What were the Causes of ethnic struggles in Belgium

What were the Causes of ethnic struggles in Belgium 

What were the major causes of tension among the ethnic communities of Belgium? 

Answer: Belgium is a small country in Europe. It shares its borders with Dutch, France and Germany. It has a population reaching 10 million and ethnic composition of the country is complex. 

1. Out Of Belgium’s total population, 59% live in Flemish region and speak Dutch language. 

2. Another 40% live in Wallonia region and speak French. 

3. Remaining 1% of Belgians speak German. 

4. In her capital city Brussels, 80% speak French while 20% are Dutch speaking. 

5. The minority French speaking community is relatively rich and powerful so the majority Dutch community showed resentment against it. This led to tension between the Dutch and French speaking

communities in 1950s-1960s. 

6. The conflict between the Dutch speaking and French speaking was more severe in Brussels because here, the Dutch speaking people were majority in Belgium but were in minority in Brussels. 

Therefore, the ethnic struggle originated from tensions between Dutch and French community in Belgium.