Partition of Belgium

The partition of Belgium, or the dissolution of the Belgian state through the separation of the Dutch-speaking from the French-speaking Belgians, granting them either independence or respective accession to the Netherlands and France, has often been discussed by both Belgian and international media. The concept is rooted in the long-standing ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic tensions between the two communities as well as the geographic and cultural continuity of Wallonia with France and that of Flanders with the Netherlands. The status of Brussels in a partitioned Belgium is unclear and controversial.