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"
Politics of Belgium confederal decision-making process where the minority (the French-speakers) enjoy important protections through specialty majorities (2/3 overall and majority in each of the 2 main communities). The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Belgium as a "flawed democracy" in 2016. The Constitution of Belgium, the primary source of law and the basis of the political system of the Country, was established on February 7, 1831. It has been changed several times, but the most relevant reforms were performed in 1970 and in 1993. In 1970, in response to a growing civil conflict between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities in Brussels, the Government