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German-speaking Community of Belgium

German-speaking Community of Belgium
Administration
Full nameGerman-speaking Community
Native nameDeutschsprachige Gemeinschaft  
Communauté germanophone  
Duitstalige Gemeenschap  
Native name langde
Settlement typeCommunity of Belgium
CountryBelgium
Established1993
Government
CapitalEupen
Minister-PresidentKarl-Heinz Lambertz
Other information
Day of the German-speaking CommunityNovember 15
LanguageGerman

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The German-speaking Community of Belgium ( -deˈdɔɪ̯ʧ.ˌʃpʀax.ɪgə gə.ˈmai̯n.ʃaft ˈbɛl.giəns, DG; ; -nlˈdœy̯ts.ˌtaːl.ɪʝə ʝə.ˈmeːn.ˌsxɑp ˈbɛl.ʝi.jə) is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. Covering an area of 854 km2 within the province of Liège ( ) in Wallonia, it includes nine of the eleven municipalities of the so-called East Cantons ( ). Traditionally speakers of Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian varieties, the local population numbers over 73,000-about 0.73% of the national total. Bordering the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, the area has its own parliament and government at Eupen. Although many of the inhabitants (primarily in the border region next to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) in the neighbouring Belgian province of Luxembourg speak Luxembourgish, a West Central German language, they are not considered part of the German-speaking Community. The German-speaking Community of Belgium is composed of the German-speaking parts of the lands that were annexed in 1920 from Germany. In addition, in contemporary Belgium there are also some other German-speaking areas that belonged to Belgium even before 1920, but they are not currently officially considered part of the German-speaking community in Belgium: Bleiberg-Welkenraat-Baelen in Northeastern province of Liège and Arelerland (city of Arlon and some of its nearby villages in Southeastern province of Belgian Luxembourg). However, in these localities, the German language is declining due to the expansion of French.


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