What is Flanders?

1 ANSWERS

1. GiGi
   

   Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen, French: Flandre) is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied.
   
   In contemporary Belgium, Flanders might be understood as the 'country of the Flemings' (as 'Ireland' is the country of the Irish). This covers both the Flemish Region and the Brussels Capital Region, where the latter is shared with the French-speakers.
   
   For the last few decades, with the legal establishment of the Flemish Community (Dutch: de Vlaamse Gemeenschap) , the Flemings have their own political institutions. The parliament and government are the governing institutions of the Community.
   
   There is also a geographical, political and administrative entity called the Flemish Region (Dutch: het Vlaams Gewest) but the region has ceded all its competencies to the Flemish Community. Since, the institutions of the Community govern both the Community and the Region. The capital city of Flanders is Brussels.
   
   West Flanders and East Flanders are two of the five provinces of this Flemish Region.
   
   Nowadays, French Flanders may designate part of the Nord ("North") department or the larger Nord-Pas de Calais region in which Nord is located.
   
   Zeelandic Flanders, in Dutch Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, refers to a part of the Netherlands located in Zeeland.
   
   Related to these geographical or political uses of the noun 'Flanders', and the adjective 'Flemish', they may also be used to describe several other distinct (but inter-connected) cultural, geographical, historical, linguistic or political items or entities.

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