@@eyan1114(almost) Everyone in Belgium would learn more from this then from school, they really don’t learn you that much about Belgium except some important stuff.
+Nils Cassiers Wow, seriously? What kind of school do you go to? I mean, I learned all these things in my last years of elementary school and in middle school.
S. Mukobo-Pandu Somewhere in Antwerp haha, but that doens't mean I didn't know most of the stuff, I mean, most of these are basic knowledge for Belgians
but then, where would you import your weed from? (i don't get the belgium-dutch weed trade, it gets grown in belgium illegally, shipped to the netherlands to get sold legally, then bought by belgians to be taken back over the border.
It's a bit annoying that he made a lot of mistakes in the subject though. It's definitely not a French zone xd. The Francophones keep migrating to the area though.
@@r.v.b.4153 The problem is that BHV is in flander, but there are many people who moved (not migrate) there because brussels was too expensive, so yes, there are more french speaking or even people who don't even speak french nor dutch there than dutch people.
i am Belgian and lived for a few months in Orange County LA. Some Americans thought Belgium was the Capital of Brussels.... Lol BTW i loved living over there...
+xxdulce What do you mean by that ? For work ? undoubtedly Dutch, as the economical heart of Belgium is Flanders (To the great annoyance of my fellow Walloons => long story short, Wallonia has still not recovered from the fall of its heavy industry ... and thanks to the buffoons acting as politicians in the region, full recovery is not going to happen soon, sadly), even through French would allow you to have a chance in France, a significantly larger job market. To visit ? I would say that historical Flemish cities are more beautiful than their Wallonian counterparts, while for landscape its the other way around ... but you should be able to go by with just english.
and you also forget that a decade ago, during a small interview, the reporter asked the minister if he knew the national anthem and he sang the Marseillaise.
Belgium won't split man. Flanders has a love-hate relationship with Holland (honestly, Flemmings will NEVER agree to be part of the Netherlands, we would hate it) and although there are political problems between Flanders and Wallonie, the citizens themselves don't hate eachother (which the media likes us to believe).
I am an English truck driver, I spent loads of my life passing through Belgium, of the all the time I spent travelling around Europe, Belgium is the place I miss the most, Antwerp is fun, the belgian people are friendly and fun to drink with, they are lovely and a bit mental. Of the 32 countries on 4 continents I've been, my lovely belgie is my favourite.
french fries are called french fries because some english guy was in walonie and discovered the food and thougt he was in france because of the language!
Well. French fries is from Belgium and France. The actual "form" of the fries come from Belgium, but the recipe with oil and potato come from France. Belgium know the french fries because a French immigrant who lived before in Paris. The way to eat french fries is different in Belgium and France, the french fries in France are eaten in accompaniment. The Belgians eat their fries as a main food.
@@Tyranwyn Americans speak of French fries, a term that appears in print for the first time in 1856 in the cookery book Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren. However, this translation causes confusion, with which it seems to indicate that French fries are originally French. However, the name comes from the Old English verb to French, which means cutting lengthwise.
I were in Belgium back in 2006. Had the best highway food i have ever tasted and the chocolate were amazing ofc. Huge respect from Denmark to Belgium 🇧🇪🇩🇰
French fries are a Belgian dish, it was a mistake of the American soldiers in World War I. The American soldiers ate for the first time French Fries at the border of France in Flanders but because we speak in Belgium French to, the thought that it were French soldiers but in were Belgian soldiers.
It should also be noted that, shortly before the potato became popular in France, the Franco-Austrian war was going on (also known as the War of Austrian Succession), much of which took place around modern day Belgium. So it’s possible that the French soldiers were introduced to fries by the Belgians at this time and, a couple decades later when the potato became popular in France, these former soldiers then introduced the preparation method to the rest of France. Or it’s possible the French came up with the idea on their own and spread them to Belgium around the same time; or that both came up with the idea independently.
@@romain6275 I can actually back him up on that, and you can easily find the same answer on the internet so I won't have to write a whole essay for you
J'ai visité Coventry il y a à peu près trois ans de cela et j'ai trouvé que c'était une des plus charmantes villes où je suis allé. Salut de France 🇫🇷🇬🇧
I'm sorry to say it but Brussels isn't the same anymore...it changed alot and it started like 10 years ago when the ppl from Marocco and Turkey came to Belgium (mainly Brussels). Its like you walk in another country if you're from Belgium and go to Brussels 😢
@@quintensteurbaut3022 brussels was like 75% french and 25% dutch now its 5% french and 5 % dutch the rest is just arabic and the rest of people from other countries, Belgium aint the belgium anymore like before
We actually have more governments that were described here xD and the fact that back then, the flemish didn't speak french is quite wrong, since we were oppressed by the french for a long time (effects still shows itself in administration etc)
@@Aaron_broeckaert Ben daar niet zeker van. Misschien zal vlaanderen falen zonder Wallonië. Vergeet niet dat wij de balans houden (Rechts vlaanderen, links wallonië).
The BELGIAN fries was invented something like 400 years ago,... on (later) Belgian soil. Problem,... ? Belgium didn't exist not yet, so they call it French fries,... and of course,.. REAL Belgians don't like that..... In the Netherlands they TRY to make Belgian fries and for soooo many years,... but until now, they STILL cannot do it.....
@@willemlambert5019 the country doesn’t exist at this time but the belgian community does so technically we are (belgium) the creator of the french fries
@@willemlambert5019 At the time of the discovery of Fries, Americans troops came in and thought they were in France ( they were actually in Walloonia ) because everyone spoke French, they decided to name them French Fries because of that.
French fries are def from Belgium. The "french" does not reflect on the country of origin, but on the way they are prepared. The fries get frenched, so it's called french(ed) fries.
I think you might be wrong here. During world war 1 the official language of the Belgian army was French, so American soldiers stationed in Belgium called the fries, French fries
NOPE! the reason they are called french fries is becouse the wallonians speak french. So american soldiers tought they were french when there not. And I know couse i'm Belgian.
"it is called" by whom? In Belgium they speak French, Dutch (Flemish) and whatever that weird language is they speak in the east. So they don't use an English term for it. Americans or English (but probably Americans) gave them the name french fries probably because they heard people speak french when they ate them....
I have some friends from Belgium, She was Flemish and he was from Walloon. They met in college here in the US. She doesn't know French and he doesn't know Dutch. Their common language is English. They ended up getting married and moved to Brussels after living a few years here in the US. They have a kid now and the kid had to learn Dutch, French and English. English is still the only common language in their household.
+ikeknights Almost all Flemish people speak French. I'm just 14 and I speak Dutch, French and English. It is very true that the people from Walloon and a big part of Brussels people don't speak Dutch.
+Emiel Verbeeren Actually, it's not anymore. Recent studies have shown that it has become the other way around. Walloons speak better dutch than Flemish speak French. (Ik geef het zelf niet graag toe, maar mijn eigen ervaring komt hier wel mee overeen.)
Samuel R. When we have exchange with French students, it's the other way around. Normally when we go to Walloon we speak French and when they come to us, they NEED to speak Dutch but they usually just keep talking French to us, it's really frustrating XD. I'm sure there are Walloon people who speak better Dutch than the other way around.
+Samuel R. My experience with belgians has been very different from what you say. My flemish friends speak perfect french while the walloons are like "Flems? Je m'en fou!"
@@Maxmax-vk7jh we're not even that close to france modern day?? We have stronger economic, political and militaristic ties to the netherlands and luxembourg. We're almost a country because we're so close together. The benelux was the foundation for the european union, also what has flanders to do with france? We don't even speak the same language, btw there are more dutch speakers in belgium than french speakers.
There's a few misconceptions here. Belgium is not an artificial country without a former identity, we trace our history back thousands of years to a confederation of tribes living in Northern Gaul that the Romans called the Belgae. The name Belgae comes from a Proto-Celtic word meaning "to swell up (with battle rage)" and you can still see that in Belgians when we get angry, we turn red and our faces swell up ^^ Our oldest city is Tongeren and is 2000+ years old, built by the Roman Empire to try and control the surrounding tribes, who had lives there for 500+ years. So the history of Belgium dates back at least 2500 years. Fries were not invented in Belgium though even though people like to claim that without proof. Probably comes from Spain as they were the first to import potatoes and the Mediterranean was the first place to deep-fry things. They're not French either, their name comes from "to french" meaning to slice. And yes the political system is complicated but its more logical than presented here. Gemeenschappen (linguistic gov) has jurisdiction over things like education, sports, events, ... while the Regional govs control urban planning etc. The Congo was a dark time, but it wasn't a Belgian colony at the time, rather it was a private colony of king Leopold ll as the gov refused to colonize it when he asked them to do so. Not saying that Belgium is completely innocent there though. Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world today because of the Congo and more than half of the world's cut diamonds pass through it, and 80%+ of rough diamonds. Hope that clears a few things up :) always fun to see an interest in my country though!
Hello, A little addendum to all that's been said in the video. As a Belgian, I value compromise so I first want to precise that I don't want to enter any political debate which is generally pointless if it's done through youtube comments :) 1. You don't really mention that the creation of the country is a result of an international discussion that tended to make Belgium a buffer state between Germany and France. Belgium was supported by the UK in that regard. It might be interesting to point it out as to understand the complicated territory particularities. There is of course more on that subject but let's keep it simple. 2. In Brussels most people don't speak both French and Dutch. It's mainly French, the vast majority. You can find many numbers, all approaching 90%. 3. You do talk about Regions (language: Flamish-speaking, French-speaking, bilingual Bruxelles-Capital, German-speaking) and Communities (territory: Flanders, Wallonia, Bruxelles-Capital) but you don't state that Belgium is a federal State, which is the main thing ^^ 4. Glad you love Tintin :D 5. We host a part of EU buildings but also NATO's 6. We are also quite friendly with China as we built the first railway over there. 7. Congo, no comment, we all know what happened with Leopold II. 8. ABSOLUTLY NO REFENRENDA WERE PASSED IN BELGIUM : referendum is just not in the Constitution so we couldn't have passed any ;) You may refer to surveys but they are legally not binding. 9. As most royal families in Europe are cousins, our royal family also is acquainted with the brit's for instance ^^ 10. We kept on together through value of compromise ^^ Nice video ! Good job understanding Belgium to that extent and presenting it on a video, you have my best regards ! Keep up :D if you ever come to Belgium, don't hesitate to comment here, first beer is on me :D
@@RobertP.Trebor Our royal family now aren't psycho's at all. Maybe look up how our political system works in Belgium (very complicated to explain in this answer) and you'll understand why there's still a royal family.
@@astridcaestecker5420 but like how is it necesary to have those rich sons of monsters around? The govt should confiscate all their wealth and distribute it
The HRE was a large 'empire' which was in modern day Austria, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Italy mainly. It technically was a democracy were small city states were all ruled by a emperor which also Was a leader of one of these nations, he ruled until he died when a few selected city states voted for who would be emperor. city states were semi independent states which were aloud to declare wars on each other but if another country outside of the HRE declared war it would be the emperors job to protect it. The emperor could also order states to give back land they might have won in a war. The HRE is also called the 1st reich. It started because of feudalism. It was dismantled by napoleon and his empire whilst conquering Europe. I've learnt all of that from EU4
I so simpathy related to Belgium. The princess consort of Brazil Christine Orleans-bragance and Ligne is a Belgium princess. She is from Wallonia part. She is married with Prince Antonio de Orleans and Braganza, prince of Brazil.
Hi, I'm Belgian, small correction, most people don't speak both languages. The language issue is very important. And the majority of Belgians speak "vlaams" which is a Belgian style Dutch. Otherwise it's very well informed. Just as we were originally a unitary state. It was only later that we became a federal state.
Yes, the language difference is very important. Also there are different dialects in flemish (the dialect of dutch). Every Province has a dialect with each town in it pretty much also having a subdialect in that dialect of the dutch dialect. Kinda like you have British and American english, but in American english you also have like for exemple a New York accent and a Texas accent, and it's not the same at all. That's kinda like the accents here in flemish, but more... Antwerps being only for royalty and the others for regular folks. Also Antwerp is Low-key the real capital of Belgium...
In fact "French fries" are from Belgium. In WWI the belgian people served fries to the American soldiers fighting the Germans. But back in the day French was the official language of the Belgian army. And since the American soldiers didn't know where they were, and the Belgian army spoke French, they thought they were in France. But actually they were in Belgian being served Belgian fries but called them French fries. I'll never get over it :p
+MrZombieSlayer Actually it comes from 'Frenched (vegetables)" which means cut into thin strips. www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/frenched
although Barby did get one thing wrong: there was never any Scotland-style independence referendum in Belgium, only a couple legislations that turned the country into a federalized beast that it is now
He forgot to mention that most of the time we don't have a government. In 2010 we were 541 days without a government. And today (28 january 2020), we are at 385 days without government... and counting. Don't worry though, we do fine without one.
@@bettyblue7441 Our business :p Our live :p Because it is a complicate country, the politician have a lot of fight, but the poeple are doing great without them
I just hope every country in Europe including urs would start deporting illegal immigrants. All of ur money are paid in taxes but just benefits the illegals better than the natives and even I as a non European hate that.
how can it be the worst beerland ? i mean water is more expentive than beer in our pubs xD and We won the awards for best beer several times those last years did you only tried carapils ?
Appears to work? It doesn't work lmao. That's why 8 months after elections we STILL don't have a federal government AND we are 13 Billion euros in debt. Belgium is falling apart, revolution is needed ASAP.
I'm flemish, if we don't want to go bake to the netherlands is because after all the years alone we build a culture who is quite different as the one from the nerthlands, so we don't really feel from the netherlands, we only speek the same language ( exept when we use dialects because than nobody understand us).
Everything you need to know about Belize: 1. Its really small 2. It has a way lower population than the rest of Central America 3. Its inexplicably anglophonic despite being surrounded almost entirely by hispanophonic countries. 4. It used to be part of Guatemala and Guatemala is still butthurt about losing Belize. And... that's about it. That's everything you really need to know about Belize. There you go Paul, I did your work for you.
HipsterShiningArmor Belize was never a part of Guatemala. Basically: the area was claimed by Spain, but was never occupied by the Spaniards. English pirates came along and occupied the coast. Upon hearing of this, the Spaniards were upset but the English were allowed to occupy specific areas. The English kept on asking for more and more land areas to occupy. The Spaniards eventually became upset and there was a "battle" at St. George's Caye. The Spaniards were unaware of the barrier reef, and some of their ships were damaged by the reef. The Spaniards retreated. When Guatemala eventually became independent, they claimed that Spain had promised them the area that had become the British colony of British Honduras.
Andrew Bustard Yes. And they're still part of the British commonwealth meaning Elizabeth II is still technically the ultimate head of state (But doesn't carry any real influence)
U got the history all wrong! Wallonia was not a part of France. Present day Belgium was called The Southern Netherlands before the Belgian revolution. Originally all of Belgium was part of The Low Countries, but religious wars with the Spanish tore that apart. The Latin word for The Netherlands is Belgica, hence the name.
Sort of right. Belgium used to be part of the Spanish Netherlands, which included the current Netherlands. The Protestant Reformation happened, and the north turned to the Protestant side, while the south stayed Catholic like the Spanish. Many wars happened, the north broke away and became their own country. The south stayed together, eventually, since even though they spoke multiple languages they were still all Catholic. No one really cares about the religious aspect any more, so the country doesn't really make sense now.
@@jfdavis668 The south actually did want to become independet. Antwerp was the capital of The Netherlands before Amsterdam (during this time, the south was protestant except for Luxemburg)but the Spanish invaded the South and the Dutch tryed to take it back but failed(althoug a lot of people living in Antwerp fleed)to Amsterdam during this time)
you should've also mentioned that belgium is known as the battlefield of europe, as it's the most bloodsoaked piece of land in all of europe throughout history.
Not really no: Wars fought in Iraq: - Gulf war 1 & 2 - ... Wars fought in Belgium: - World War 1 & 2 - Belgian Revolution (1830 to 1831) - Napoleonic Wars (1792 to 1815) - Austrian Succession war (1740 to 1748) - Spanish Succession war (1701 to 1714) - Nine years' war (1688 to 1697) - Franco-dutch war (1672 to 1678) - Third Anglo-dutch war (1672-1674) - Thirty years' war (1618 to 1648) - Eighty years' war (1565 to 1650) - French wars of religion (1560 to 1600) - Flemish Revolt of 1487 - Flemish Revolt of 1483 - Burgundian Wars (1475ish) - Liège wars (1465 to 1468) - War of the public weal (1465) - Hundred years war (1337-1453) - Flanders peasant revolts (1325ish) - Franco-Flemish war (1300ish) - Limburg succession war (1250ish) - Feudal warfare (5th century to 12th century AD) - Vikings (850ish to 950ish) - Frankish infighting (650ish to 850ish) - Merovingian infighting (500ish to 650ish) - Rome vs. invading tribes (435 AD to 450ish) - Rome vs. Germanic tribes (60 BC to 434 AD)
did you read the 30year and 80year war in history of wars fought here? :) The complex Belgium governmental system actually served as on important base to try to restore peace in Iraq father Hussein. Cause we had to keep peace between so different groups here. In the 1970s there was the school-fight, with was for the right of education in our own mother tongues. We were on the verge of a civil war back then, luckily halted before escalation by far going political reform witch created much of our complexity but restored peace ever since in the country (although tensions of course remain somewhat ;) )
1. Belgium was not fused from a "Flanders" (not part of the Netherlands) and " "Wallonia" (not part of France) but has been a consistent geographical unit since the 16th century (part of Spanish and later Austrian Empire); 2. The Belgian flag pre-dates the German one; 3. Which are these multiple independence/secession referenda you talk about ?; 4. No mention of Belgian beer ?
technically he has alot of power as he has to accept the new government and new ministers, but if he refuses to accept them, the politicians use a special thing to remove the king his powers for 1day wich happend once before in history, also our king is the head of military even tho in reality he has nothing to say.
You have 1 thing wrong. France and the Nederlands never had "a son". The name Belgium was given by the Roman emperor Caesar and first ruled by the Romans. Then the area was ruled by the Franks. Then the provinces more or less ruled themselves. Then the area was inherited and ruled by Burgundy. Then the area was inherited and ruled by Spain. Then the area was inherited and ruled by Austria. Then it was ruled by France. And then it was ruled by the Dutch. And in 1830 it became independent after the people of the North (Flemish) and South (Walloons) united themselves as Belgians, against the Dutch. Now, how can I as a Flemish guy explain Belgium??? Well, keep in mind, Flemish aren't Dutch and Walloons aren't French. And even if we sometimes drive each other a little nuts, Walloons are our best friends! And vice versa! We are like a "Yin and Yang" cake, topped off with a whip of Brussels and a piece of Germany on the side!!! And if anybody tries to divide us, he has another thing coming! You can be damn sure of that!! We are Belgians!!! ;) But anyway, i liked your movie, it was funny as hell! ;)
Way to go. Why would we ever want to split, we're so small already, and we've been through so much together. If only everyone was able to speak both languages, and if our politicians would stop being such idiots, most issues would resolve themselves. We'll get there eventually. Meanwhile, let's all enjoy our beers and fries. Big up can jouw zuiderlijke landgenoot
Verdun1916 waw that's beautiful, your message was really beautiful and so true. We zijn beste vrienden "until the dead"!! Dank je so much! I love you guys, Ik houd jullie zo graag ! Btw Ik ben walloon ;)
i'm walloon and super happy to see your comment :) i also thing that even if walloon and flemish cannot always get along, we absolutely cannot live without eachother :)
Strawberries are from the region I live (Hoogstraten). I once went to Norway and saw a fruitstand with our strawberries and Japanese people were taking pictures with it. That sure was funny. We have to admit a secret though. Since we live on the border with the Netherlands a lot of the strawberries are also grown a bit across the border. No big deal, as long as they carry our name it's fine.
Belgium was not formed out of the Flemish and Walloon regions. At that time (1830), they were just undefined linguistical zones (no political identity). Both regions had historically been part of other countries, but mostly together. They were called the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands throughout the 16th to 18th centuries and governed, mostly with the exception of the Prince-bishopry of Liège. The historic county of Flanders is geographically different from the current linguistic and political region of Flanders (which consists of most the county of Flanders, parts of the duchy of Brabant and the Belgian part of Limburg). The regions came to prominence after WW I and mostly since the 1960's, when they gained political prominence. Also, the idea of reattachment to either France or the Netherlands has been a goal for minor political groups, but has not of yet been a subject of a referendum with the population. It was mostly the French-speaking elite in both Flanders and Wallonia who wanted independence of the Netherlands in 1830, because they were not allowed representation in Dutch parliament because of their language, despite being the richer and more industrialised region in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Haha I'm Belgian and yeah, our political system is incredibly confusing! I remember when I was around fourteen, we had to learn government stuff in class and we all struggled a LOT! Haha But that's part of what makes our country great ya know, we're a country of over complicated weirdos, just the way I like it! Although: that picture was not a real Belgian waffle but what Americans like to call Belgian waffle! (And how could you not talk about our beers, seriously?)
Unfortunately that's a complete misunderstanding of belgian history. The only period when Wallonia (and actually Flanders too) were part of France is the revolution and Empire (1789/1792-1815). Before that it forms the Low Countries (in personal union with the crown of Spain then part of the HER with a special status). After that it forms with the actual Netherlands (with separated during the religious conflicts of the 16th as the United Provinces) the Realm of the Low Countries till 1830. Todays administrative divisions is the result of a process starting at the end of the 20th century. So there are explications to the existence of Belgium : it's a more or less unified territory (apart from Liège ecclesiastic principalty) since the Burgundy dukes in the 15th.
Congratulations, high level of info. The most important thingsto retain from Belgium: 1."We like to find complex solutions for simple problems. Complex problems are ignored that long, untill they disapeare by themselves" 2. the best products are made in Belgium,but sold by the Dutch.
French fries are actually Belgian. They come from Wallonia, but when other countries heard of them they thought they were French (since they spoke French) so now they are called French fries. (You're welcome :P)
Bad guys: haha! We come to Belgium to overthrow your government haha 😜 Belgium: Which one? 🤔 Bad guys: What do you mean which one?? 😣 Belgium: Well we got like 4 government and a monarchy soo... 🙄 Bad guys: Err ok we'll start with the French. French are easy haha! 👌😁 Belgium: Well ok you'll have to fill in this application form and we'll process your request in due time *gives a mountain stack of papers* Bad guys: This is ridiculous! 😰 We demand to speak to your leaders now! 😭 Belgium: Er.. We don't really know ourselves... 😓 Bad guys: alright we had enough. 😡 We'll invade France instead. France is easy haha! 😋👍 *Moments later* France: sigh... get your yellow jackets boys. People forget we invented the guillotine 😒
You are totally doing what I was going to do with these country videos. Thankfully, I can cross those off my list as you are doing a fine job. For now, I will focus on Presidential elections.
Sir Bob haha Karl Subjtanic, if you ever try the Westmalle tripel (belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/westmalle-tripel) or the Rochefort 10 (@2360), you will never drink any German beer again... Haha, German beer, you're such a joker!!!
Great video, thank you for your work and the dynamic concept ! However as a Belgian living in Brussels and from both Flemish and Wallonian ancestors I must contradict you on the point of the "artificial country" and the fact that lot of people want to go back in their "neighboring countries". It is a fact that belgium has not the same background as Germany for example, where the nation has really made the state. In belgium we often say instead that the state has made the nation. It is also a fact that the identities inside Belgium are strong. Don't tell a inhabitant of Brussels that he is Walloon for example. Despite these facts, the cohabitation of the cultures (not so different between them anyway) and the languages makes the belgian nation a very open-minded nation, also very creative and probably the world masters in the art of compromise and conceding. Brussels and the student circles in Belgium are interesting places to see how powerful the Belgian culture and identity is. In Brussels when we see a Flemmish we talk to him in his language and when we see a french speaking person we talk to him in his language also, this is not a problem at all. Come to any university and you will see how the Belgian traditions are well preserved. We have a love for preserving the cultures. Some politics try to infuse flemish and walloon nationalism by using the financial problems to their advantage (and often forget the Brussels inhabitants who feel appart) but in the population, we do not hate each other like the media try to make everyone believe. The big majority of the Belgians want to stay Belgians because they feel as Belgians, how would it be possible without a sense of nationnalism ? Our sense of nationalism is just more discreet, more respectful of the other cultures. The french people who think that Belgium is just a small France are unsupportable because their well known nationalism is not respectful of the Belgian culture for example. Finally I can assure you that no referendum ever took place on the question of knowing if the people want "to go back" to France (in which we only stayed for 23 years) or to the Netherlands (with whom we only stayed for 15 years until the revolution against them), because any referendum in Belgium is unconstitutional due to the fact that the constitution doesn't authorizes them. I hope my English doesn't sound rude because I just wanted to clarify this point. I hope you will continue your videos and I want to thank you for the quality of them !
This is not exactly the situation. Linguistic boundaries aren't always representative of the reality on the ground. Linguistic boundaries in belgium were created in 1921. At this time the idea was that boundaries would evolve with the number of speakers in the different towns. However in 1962 they were fixed once and for all in the constitution after long debates. When the boundaries were settled, many people initially flemish became waloon and the same in the other way. Boundaries are often artificial. So how can we ignore today that in some flemish municipality like Linkebeek, around Brussels, there is 80% of french speaking people ? This is a a bit less than the proportion of french speaking people in the bilingual region of Brussels... but it is not officially a bilingual municipality. The problem isn't that those people wouldn't want to speak in dutch, the fact is that we must adapt the administration to them because it is in the art of compromise. The same reasoning must be applied for Comines-Warneton in the other way and plenty of other municipality. That said, when you talk about walloons (the walloons are only the inhabitants of Wallonia, not all the french speaking people) you're right, it is true that they often do not speak flemmish very well ! But they know that their language isn't the only one in belgium and it is already something interresting to be more open minded i think !
+Hugaufre I'm sorry but as a Flemish person I believe it has gone too far. I'm taught French why can't they be taught Dutch. In some city's with obvious Flemish names if you go in and speak Dutch you will get a look of pure hatred. Sometimes in the city hall you're not even allowed to speak your native language without getting a comment or look. Some people I know have even experienced that they went in to the city hall speaking Dutch and the people behind the counter said:" another one of those stupid Flemish people. " I have the experience that Flemmings would rather have independence and if it was up to us I think we would have it. Those strikes for examples. We haven't been striking and now they're going to during exam periods. We're breaking apart slowly but steadily.
Don't you think that french speaking people have exactly the same struggle ? We all have stories like the ones you said. Please, don't fall in the easyness of these stories to construct your opinion. The big majority of french speaking people are completely opposed to these strikes. Each community has it's defaults, in Walloonia it's certainly the laziness and those permanent strikes but in flanders is it necessary that I speak about the vlaams belang, a racist political party now third leading party of flanders in the surveys ? I believe that we both have to realize that no one is more a victim than the other. I understand that you certainly feel flemish at first, and that the majority of flemish people also do, but I also think that the attitude of blaming the other community is a dangerous way to resolve the problems. En ik ga akkoord met jou, ik denk dat het een absurditeit is dat het neederlands niet by alle waalse scholen opgelegd is.
one big mistake, Wallonia was also part of the Netherlands when Belgium became independent. But the revolution against the Dutch monarchie was a farce that was initiated by the staging of an opera (De stomme van Portici / La Muette de Portici). At first, the Belgians wanted to establish a republic like in the US, but the surrounding countries did not agree, so they made the first crooked Belgian compromise. It became a republic headed by a king.
Leandro Maccarini Meneguzzi I think, yes. I live in France and I can say that French don't even understand why in USA people call fries "french fries", because everyone knows in France and Belgium that fries are from Belgium.
Noannelle Sky Vous savez, je n'ai appris qu'il y a très peu de temps que Tintin et Largo Winch étaient belges et pas français (oui honte à moi honte à moi, je suis désolée pour les amis belges, quel inculte personne je suis, quel affront!) , et vivant en France depuis un bout de temps maintenant, j'en ai pris un sale coup, mais pour les frites, je le savais! :-D
Сара Ивановић American soldiers first saw french fries during First World War when they were on western front in Belgium. People there spoke french, so they think they were French. Hence the name french fries.
You forgot a lot of things... Like: -Beer -BeNeLux -WW2 (or 1 idk) -monuments (Atomium, manneke pis,...) -Sport - ... And you have the hystory parts wrong.
7:44, they didn't choose, they got a German prince who was married to a french noble (that died) and remarried an English princess/noble. Germany, France and England had to be in agreement for this head of state. Also they created Belgium to keep the French from conquering Europe, again (Napoleon).
Great vidéo ! I actually live in Lille (France), 10 km away from Belgium , I think most of the things you said where accurate. :=) BTW French and Belgians (Walloons especially) really like to have fun at each others. Do you know why a Belgian always takes off his glasses when he has to take a breath test ? Because it's 2 glasses less :)
Walloon wasn't part of France when Belgium was formed. It was also a part of the Netherlands. It was briefly part of France at the end of the 18th century, but that was also the case for Flanders at the time. As far as I know, Walloon and Flanders have been part of the same country for around 500 years, so even before they became independent together.
Actually, Flanders have been part of France for a longer time than Wallonia! Since most of Wallonia has been part the German Saint-Empire for centuries.
Fun fact: Belgium used to own a part of Guatemala at Santo Tomas (after failing to diplomatically colonise Texas) and a part of Guinee at the Rio Núnez river.
As a Belgian who studied Belgian law, I can say this was incredibly accurate (except BHV is split now making it even more complicated). I am stunned at how well you understood our country, you probably did a better job of explaining this mess than most Belgians. Congrats!
Belgium did not occupy Congo at the beginning but our second king did Leopold II because he wanted a place where he could do whatever he wanted but then he got a lot of problems so he “gave Congo To Belgium”
![NLE Choppa - Or What ft. 41 (Orchestra Mix) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/biOFASEgSOM/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm from Belgium and even I don't understand our politics.
Niemand verstaat ze...
Same
inderdaad
i don't think anyone understands our politics... not even the polititians...
Belgium is mainly about turtletaxes and stuff. Like... Sugar tax, solar panel tax, alcohol tax and even taxes on wat you earn from your job (RSZ).
In Belgian there's a saying "If you understand Belgian political system, it means they explained it to you wrongly"
Sounds about right
I didn't know Belgian was a language
Seems right
Lol
@@Lucas_Ficz I dont think the "Belgian" meant to be specifically a language, but rather a terms for what Belgium had - poltical system as stated.
Thank god he didn't forget the most important thing: Fries! Are not! From France!!!
Personally I never think of France when I think of Fries. I think either of Belgium or the Netherlands :D Joppy Sauce for the win!
There seemed to be a difference between french chips and belgian fries or something like that
@@dr_j0nes you know it!!! Preach!
France actually invented it but they couldn’t do it and belgium took it over made it good but like totally changed but like the idea came from France
@@noraxxx6342 Nope
Came here to learn about Belgium, leaving totally confused.
So, he explained well
Same, mn hoofd ontploft jong
The country is confusing so that's normal that ur confused xD
im from belguim and even im confused
i am from belgium, don't worry... i think even the politicians don't really get it to be honest.
Nothing about Belgian beers? That’s a major part of their culture
more like chocolate
Beers, chocolate, wafles and fries are the only thing that make belgium a country
@@fablb9006 abruti.
@@fablb9006 Belgian history goes all the way back to the roman empire so you are wrong
@@MegaApiapi
Dude, it's just a joke.
I learned more about my country than I did during my studies
fk ing waar
(true)
So go n study....
@@eyan1114(almost) Everyone in Belgium would learn more from this then from school, they really don’t learn you that much about Belgium except some important stuff.
@@maticelieben7768Ok....
Well , you are just a vassal of The French at the end.
1. I am from Belgium and I don't even get the politics
2. Tintin = Kuifje in Dutch
3. Where my fellow Belgians at?
Here
Hier
Here! Long live Belgium!
Hallo!
Vlaanderen boven!
Why does nobody ever mention Adolphe Sax, designer of the saxophone?
It’s “just” an instrument i guess.
But plastic is a BIG invention!
@@maticelieben7768 i am from belgium and didn't know this. i thought e invented blues but we also created plastic.
Wasn't he born in Dinant ?
Idk rutger
Hey Rutger we have the same names
As a Dutch person living in Antwerp (Flanders) I have given up on understanding Belgium.
Join the club! (St.Niklaas here)
indy smet sint niklaas en de rest is parking
Shanty van den Wijngaard the same but i love it (Ottignie Louvain la neuve)
Hela Schunnebroek is geen parking ma Antwerpen wel 😂😂
ik denk dat niemand dat begrijpt buiten politiekers
Logic stops when Belgium starts
What do u mean¿??
That's richt mi broda
Waut Dooghe I know xD
Waut Dooghe 😂
Belgen waren m.n. katholiek. Nederland calvinistisch. Was wel een dingetje in die tijd.
This guy has taught me more about my own country in 10mins than my school did in 6 years...
Same.
lol you must not have been paying attention in school.
Not that i blame you. Very easy to zone out when the political BULLSHIT comes up.
detaart Nope we legit didn't get taught at least 50% of what he said at school
+Nils Cassiers Wow, seriously? What kind of school do you go to? I mean, I learned all these things in my last years of elementary school and in middle school.
S. Mukobo-Pandu Somewhere in Antwerp haha, but that doens't mean I didn't know most of the stuff, I mean, most of these are basic knowledge for Belgians
I'm a Belgian and I'm very offended because you forgot the most important thing. WE HAVE THE BEST BEER!!!!
As a Dutchman I fully agree!
JUPILER!
@@urban_stories cara pils
Belgian beer is more campus than German beer.
Dude, i qould love to go to Belgium only to eat fries and chocolate all the day
In Belgium, we go from a solution to a problem
Provocateur nah they're a bit loud..
Seppe De Coninck spreek voor u eigen over het weed gedeelte ;)
F4Wildcat fooock youuu dolphiiiiiin , ur avatar
but then, where would you import your weed from?
(i don't get the belgium-dutch weed trade, it gets grown in belgium illegally, shipped to the netherlands to get sold legally, then bought by belgians to be taken back over the border.
@Provocateur no
Me as a Flemish person. I laughed so hard with how you pronnounced Brussel Halle-Vilvoorde....
It's a bit annoying that he made a lot of mistakes in the subject though. It's definitely not a French zone xd.
The Francophones keep migrating to the area though.
@Kira Van Troyen ik ook
@@r.v.b.4153 The problem is that BHV is in flander, but there are many people who moved (not migrate) there because brussels was too expensive, so yes, there are more french speaking or even people who don't even speak french nor dutch there than dutch people.
Me to
True, I'm from Brussels and as soon as you come into Brussel's borders everyone speak flemish :p
It sucks that he skipped over known Belgian monuments or inventions. Belgium may be small but it definitely has left a big mark in history.
yea.. i was like: Y THE FUCC U NOT TALKIN BOUT DA ATOMIUM!!!11!1!1!11!1!1!111!!1!!11!!!111!!11!11!1
You are so right!!!
@Get Banged no probelm
Or the big bang theory 😊
Or the electric car
Barbs: "Belgium is divided into three regions..."
My Latin-traumatised brain: "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres..."
I am from Argentina, and I studied that text too in my latin classes.
OMG 😂
Thta's ma boi Caesar
I also had that tekst just some weeks ago!!!!!
Curiosly, there was a Roman province called Gallia Belgica
"Belgium is a beautiful city"-
Donald Trump, 2015/16.
I think he meant to say Brussels.
i am Belgian and lived for a few months in Orange County LA. Some Americans thought Belgium was the Capital of Brussels.... Lol BTW i loved living over there...
Trump is my favourite singer
And he said "Brussels is like a hellhole" before xD
Viktor6665 Brussels is a bad neighborhood.
As someone living in Belgium, I can say this video only touches the tip of the iceberg in terms of how complicated Belgium is.
Vraetzught he forgot the Atomium
Haha true, i mean how lany "ministers" and "partijen" are there, an the period of i think 4 years? We had no government
isn't that typical for our country? to make things difficult and complicated?
What language is more useful in Belgium ? French or Dutch ?
+xxdulce
What do you mean by that ?
For work ? undoubtedly Dutch, as the economical heart of Belgium is Flanders (To the great annoyance of my fellow Walloons => long story short, Wallonia has still not recovered from the fall of its heavy industry ... and thanks to the buffoons acting as politicians in the region, full recovery is not going to happen soon, sadly), even through French would allow you to have a chance in France, a significantly larger job market.
To visit ? I would say that historical Flemish cities are more beautiful than their Wallonian counterparts, while for landscape its the other way around ... but you should be able to go by with just english.
He forgot belgiums biggest joke. Our minister of public health
Hihi good one
Nah, for me as German, the Blitzkrieg is the funniest thing at Belgium
no you guys don't understand
our minister of *public health* is *OBESE* bruh
let that sink in
and you also forget that a decade ago, during a small interview, the reporter asked the minister if he knew the national anthem and he sang the Marseillaise.
I m belgian and thats true 😂😂😂
Just correcting a little thing, Wallonië isn't flat... Flanders is flat
It kinda is for the northern part
You are flat !
@@simvreux no
More like limburg is flat
Ye
Belgium won't split man. Flanders has a love-hate relationship with Holland (honestly, Flemmings will NEVER agree to be part of the Netherlands, we would hate it) and although there are political problems between Flanders and Wallonie, the citizens themselves don't hate eachother (which the media likes us to believe).
Josie B True that. My best friend is a Walloon and I am from Flanders so...
Josie B Let it be known. Peace.
So true! I live in Ghent, but most of the time I work in Wallonia. I kind of like it there more 😜
So yeah, I'm Belgian, not Flemish
Josie B ik heb niets tegen walen. maar de accenten van hollanders zijn... speciaal
VolvenIV
Don't rly care much at the moment
OMG now people will know about us
FINALLY
Alicia This is the firt video I see about Belgium
Alicia yee im belgium!
Waffles
You don't want your country popular lol
Belgium was created after the Belgium revolt , Flanders and walonia both where part of the Netherlands
You mean the other half called Flanders was from Netherlands
would be great if flanders could just unite again with the Netherlands, I'd love to call Amsterdam a city of my country lol
Albania Ball Both Wallonia and Flanders were part of the Netherlands
Thank u
no it wasnt
I am an English truck driver, I spent loads of my life passing through Belgium, of the all the time I spent travelling around Europe, Belgium is the place I miss the most, Antwerp is fun, the belgian people are friendly and fun to drink with, they are lovely and a bit mental. Of the 32 countries on 4 continents I've been, my lovely belgie is my favourite.
french fries are called french fries because some english guy was in walonie and discovered the food and thougt he was in france because of the language!
BraveFox no beacause france is fake country
"france is fake country" champion
I call them Belgian fries :-D
Well. French fries is from Belgium and France.
The actual "form" of the fries come from Belgium, but the recipe with oil and potato come from France.
Belgium know the french fries because a French immigrant who lived before in Paris.
The way to eat french fries is different in Belgium and France, the french fries in France are eaten in accompaniment. The Belgians eat their fries as a main food.
That is actually not true. French is a way of cutting food
8:02 don't you dare to call it french fries ever again
french fries as in "frenched" fries, -> in stukjes gesneden
@@Tyranwyn Americans speak of French fries, a term that appears in print for the first time in 1856 in the cookery book Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren. However, this translation causes confusion, with which it seems to indicate that French fries are originally French. However, the name comes from the Old English verb to French, which means cutting lengthwise.
@@IanAmeye Thank you sir, I can now live in peace.
@@zineke gotchu bro
TZIEK FRIETN
Verdomme! I didn't know we had a chinese colony!
Tijd om ze terug te veroveren
Weer wat bijgeleerd dan hé!
Ik ook nie hoezo zelfs hahaha ik heb echt veeeel geleerd over mijn eigen land
@@JustMe-zn3wf leer een beetje spellen lol
@@JustMe-zn3wf ah ja een beetje respect ben je ook vergeten
I were in Belgium back in 2006. Had the best highway food i have ever tasted and the chocolate were amazing ofc. Huge respect from Denmark to Belgium 🇧🇪🇩🇰
Love back
Ah huge respect to Denmark too
Some would say that the highway food is better than the highway itself
Belgian surrealism strikes again, I guess
Your English m8
@@Mary-pc1jn ?
French fries are a Belgian dish, it was a mistake of the American soldiers in World War I. The American soldiers ate for the first time French Fries at the border of France in Flanders but because we speak in Belgium French to, the thought that it were French soldiers but in were Belgian soldiers.
Wrong. That's a nationalistic claim from belgians.
Can you back this up ?
It should also be noted that, shortly before the potato became popular in France, the Franco-Austrian war was going on (also known as the War of Austrian Succession), much of which took place around modern day Belgium. So it’s possible that the French soldiers were introduced to fries by the Belgians at this time and, a couple decades later when the potato became popular in France, these former soldiers then introduced the preparation method to the rest of France. Or it’s possible the French came up with the idea on their own and spread them to Belgium around the same time; or that both came up with the idea independently.
@@romain6275 I can actually back him up on that, and you can easily find the same answer on the internet so I won't have to write a whole essay for you
Romain Paul No it’s not, it’s simply a fact.
Our little brothers down south, love to belgium from the Netherlands
Fiery Gaming love to you 😊😁
Dank u .
Hi big brother don’t watch us
Wait, there so long ago. You the dutch was the belgiup
Fiery Gaming Netherlands, Our little brother down south. Love from the north 🇸🇪. Skål!!
I visited Bruges around 4 years ago and its still one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. Hi from the UK 🇬🇧🇧🇪
J'ai visité Coventry il y a à peu près trois ans de cela et j'ai trouvé que c'était une des plus charmantes villes où je suis allé.
Salut de France 🇫🇷🇬🇧
I live in bruges
I'm sorry to say it but Brussels isn't the same anymore...it changed alot and it started like 10 years ago when the ppl from Marocco and Turkey came to Belgium (mainly Brussels). Its like you walk in another country if you're from Belgium and go to Brussels 😢
@@quintensteurbaut3022 brussels was like 75% french and 25% dutch now its 5% french and 5 % dutch the rest is just arabic and the rest of people from other countries, Belgium aint the belgium anymore like before
Thanks for saying it, I'm from bruges. Only don't take the risk to ride with a car in the centre of bruges= to dangerous with the Asian tourists
I feel less informed about Belgium after watching this.
Imagine living in the country. The more i discover the more it feels like I'm living in a made up country. And I've lived in Belgium my whole life!
here in belgium we get less informed every day about our country
Is this understandable? Because I gave up when I was about 5
Don't we all?
He didnt mentioned Eden Hazard nor Kevin De Bruyne .___.
Many of the *Dutch* names were pronounced in a bad French way... lol.
Yes they where
BHV :p
He cava manneke😂
Well I am from Belgium and I thought our country wasn't that hard to understand. Until I saw this.... We messed up big time :p
We love laughing about how it sucks and it is so complicated
Eh, I think the only real issue are the weird enclaves.
Shari Van Der Haegen something against my country
Hey, we had no government for over a year, and we still did fine, so SOMETHING must be put well together ^^
We actually have more governments that were described here xD and the fact that back then, the flemish didn't speak french is quite wrong, since we were oppressed by the french for a long time (effects still shows itself in administration etc)
As far as i know there's never been an official referendum about splitting Belgium up.
Er zijn twee politieke partijen 1 in Vlaanderen en 1 in Wallonië die willen scheiden
@@janodeblauwer8692 wallonië wil dat niet als wij weg gaan van wallonië san is wallonië fuckt
@@Aaron_broeckaert da is waar maar ze willen dan wel met Frankrijk vereniging
@@janodeblauwer8692 ofc anders houd hun overheid het nie vol
@@Aaron_broeckaert Ben daar niet zeker van. Misschien zal vlaanderen falen zonder Wallonië. Vergeet niet dat wij de balans houden (Rechts vlaanderen, links wallonië).
I'm French and even I say french fries are Belgian. And I have a headache.
The BELGIAN fries was invented something like 400 years ago,... on (later) Belgian soil. Problem,... ? Belgium didn't exist not yet, so they call it French fries,... and of course,.. REAL Belgians don't like that.....
In the Netherlands they TRY to make Belgian fries and for soooo many years,... but until now, they STILL cannot do it.....
@@willemlambert5019 the country doesn’t exist at this time but the belgian community does so technically we are (belgium) the creator of the french fries
@@willemlambert5019 Correct...
But the french factually make fries that are less good than ours.
@@willemlambert5019 At the time of the discovery of Fries, Americans troops came in and thought they were in France ( they were actually in Walloonia ) because everyone spoke French, they decided to name them French Fries because of that.
Tu te trompes mon ami
French fries are def from Belgium. The "french" does not reflect on the country of origin, but on the way they are prepared. The fries get frenched, so it's called french(ed) fries.
I think you might be wrong here. During world war 1 the official language of the Belgian army was French, so American soldiers stationed in Belgium called the fries, French fries
+EnjOy! yes.. lately that story has been going around. might also be true
NOPE! the reason they are called french fries is becouse the wallonians speak french. So american soldiers tought they were french when there not. And I know couse i'm Belgian.
+Bluefrog2000 grappig dat ge zegt "I know because I am Belgian"..precies of dat het ons word geleerd zoals een nationaal volkslied..lol
"it is called" by whom? In Belgium they speak French, Dutch (Flemish) and whatever that weird language is they speak in the east. So they don't use an English term for it. Americans or English (but probably Americans) gave them the name french fries probably because they heard people speak french when they ate them....
I have some friends from Belgium, She was Flemish and he was from Walloon. They met in college here in the US. She doesn't know French and he doesn't know Dutch. Their common language is English. They ended up getting married and moved to Brussels after living a few years here in the US. They have a kid now and the kid had to learn Dutch, French and English. English is still the only common language in their household.
+ikeknights That's the most Belgian thing I've ever heard. :)
+ikeknights Almost all Flemish people speak French. I'm just 14 and I speak Dutch, French and English. It is very true that the people from Walloon and a big part of Brussels people don't speak Dutch.
+Emiel Verbeeren Actually, it's not anymore. Recent studies have shown that it has become the other way around. Walloons speak better dutch than Flemish speak French.
(Ik geef het zelf niet graag toe, maar mijn eigen ervaring komt hier wel mee overeen.)
Samuel R. When we have exchange with French students, it's the other way around. Normally when we go to Walloon we speak French and when they come to us, they NEED to speak Dutch but they usually just keep talking French to us, it's really frustrating XD. I'm sure there are Walloon people who speak better Dutch than the other way around.
+Samuel R. My experience with belgians has been very different from what you say. My flemish friends speak perfect french while the walloons are like "Flems? Je m'en fou!"
The Dutch/Flanders rivalry is similar to the French/Waloon rivalry.
True. We have rivalry in sport events until either is out. Then we support each other for the rest of the tournament.
For French, ALL Belgium is a part of France.
No, in France we don't have rivality with wallonia and Bruxelles. We think that all Belgium is french.
@@Maxmax-vk7jh we're not even that close to france modern day?? We have stronger economic, political and militaristic ties to the netherlands and luxembourg. We're almost a country because we're so close together. The benelux was the foundation for the european union, also what has flanders to do with france? We don't even speak the same language, btw there are more dutch speakers in belgium than french speakers.
@@Maxmax-vk7jh and that's why Flemish people HATE French people
There's a few misconceptions here.
Belgium is not an artificial country without a former identity, we trace our history back thousands of years to a confederation of tribes living in Northern Gaul that the Romans called the Belgae. The name Belgae comes from a Proto-Celtic word meaning "to swell up (with battle rage)" and you can still see that in Belgians when we get angry, we turn red and our faces swell up ^^ Our oldest city is Tongeren and is 2000+ years old, built by the Roman Empire to try and control the surrounding tribes, who had lives there for 500+ years. So the history of Belgium dates back at least 2500 years.
Fries were not invented in Belgium though even though people like to claim that without proof. Probably comes from Spain as they were the first to import potatoes and the Mediterranean was the first place to deep-fry things. They're not French either, their name comes from "to french" meaning to slice.
And yes the political system is complicated but its more logical than presented here. Gemeenschappen (linguistic gov) has jurisdiction over things like education, sports, events, ... while the Regional govs control urban planning etc.
The Congo was a dark time, but it wasn't a Belgian colony at the time, rather it was a private colony of king Leopold ll as the gov refused to colonize it when he asked them to do so. Not saying that Belgium is completely innocent there though. Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world today because of the Congo and more than half of the world's cut diamonds pass through it, and 80%+ of rough diamonds.
Hope that clears a few things up :) always fun to see an interest in my country though!
Hello,
A little addendum to all that's been said in the video. As a Belgian, I value compromise so I first want to precise that I don't want to enter any political debate which is generally pointless if it's done through youtube comments :)
1. You don't really mention that the creation of the country is a result of an international discussion that tended to make Belgium a buffer state between Germany and France. Belgium was supported by the UK in that regard. It might be interesting to point it out as to understand the complicated territory particularities. There is of course more on that subject but let's keep it simple.
2. In Brussels most people don't speak both French and Dutch. It's mainly French, the vast majority. You can find many numbers, all approaching 90%.
3. You do talk about Regions (language: Flamish-speaking, French-speaking, bilingual Bruxelles-Capital, German-speaking) and Communities (territory: Flanders, Wallonia, Bruxelles-Capital) but you don't state that Belgium is a federal State, which is the main thing ^^
4. Glad you love Tintin :D
5. We host a part of EU buildings but also NATO's
6. We are also quite friendly with China as we built the first railway over there.
7. Congo, no comment, we all know what happened with Leopold II.
8. ABSOLUTLY NO REFENRENDA WERE PASSED IN BELGIUM : referendum is just not in the Constitution so we couldn't have passed any ;) You may refer to surveys but they are legally not binding.
9. As most royal families in Europe are cousins, our royal family also is acquainted with the brit's for instance ^^
10. We kept on together through value of compromise ^^
Nice video ! Good job understanding Belgium to that extent and presenting it on a video, you have my best regards ! Keep up :D if you ever come to Belgium, don't hesitate to comment here, first beer is on me :D
Hey how come the royal family is still a thing... considering Leopold was basically Hitler. Like why let those psychos still have any wealth or power?
@@RobertP.Trebor Our royal family now aren't psycho's at all. Maybe look up how our political system works in Belgium (very complicated to explain in this answer) and you'll understand why there's still a royal family.
@@astridcaestecker5420 so what everyone just forgets that the kings grandpa was a worse version of Hitler?
@@RobertP.Trebor no that's not what I'm saying.
@@astridcaestecker5420 but like how is it necesary to have those rich sons of monsters around? The govt should confiscate all their wealth and distribute it
Imagine doing this series 250 years ago, and trying to understand the Holy Roman Empire.
rataflechera Jesus, why?
HRE was a mess
The HRE was a large 'empire' which was in modern day Austria, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Italy mainly. It technically was a democracy were small city states were all ruled by a emperor which also Was a leader of one of these nations, he ruled until he died when a few selected city states voted for who would be emperor. city states were semi independent states which were aloud to declare wars on each other but if another country outside of the HRE declared war it would be the emperors job to protect it. The emperor could also order states to give back land they might have won in a war. The HRE is also called the 1st reich. It started because of feudalism. It was dismantled by napoleon and his empire whilst conquering Europe. I've learnt all of that from EU4
rataflechera Not holy, nor Roman, nor an empire
rataflechera rip mind
Belgian girl here, You learned me more in 10min than my school does... PS you forgot the beer
And the Atomium
Ellen Van de Voorde you're beautiful and your country seems very nice and pretty :)
Ellen Van de Voorde He did something wrong. He said Belgium is flat but he did not mention that Walon is not flat.
I so simpathy related to Belgium. The princess consort of Brazil Christine Orleans-bragance and Ligne is a Belgium princess. She is from Wallonia part. She is married with Prince Antonio de Orleans and Braganza, prince of Brazil.
One of the most important aspects of our culture
Hi, I'm Belgian, small correction, most people don't speak both languages. The language issue is very important. And the majority of Belgians speak "vlaams" which is a Belgian style Dutch. Otherwise it's very well informed. Just as we were originally a unitary state. It was only later that we became a federal state.
If u have school in Flanders u have to learn French and German but if u live in Walloon u can chose between Dutch (Flemish) or German
@@ericb9882 no. In flanders you chose between french or english. But "vlaams" speak often french en english.
Yes, the language difference is very important. Also there are different dialects in flemish (the dialect of dutch). Every Province has a dialect with each town in it pretty much also having a subdialect in that dialect of the dutch dialect. Kinda like you have British and American english, but in American english you also have like for exemple a New York accent and a Texas accent, and it's not the same at all. That's kinda like the accents here in flemish, but more... Antwerps being only for royalty and the others for regular folks. Also Antwerp is Low-key the real capital of Belgium...
@@therealbeausmellersbs
Well I didn't have a choice: I learned both English and French. I thought that was mandatory in all of flanders...
You didn't mention Belgian beer. How could you not mention Belgian beer, the best beer in the world?
damn ..now i have to dislike the vid !...thnx bro :p
thats because Belgian beer is NOT the best beer in the world
Öööhm don't forget the German beer you're not even the second Country of the best beers in the World because of Austria.
1. GERMANY
@@pommes0078 in your dreams Belgian beer is de best
@@Aaron_broeckaert 😂😂😂😂😂 ask the whoole world
In fact "French fries" are from Belgium. In WWI the belgian people served fries to the American soldiers fighting the Germans. But back in the day French was the official language of the Belgian army. And since the American soldiers didn't know where they were, and the Belgian army spoke French, they thought they were in France. But actually they were in Belgian being served Belgian fries but called them French fries. I'll never get over it :p
+MrZombieSlayer Yes, the right awser!
+MrZombieSlayer Actually it comes from 'Frenched (vegetables)" which means cut into thin strips. www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/frenched
Why do the British people call them "chips" then?
It's just a different way of calling it, in french & US english chips are fried potato slices.
You forgot to mention that they want to split Belgium because flanders and walloon are just so different from each other
That's bulshitt
9:38 that is exactly what he says there, just with fancier words
yeah!!
although Barby did get one thing wrong: there was never any Scotland-style independence referendum in Belgium, only a couple legislations that turned the country into a federalized beast that it is now
Who is "they"? Belgian people? I'm from Flanders, and we don't want to split!
He forgot to mention that most of the time we don't have a government.
In 2010 we were 541 days without a government.
And today (28 january 2020), we are at 385 days without government... and counting.
Don't worry though, we do fine without one.
what you are doing without a government?
@@bettyblue7441 nothing
@@bettyblue7441 Our business :p Our live :p Because it is a complicate country, the politician have a lot of fight, but the poeple are doing great without them
I just hope every country in Europe including urs would start deporting illegal immigrants. All of ur money are paid in taxes but just benefits the illegals better than the natives and even I as a non European hate that.
Homer Simpson: Stupid Flanders
The people of Flanders: What did you say?
Dutch people: sit down
soviet people : shut up like netherlands says
*What you call me?!*
The poeple of flanders: wat heb je gezegd?
@@GZoneChannel eerder: wa zeide
okee now you just made me mad you forgot the most important elementy of belgium our BEER !!!!!
He actually mentioned the chocolat but he didnt told anything about the brewerys and the beers :) but otherwise its a pretty awsome video :)
boy belgium is the worst beerland
how can it be the worst beerland ? i mean water is more expentive than beer in our pubs xD and We won the awards for best beer several times those last years did you only tried carapils ?
Theoempire haha aldiii
Theoempire
he's right, I live in Belgium and it's a mess that appears to work..
a mess with fries, waffles, chocolate, beer, street lamps at every highway and bad internet in the German Speaking Community
Working is an overstatement tho
A massive overstatement
Appears to work? It doesn't work lmao. That's why 8 months after elections we STILL don't have a federal government AND we are 13 Billion euros in debt. Belgium is falling apart, revolution is needed ASAP.
I works best when there is no government, which is most of the time.
I'm flemish, if we don't want to go bake to the netherlands is because after all the years alone we build a culture who is quite different as the one from the nerthlands, so we don't really feel from the netherlands, we only speek the same language ( exept when we use dialects because than nobody understand us).
Belgium changed its status to 'It's complicated'.
Yeah, don't worry guys, even we from Belgium don't understand it completely
ja ik weet het
Yes you're right !!!
About the borders...It's so funny! A friend of mine actually has her house in the Netherlands but when she goes into her back yard she's in Belgium.
Wow
i hope we all experience that
so is she a belgian resident or a dutch resident because like hmm yeah what? Lol
@@maple494Dutch, her front door is in The Netherlands
@@tebarovski okay thank you for specifying but if her front door is in netherlands but other part of the house is in belgium isnt she kind of both
Everything you need to know about Belize:
1. Its really small
2. It has a way lower population than the rest of Central America
3. Its inexplicably anglophonic despite being surrounded almost entirely by hispanophonic countries.
4. It used to be part of Guatemala and Guatemala is still butthurt about losing Belize.
And... that's about it. That's everything you really need to know about Belize. There you go Paul, I did your work for you.
HipsterShiningArmor Belize was never a part of Guatemala. Basically: the area was claimed by Spain, but was never occupied by the Spaniards. English pirates came along and occupied the coast. Upon hearing of this, the Spaniards were upset but the English were allowed to occupy specific areas. The English kept on asking for more and more land areas to occupy. The Spaniards eventually became upset and there was a "battle" at St. George's Caye. The Spaniards were unaware of the barrier reef, and some of their ships were damaged by the reef. The Spaniards retreated. When Guatemala eventually became independent, they claimed that Spain had promised them the area that had become the British colony of British Honduras.
And it's the only English-speaking country in mainland Central America.
Vat19Nvjds it invented gum.
HipsterShiningArmor inexplicably speak English? They were an old British Colony.
Andrew Bustard
Yes. And they're still part of the British commonwealth meaning Elizabeth II is still technically the ultimate head of state (But doesn't carry any real influence)
9:36 That rivalry is so true man, especially on Reddit!
haha north-flanders! we are not south-netherlands hahaha
U got the history all wrong! Wallonia was not a part of France. Present day Belgium was called The Southern Netherlands before the Belgian revolution. Originally all of Belgium was part of The Low Countries, but religious wars with the Spanish tore that apart. The Latin word for The Netherlands is Belgica, hence the name.
And you need to STFU
Learn history
Sort of right. Belgium used to be part of the Spanish Netherlands, which included the current Netherlands. The Protestant Reformation happened, and the north turned to the Protestant side, while the south stayed Catholic like the Spanish. Many wars happened, the north broke away and became their own country. The south stayed together, eventually, since even though they spoke multiple languages they were still all Catholic. No one really cares about the religious aspect any more, so the country doesn't really make sense now.
@@jfdavis668 The south actually did want to become independet. Antwerp was the capital of The Netherlands before Amsterdam (during this time, the south was protestant except for Luxemburg)but the Spanish invaded the South and the Dutch tryed to take it back but failed(althoug a lot of people living in Antwerp fleed)to Amsterdam during this time)
I'm pretty sure the name Belgium came for the Belgae, a Gallic tribe
Love to Belgium 🇧🇪 from Sweden 🇸🇪
Thx you
Pewds!!
@Sigmund Falkner ...
Lukaku send love to Ibrahimović too ahaha
Love to Sweden
It is a beautiful country
Probably the most fun place In Europe. if you are into beer
Uncle Chuckles whitout doubt i would have voted for him too, but what has to do with the subject belgium?
and chocolate, we got chocolate too
Also with highest number of Jihadis
Uncle Chuckles nah dude it's germany
boosted bonobo nope still Belgium :D
www.businessinsider.de/weltweites-ranking-das-sind-die-besten-biere-2016-2016-8
Salut de l'Azerbaïdjan! J'adore la Belgique. Et bien sûr, j'aime certaines entrées de la Belgique au concours Eurovision de la chanson.🇦🇿❤🇧🇪
Salam Azerbaycan Gardaşım
🇹🇷🤝🇦🇿
Belgium 🇧🇪 "Boom" the King of Tomorrowland every country is welcome to that event btw I'm from NY 🇺🇸 see you next year Belgium 👍🏻
Luis Reyes ewa tomorowland for lyfe and for its not far its likr in my backjard😂
Luis Reyes sorry typing skills die somethimes
Oh dude that's awesome I wish I were you you are so lucky bro #TomorrowlandForLife
Boom just like the bass drop :^) Now u know why
Dour Festival > Tomorrowland
Antverp: i haz diamonds
Liège: i haz .50 cal machine guns
Brussels: i haz Atomium
Eupen: Was ist los ?
Manneken: i pee on you all
Bhahahah beste comment
@@monab7874 It is the capital for Belgium's German-speaking Community.
Wtf is dit zelfs
BAHAHAHAAHA
you should've also mentioned that belgium is known as the battlefield of europe, as it's the most bloodsoaked piece of land in all of europe throughout history.
nah, probably Iraq
Not really no:
Wars fought in Iraq:
- Gulf war 1 & 2
- ...
Wars fought in Belgium:
- World War 1 & 2
- Belgian Revolution (1830 to 1831)
- Napoleonic Wars (1792 to 1815)
- Austrian Succession war (1740 to 1748)
- Spanish Succession war (1701 to 1714)
- Nine years' war (1688 to 1697)
- Franco-dutch war (1672 to 1678)
- Third Anglo-dutch war (1672-1674)
- Thirty years' war (1618 to 1648)
- Eighty years' war (1565 to 1650)
- French wars of religion (1560 to 1600)
- Flemish Revolt of 1487
- Flemish Revolt of 1483
- Burgundian Wars (1475ish)
- Liège wars (1465 to 1468)
- War of the public weal (1465)
- Hundred years war (1337-1453)
- Flanders peasant revolts (1325ish)
- Franco-Flemish war (1300ish)
- Limburg succession war (1250ish)
- Feudal warfare (5th century to 12th century AD)
- Vikings (850ish to 950ish)
- Frankish infighting (650ish to 850ish)
- Merovingian infighting (500ish to 650ish)
- Rome vs. invading tribes (435 AD to 450ish)
- Rome vs. Germanic tribes (60 BC to 434 AD)
Also, Iraq is not really in Europe ;)
The Iran-Iraq war was very very bloody and lasted a long time.
did you read the 30year and 80year war in history of wars fought here? :)
The complex Belgium governmental system actually served as on important base to try to restore peace in Iraq father Hussein. Cause we had to keep peace between so different groups here. In the 1970s there was the school-fight, with was for the right of education in our own mother tongues. We were on the verge of a civil war back then, luckily halted before escalation by far going political reform witch created much of our complexity but restored peace ever since in the country (although tensions of course remain somewhat ;) )
1. Belgium was not fused from a "Flanders" (not part of the Netherlands) and " "Wallonia" (not part of France) but has been a consistent geographical unit since the 16th century (part of Spanish and later Austrian Empire); 2. The Belgian flag pre-dates the German one; 3. Which are these multiple independence/secession referenda you talk about ?; 4. No mention of Belgian beer ?
But literally how can u not mention castles BEER or torture museums?!
Someone's been to Bruges 😂
My best geography guy, you forgot to tell that while Belgium has a king, he has no power at all😂
bondyczep lmao true
He doesn't have any personal power, but he does have an important role and influence.
Yeah but that's nothing new, just look at the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Hell, Japan even!
technically he has alot of power as he has to accept the new government and new ministers, but if he refuses to accept them, the politicians use a special thing to remove the king his powers for 1day wich happend once before in history, also our king is the head of military even tho in reality he has nothing to say.
Except when there's no functional government, which just happened to happen a few years ago, also the longest time in history.
You have 1 thing wrong. France and the Nederlands never had "a son".
The name Belgium was given by the Roman emperor Caesar and first ruled by the Romans.
Then the area was ruled by the Franks.
Then the provinces more or less ruled themselves.
Then the area was inherited and ruled by Burgundy.
Then the area was inherited and ruled by Spain.
Then the area was inherited and ruled by Austria.
Then it was ruled by France.
And then it was ruled by the Dutch.
And in 1830 it became independent after the people of the North (Flemish) and South (Walloons) united themselves as Belgians, against the Dutch.
Now, how can I as a Flemish guy explain Belgium???
Well, keep in mind, Flemish aren't Dutch and Walloons aren't French.
And even if we sometimes drive each other a little nuts, Walloons are our best friends! And vice versa!
We are like a "Yin and Yang" cake, topped off with a whip of Brussels and a piece of Germany on the side!!!
And if anybody tries to divide us, he has another thing coming! You can be damn sure of that!! We are Belgians!!! ;)
But anyway, i liked your movie, it was funny as hell! ;)
I wish more people thought like you, it'd help us solve many problems.
Way to go. Why would we ever want to split, we're so small already, and we've been through so much together. If only everyone was able to speak both languages, and if our politicians would stop being such idiots, most issues would resolve themselves. We'll get there eventually. Meanwhile, let's all enjoy our beers and fries.
Big up can jouw zuiderlijke landgenoot
Verdun1916 goeie uitleg man! kwil ook blijven me onze goeie vrienden in wallonië! ze zijn top, de beste buren... de beste familie!
Verdun1916 waw that's beautiful, your message was really beautiful and so true. We zijn beste vrienden "until the dead"!! Dank je so much! I love you guys, Ik houd jullie zo graag ! Btw Ik ben walloon ;)
i'm walloon and super happy to see your comment :) i also thing that even if walloon and flemish cannot always get along, we absolutely cannot live without eachother :)
2:20 "Brussel Halle-Vilvoorde" is Dutch but you pronunciated it in French haha that was funny to hear
the people there are speaking french
Thats true
You forgot the beer, and that is also the anser how we stayed so long togetter. I's that what roommates do? :-)
Hahahahaha, completly true ;)
haha nice one! you actually made me laugh with that comment!
magnety most people don't know this, but we also have great strawberries (during the season)
Strawberries are from the region I live (Hoogstraten). I once went to Norway and saw a fruitstand with our strawberries and Japanese people were taking pictures with it. That sure was funny.
We have to admit a secret though. Since we live on the border with the Netherlands a lot of the strawberries are also grown a bit across the border. No big deal, as long as they carry our name it's fine.
Beer is a big deal for us !
want to make things worse: national dish of belgium actually ALSO differs in each region xD
THANK YOU
yes, and some cause cancer up the butt
Congo wasn’t a colony, it was a privat property of king Leopold 2
Victor Boogers later they forced him to hand it over to the government and it became an official colony under Belgium
Het was wel een colonie
Isabeau De Cap is a joke
@@isabeaudecap4617 De koning had dit met zijn eigen geld gekocht het was wel zijn eigen land later gaf hij het af
Yep, he corrects that when he does Congo
Belgium was not formed out of the Flemish and Walloon regions. At that time (1830), they were just undefined linguistical zones (no political identity). Both regions had historically been part of other countries, but mostly together. They were called the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands throughout the 16th to 18th centuries and governed, mostly with the exception of the Prince-bishopry of Liège. The historic county of Flanders is geographically different from the current linguistic and political region of Flanders (which consists of most the county of Flanders, parts of the duchy of Brabant and the Belgian part of Limburg). The regions came to prominence after WW I and mostly since the 1960's, when they gained political prominence.
Also, the idea of reattachment to either France or the Netherlands has been a goal for minor political groups, but has not of yet been a subject of a referendum with the population. It was mostly the French-speaking elite in both Flanders and Wallonia who wanted independence of the Netherlands in 1830, because they were not allowed representation in Dutch parliament because of their language, despite being the richer and more industrialised region in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Haha I'm Belgian and yeah, our political system is incredibly confusing! I remember when I was around fourteen, we had to learn government stuff in class and we all struggled a LOT! Haha But that's part of what makes our country great ya know, we're a country of over complicated weirdos, just the way I like it! Although: that picture was not a real Belgian waffle but what Americans like to call Belgian waffle! (And how could you not talk about our beers, seriously?)
Belgian Ale haha
Are you flemish or walloonian?
Apples are illuminati what does it matter?
Noannelle Sky ye
Noannelle Sky that matters a lot actually
Unfortunately that's a complete misunderstanding of belgian history. The only period when Wallonia (and actually Flanders too) were part of France is the revolution and Empire (1789/1792-1815). Before that it forms the Low Countries (in personal union with the crown of Spain then part of the HER with a special status). After that it forms with the actual Netherlands (with separated during the religious conflicts of the 16th as the United Provinces) the Realm of the Low Countries till 1830. Todays administrative divisions is the result of a process starting at the end of the 20th century. So there are explications to the existence of Belgium : it's a more or less unified territory (apart from Liège ecclesiastic principalty) since the Burgundy dukes in the 15th.
Sorry 1790
Congratulations, high level of info.
The most important thingsto retain from Belgium:
1."We like to find complex solutions for simple problems.
Complex problems are ignored that long, untill they disapeare by themselves"
2. the best products are made in Belgium,but sold by the Dutch.
I died laughing hahaha number one is perfect
"The situation is desperate, but not serious."
Correctie: de beste dingen komen uit Nederland, worden er verkocht, en later neemt België het over en geeft het een Frans-achtige naam in het dialect.
Is dat niet precies waarom België Willem I zo haatte? Dat zij alles maakten en wij het geld binnen harkten.
@@Treinbouwer anderson. Nederland heeft veel meer belangrijke revolutionaire uitvindingen gedaan dan België
0:25 that’s how belgium works
Wie is er hier allemaal Belgisch?
Lennievogel iiiiiiik maar waar was het bier in de video?😂👌🏼😂
Jilleke04 inderdaad 😂
Lol theeft ook ni gewerkt
Lennievogel hier
ik
Thanks for the french fries Belgium! ❤😘😗😙😚
No problem :)
French is short for frenched. So French does not link to the country France but to "Frenched Fries"
+DizzyAssassin hmmm might be true, but people will always mistake it for the wrong thing.
frenched means that they are fried twice.. to get that crispyness everybody wants, They're Belgian! haha
Completely right :)
Love you belgium 😙🇧🇪
Me 2.
I'm glad to hear that, bro :)
thanks, im proud of our country
Inderdaad
Cato devriese Yeah me to :D
En Belgique, l'endroit où il y a le plus de vaches c'est le Primark de Marcinelle
Truth. XD
Oui
French fries are actually Belgian. They come from Wallonia, but when other countries heard of them they thought they were French (since they spoke French) so now they are called French fries. (You're welcome :P)
Belgium makes things complicated, so that noone can act to demolish their unity. They're unitied by complexity.
Bad guys: haha! We come to Belgium to overthrow your government haha 😜
Belgium: Which one? 🤔
Bad guys: What do you mean which one?? 😣
Belgium: Well we got like 4 government and a monarchy soo... 🙄
Bad guys: Err ok we'll start with the French. French are easy haha! 👌😁
Belgium: Well ok you'll have to fill in this application form and we'll process your request in due time
*gives a mountain stack of papers*
Bad guys: This is ridiculous! 😰 We demand to speak to your leaders now! 😭
Belgium: Er.. We don't really know ourselves... 😓
Bad guys: alright we had enough. 😡 We'll invade France instead. France is easy haha! 😋👍
*Moments later*
France: sigh... get your yellow jackets boys. People forget we invented the guillotine 😒
@@hereb4theend
*_*LA MARSELLAISE INTENSIFIES*_*
@@hereb4theend My country is following France by raising diesel taxes too. Fortunately no yellow jackets/vests here
You are totally doing what I was going to do with these country videos. Thankfully, I can cross those off my list as you are doing a fine job. For now, I will focus on Presidential elections.
This displayed some mad video editing skills. I cannot even get Windows Moviemaker to work most of the time.
That opening with the analogy about roommates is hilarious. I love the silent pauses as you’re focusing closer and closer on the eyes.
fuck waffles, talk about our beer :)
Sir Bob Beer is just fine...with waffles :D
Martin Schmiedt oh hell yeah I love wheat beers and Belgium oh they're the best!
Don't forget about the German beer of your big neighbor, Dude. ;) :D
Sir Bob haha Karl Subjtanic, if you ever try the Westmalle tripel (belgium.beertourism.com/belgian-beers/westmalle-tripel) or the Rochefort 10 (@2360), you will never drink any German beer again... Haha, German beer, you're such a joker!!!
August Adamczyk lol nope i tried belgian beer an i am never gonna drink it again german beer ist the best
Great video, thank you for your work and the dynamic concept ! However as a Belgian living in Brussels and from both Flemish and Wallonian ancestors I must contradict you on the point of the "artificial country" and the fact that lot of people want to go back in their "neighboring countries".
It is a fact that belgium has not the same background as Germany for example, where the nation has really made the state. In belgium we often say instead that the state has made the nation. It is also a fact that the identities inside Belgium are strong. Don't tell a inhabitant of Brussels that he is Walloon for example.
Despite these facts, the cohabitation of the cultures (not so different between them anyway) and the languages makes the belgian nation a very open-minded nation, also very creative and probably the world masters in the art of compromise and conceding.
Brussels and the student circles in Belgium are interesting places to see how powerful the Belgian culture and identity is. In Brussels when we see a Flemmish we talk to him in his language and when we see a french speaking person we talk to him in his language also, this is not a problem at all. Come to any university and you will see how the Belgian traditions are well preserved. We have a love for preserving the cultures. Some politics try to infuse flemish and walloon nationalism by using the financial problems to their advantage (and often forget the Brussels inhabitants who feel appart) but in the population, we do not hate each other like the media try to make everyone believe.
The big majority of the Belgians want to stay Belgians because they feel as Belgians, how would it be possible without a sense of nationnalism ? Our sense of nationalism is just more discreet, more respectful of the other cultures. The french people who think that Belgium is just a small France are unsupportable because their well known nationalism is not respectful of the Belgian culture for example.
Finally I can assure you that no referendum ever took place on the question of knowing if the people want "to go back" to France (in which we only stayed for 23 years) or to the Netherlands (with whom we only stayed for 15 years until the revolution against them), because any referendum in Belgium is unconstitutional due to the fact that the constitution doesn't authorizes them.
I hope my English doesn't sound rude because I just wanted to clarify this point. I hope you will continue your videos and I want to thank you for the quality of them !
+Hugaufre You did a fine job here.
This is not exactly the situation. Linguistic boundaries aren't always representative of the reality on the ground.
Linguistic boundaries in belgium were created in 1921. At this time the idea was that boundaries would evolve with the number of speakers in the different towns. However in 1962 they were fixed once and for all in the constitution after long debates. When the boundaries were settled, many people initially flemish became waloon and the same in the other way. Boundaries are often artificial.
So how can we ignore today that in some flemish municipality like Linkebeek, around Brussels, there is 80% of french speaking people ? This is a a bit less than the proportion of french speaking people in the bilingual region of Brussels... but it is not officially a bilingual municipality. The problem isn't that those people wouldn't want to speak in dutch, the fact is that we must adapt the administration to them because it is in the art of compromise. The same reasoning must be applied for Comines-Warneton in the other way and plenty of other municipality.
That said, when you talk about walloons (the walloons are only the inhabitants of Wallonia, not all the french speaking people) you're right, it is true that they often do not speak flemmish very well ! But they know that their language isn't the only one in belgium and it is already something interresting to be more open minded i think !
+Hugaufre I'm sorry but as a Flemish person I believe it has gone too far. I'm taught French why can't they be taught Dutch. In some city's with obvious Flemish names if you go in and speak Dutch you will get a look of pure hatred. Sometimes in the city hall you're not even allowed to speak your native language without getting a comment or look. Some people I know have even experienced that they went in to the city hall speaking Dutch and the people behind the counter said:" another one of those stupid Flemish people. " I have the experience that Flemmings would rather have independence and if it was up to us I think we would have it. Those strikes for examples. We haven't been striking and now they're going to during exam periods. We're breaking apart slowly but steadily.
Don't you think that french speaking people have exactly the same struggle ? We all have stories like the ones you said. Please, don't fall in the easyness of these stories to construct your opinion.
The big majority of french speaking people are completely opposed to these strikes. Each community has it's defaults, in Walloonia it's certainly the laziness and those permanent strikes but in flanders is it necessary that I speak about the vlaams belang, a racist political party now third leading party of flanders in the surveys ?
I believe that we both have to realize that no one is more a victim than the other. I understand that you certainly feel flemish at first, and that the majority of flemish people also do, but I also think that the attitude of blaming the other community is a dangerous way to resolve the problems.
En ik ga akkoord met jou, ik denk dat het een absurditeit is dat het neederlands niet by alle waalse scholen opgelegd is.
+Hugaufre I don't want to get in an argument because it is pointless but in which French speaking cities can you not speak French in shops et cetera
Welcome to fun with flags
David Janssens i love you so much for this comment
Love you too, as long as you dont sit in my spot ;)
David Janssens hahahahah xD lol nice tbbt reference :D
one big mistake, Wallonia was also part of the Netherlands when Belgium became independent. But the revolution against the Dutch monarchie was a farce that was initiated by the staging of an opera (De stomme van Portici / La Muette de Portici). At first, the Belgians wanted to establish a republic like in the US, but the surrounding countries did not agree, so they made the first crooked Belgian compromise. It became a republic headed by a king.
So fries aren't french fries but belgian fries. is that how it actually is?
Leandro Maccarini Meneguzzi I think, yes. I live in France and I can say that French don't even understand why in USA people call fries "french fries", because everyone knows in France and Belgium that fries are from Belgium.
Leandro Maccarini Meneguzzi It is, in Belgium almost everyone has a fryer while in France almost no one has one
Leandro Maccarini Meneguzzi Yep, we even have a song called "les frites, c'est Belge!" (which means: Fries: they are Belgian!) haha :P
Noannelle Sky Vous savez, je n'ai appris qu'il y a très peu de temps que Tintin et Largo Winch étaient belges et pas français (oui honte à moi honte à moi, je suis désolée pour les amis belges, quel inculte personne je suis, quel affront!) , et vivant en France depuis un bout de temps maintenant, j'en ai pris un sale coup, mais pour les frites, je le savais! :-D
Сара Ивановић
American soldiers first saw french fries during First World War when they were on western front in Belgium. People there spoke french, so they think they were French. Hence the name french fries.
You forgot a lot of things...
Like:
-Beer
-BeNeLux
-WW2 (or 1 idk)
-monuments (Atomium, manneke pis,...)
-Sport
- ...
And you have the hystory parts wrong.
Because it's Geography Now and not Politics Now or History Now
Konrad Kalinowski Well Yes but If you gonna talk about it Its better to get it right
I hate manneke pis😂 French=Eifel tower Uk=big ben usa= white house belgium= manneke pis a man that is going to the toilet
port of antwerp
@@giogabrielle1369 Years ago I was having a school presentation about manneke pis directly in front of it
(I'm from the German Speaking Community)
Belgium , a small country but one of the best countrys 😊
the benelux is the best countries to live in my opinion
consider danmark
Nope!
Germans: "Belgium is like live, we have to go trough that" xD
Life*
7:44, they didn't choose, they got a German prince who was married to a french noble (that died) and remarried an English princess/noble. Germany, France and England had to be in agreement for this head of state. Also they created Belgium to keep the French from conquering Europe, again (Napoleon).
Great vidéo !
I actually live in Lille (France), 10 km away from Belgium , I think most of the things you said where accurate. :=)
BTW French and Belgians (Walloons especially) really like to have fun at each others.
Do you know why a Belgian always takes off his glasses when he has to take a breath test ?
Because it's 2 glasses less :)
alexandre vitet Wow, hahaha
alexandre vitet haha the dutch do the exact same thing. Belgians are just to be made fun off
alexandre vitet haha, the french and the dutch team up to bully belgium >:)
Sofian Kluft It goes both ways. Belgians make fun of the Dutch and French as well. Just like how it is with the US and Canada.
Sofian Kluft you know we have the same jokes about the Dutch and France, don't you ?
Walloon wasn't part of France when Belgium was formed. It was also a part of the Netherlands.
It was briefly part of France at the end of the 18th century, but that was also the case for Flanders at the time.
As far as I know, Walloon and Flanders have been part of the same country for around 500 years, so even before they became independent together.
Actually, Flanders have been part of France for a longer time than Wallonia! Since most of Wallonia has been part the German Saint-Empire for centuries.
Fun fact: Belgium used to own a part of Guatemala at Santo Tomas (after failing to diplomatically colonise Texas) and a part of Guinee at the Rio Núnez river.
As a Belgian who studied Belgian law, I can say this was incredibly accurate (except BHV is split now making it even more complicated). I am stunned at how well you understood our country, you probably did a better job of explaining this mess than most Belgians. Congrats!
9:10 if i remember correctly, this wasnt done by belgium but by the king as Congo was his private property and not part of belgium.
Belgium did not occupy Congo at the beginning but our second king did Leopold II because he wanted a place where he could do whatever he wanted but then he got a lot of problems so he “gave Congo To Belgium”
HOW CAN YOU FORGET THE DETECTIVE HERCULE POIROT (or like how it is pronounce "ehcule puaaroh") WITH HIS BELGIAN MOUSTACHE
Medha K 2nd this!!
Maybe because he is fictional and created by an English novelist