Terminology of the Low Countries The Old Dutch form is "flāmisk", which becomes "vlamesc", "vlaemsch" in Middle Dutch and "Vlaams" in Modern Dutch. Flemish is now exclusively used to describe the majority of Dutch dialects found in Flanders, and as a reference to that region. Calques of "Vlaams" in other languages: In many languages including English, (a calque of) "Holland" is a common name for the Netherlands as a whole. Even the Dutch use this sometimes. Strictly speaking, Holland is only the central-western region of the country comprising two of the twelve provinces, North Holland and South Holland, and thus linguistically a "pars pro toto"
Belgium Dutch), although French is the dominant language of the population. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Historically, Belgium was part of an area known as the Low Countries, a somewhat larger region than the current Benelux group of states that also included parts of northern France and western Germany. Its name is derived from the Latin word "Belgica", after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a