Communities, regions, and language areas of Belgium

Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas.

[2] This is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution.

Each of the entities either have their own parliament and government (for the federal state, the communities and the regions) or their own council and executive college (for provinces and municipalities).

The language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions.

Belgian Communities do not officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country.

This includes justice, defence (armed forces), federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, and state-owned companies (such as the Belgian Railways which is in fact an exception on regionalized transport; the Post Office was federal as well, but is being privatised).

Extensions to personal matters less directly attributed to the language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, etc.

)[5] Regions have authority in fields connected with their territory in the widest meaning of the term, thus relating to the economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit, and foreign trade.

On education for instance, the autonomy of the communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor sets minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters.

The Flemish Region or Flanders (Dutch: Vlaams Gewest or Vlaanderen) occupies the northern part of Belgium.

It has a surface area of 13,626 km2 (5,261 sq mi), or 44.4% of Belgium, and is divided into 5 provinces which contain a total of 300 municipalities.

Additionally, the city of Mechelen still has a relation to the Flemish Region as seat; it serves as the location for head office during European (and formerly Senate) elections.

The Walloon Region or Wallonia (French: Région Wallonne or Wallonie) occupies the southern part of Belgium.