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Wallonia ((フランス語:Wallonie) (:wa.lɔ.ni), (ドイツ語:Wallonie(n)), Dutch: ''Wallonië'' , (ワロン語:Walonreye) (:walɔ̃ʀɛjɜ); (ルクセンブルク語:Wallounesch)) is a region of Belgium. It is predominantly French-speaking. It accounts for 55% of the territory of Belgium and a third of its population. Unlike Flanders, the Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium which is the political entity that is responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education. The German-speaking minority in the east forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, which has its own government and parliament for culture-related issues. The demonym for Wallonia is ''Walloon''. During the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the region wealth, and, from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th centuries, Wallonia was the more prosperous half of Belgium. Since World War II the importance of heavy industry has greatly declined, and the Flemish Region surpassed Wallonia in wealth as Wallonia economically declined. Wallonia now suffers from high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major sources of political conflict in Belgium. The capital of Wallonia is Namur but the city with the greatest population is Charleroi. Most of Wallonia's major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley, the former industrial backbone of Belgium. To the north lies the Central Belgian Plateau, which, like Flanders, is relatively flat and agriculturally fertile. In the south-east lie the Ardennes; the area is sparsely populated and mountainous. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands in the north, France to the south and west, and Germany and Luxembourg to the east. Wallonia is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. == Terminology == The term ''Wallonia'' can mean slightly different things in different contexts. One of the three federal regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the ''Walloon Region'', but the region's government has renamed it ''Wallonia'', and it is commonly called Wallonia.〔(French : Le Gouvernement a décidé de promouvoir le terme « Wallonie » en lieu et place de « Région wallonne ». )〕〔For example, the (CIA World Factbook ) states Wallonia is the short form and Walloon Region is the long form. The (Invest in Wallonia website ) and the (Belgian federal government ) use the term ''Wallonia'' when referring to the Walloon Region.〕 Preceding 1 April 2010, when the renaming came into effect, ''Wallonia'' would sometimes refer to the territory governed by the Walloon Region, whereas ''Walloon Region'' referred specifically to the government. In practice, the difference between the different meanings is small, and what is meant is usually clear based on context. The root of the word Wallonia, like the words Wales, Cornwall and Wallachia,〔(French) Albert Henry, Histoire des mots Wallons et Wallonie, Institut Jules Destrée, Coll. «Notre histoire», Mont-sur-Marchienne, 1990, 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1965), foodnote 13 p. 86.〕 is the Germanic word Walha, meaning ''the strangers''. Wallonia is named after the Walloons, the population of the Burgundian Netherlands speaking Romance languages. In Middle Dutch (and French), the term Walloons also included the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège〔Footnote: In medieval French, the word ''Liégeois'' referred to all the inhabitants of the Principality vis-à-vis the other inhabitants of the Low-countries, the word ''Walloons'' being only used for the French-speaking inhabitants vis-à-vis the other inhabitants of the Principality. 〕 or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wallonia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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