on to their Dutch culture and heritage and maintain a certain bitterness towards the French-speaking Belgians.
The oldest elements of Flemish symbolism were developed as Belgian “myths” before the emergence of the Flemish movement. A successful fourteenth-century revolt of cities in the former county of Flanders against a count from the French royal family became an expression of early Flemish/Belgian nationalism.
The Flemish national day
The Flemish national day celebrates the victory of the Flemish militias over the royal French army at the Battle of the Golden Spurs, named after the trophies collected from slain French knights. The Flemish national anthem (the Vlaamse leeuw ) was composed in 1847. It was adopted as the Flemish movement’s anthem in 1900 and became the official anthem of the Flemish community in 1973.
Another strong Flemish symbols are the National Song Feast (ANZ) held annually in Antwerp since the early 1930s, in which Flemish songs are mixed with modern expressions of culture.
On the last Sunday of August, the Flemish movement gathers in a pilgrimage at World War I battlefields. Because of the Christian roots of the Flemish movement, the main slogan associated with this has a strong religious connotation.
The Walloon movement borrowed the rooster from France as a cultural symbol. The Francophone community celebrates its national day on 21 September, but it is not emphasized heavily, and an anthem was not adopted until 1999.