As the rest of Europe worries about the current economic situation, and the failing economies of the EU, the country of Belgium faces another dilemma: a potentially functional separation of the population as a result of language differences. Belgium has always been a country divided by language, geographically, politically, and culturally. Since 1963, a geographic border separated the Dutch and French-speaking areas, leaving only Brussels as bilingual- a primarily French speaking city in a Flemish territory. In the southern part of the country there are mostly French speakers, although they compose an overall minority of the population. In the north, or the Flanders region, the majority of the population speaks Dutch, historically referred to as Flemish to distinguish it from the Dutch language spoken in the Netherlands. Approximately 60% of the total Belgian population is Dutch-speaking, while the remaining is composed of French speakers and one percent of the population is German-speaking.

Because Brussels is primarily French-speaking and is surrounded by Dutch-speaking municipalities, this is where the language battles are the fiercest. Recently, there has been an effort to expand the region surrounding Brussels, as French-speaking families move out of the capital city into the surrounding Flemish towns. This has led to a major conflict resulting in the recent collapse of the government, followed by new parliamentary elections. The trigger for this was an argument over voting rights for French speakers living in Flemish towns on the outskirts of Brussels. The issue was over whether they should be allowed to vote for French language parties in the Brussels region, even though they live in a Flemish area – something which was accepted until recently. The issue is becoming heated as Dutch speakers feel that the bilingual status of their capital city threatens their language and culture. On the other hand, French speakers are afraid to loose their right to speak their mother tongue. Since there are no national parties, not even a national newspaper, the right to vote for the party that represents your language has become an important issue. Following the last election in 2007, Belgium went without a government for six months because of the divisions and arguing that went on between Dutch-speaking Flanders to the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Three years later, the same conflict has brought down the government again. Will the language issue divide the country in two this time?

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by more than 20 million people in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, and a small corner of northern France; it is also an official language in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. Though English-speakers are accustomed to calling the main Germanic language of The Netherlands "Dutch" and that of Belgium "Flemish," the two are regarded as the same language, called Nederlands in both countries, where efforts have been made to unify spelling and literary usage. Many Dutch-speakers command both a local dialect and Standard Dutch, based approximately on the speech of the major urban centers of North Holland and South Holland. "Flemish" (or Dutch in Belgium) has its own phonetic and lexical regionalisms.

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