Flemish Community

The term Flemish Community (Dutch: Vlaamse Gemeenschap ; French: Communauté flamande; German: Flämische Gemeinschaft ) has two distinct, though related, meanings:

1. Culturally and sociologically, it refers to Flemish organizations, media, social and cultural life; alternative expressions for this concept might be the "Flemish people" or the "Flemish nation" (in a similar sense as the Scottish, Welsh, or Québécois people or nations, referring to a national identity). The term "community" should then not be capitalized.
2. Politically, it is the name of which both elements are normally capitalized, for one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital. Unlike in the French Community of Belgium, the competences of the Flemish Community have been unified with those of the Flemish Region and are exercised by one directly elected Flemish Parliament based in Brussels.