Back Duitstalige Gemeenskap van België Afrikaans Comunidat Chermanofona de Belchica AN المجتمع البلجيكي الناطق بالألمانية Arabic Нямецкамоўная супольнасць Бельгіі Byelorussian Немскоезична общност в Белгия Bulgarian Kumuniezh alamanek Belgia Breton Comunitat germanòfona de Bèlgica Catalan Německojazyčné společenství Belgie Czech Belgiaid Almaeneg Welsh Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft German
German-speaking Community
Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft (German) | |
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| Coordinates: 50°38′N 06°02′E / 50.633°N 6.033°E | |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Region |  Wallonia |
| Established | 1984 |
| Capital | Eupen |
| Government | |
| • Executive | Government of the German-speaking Community |
| • Governing parties (2019–2024) | ProDG, SP, PFF |
| • Minister-President | Oliver Paasch (ProDG) |
| • Legislature | Parliament of the German-speaking Community |
| • Speaker | Karl-Heinz Lambertz (PS) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 854 km2 (330 sq mi) |
| Population (1 January 2020)[1] | |
| • Total | 77,949 |
| • Density | 91/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| Day of the German-speaking Community | 15 November |
| Language | German (with language facilities for French-speakers) |
| Website | www |
The German-speaking Community (German: Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft), also known as East Belgium (German: Ostbelgien),[2] is one of the three federal communities of Belgium,[3] with an area of 854 km2 (330 sq mi) in the Liège Province of Wallonia, including nine of the eleven municipalities of Eupen-Malmedy. The primary language of the community is German, making this the third official language in Belgium. Traditionally the community and the wider area around it forms an intersection of various local languages and/or dialects, namely Limburgish, Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian varieties. The community population numbers around 77,949 (1st January 2020) – about 7.0% of Liège Province and about 0.7% of the national total.[1]
Bordering the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, the area has its own parliament and government at Eupen. The German-speaking Community of Belgium was annexed in 1920 from Germany. There are also some other areas where German is spoken that belonged to Belgium before 1920, but are not part of the German-speaking Community: Bleiberg-Welkenraedt-Baelen in northeastern province of Liège and Arelerland (the city of Arlon and some of its nearby villages in southeastern province of Belgian Luxembourg), although German is declining in them due to the expansion of French.[4]
- ^ a b "On 1 January 2020, Belgium had 11,492,641 inhabitants". Statistics Belgium. 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
- ^ Rankin, Jennifer (2 May 2017). "Separatism fears grow in Belgium as German speakers assert themselves". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "The German-speaking Community". Dglive.be. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
- ^ Society for Threatened Peoples: gfbv.it
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