{ Adopted: 1970 / Status: 17 Feb 1994 }
Title I Federation, Components, Territory
Article 1 [Federal State]
Belgium is a Federal State made up of Communities and
Regions.
Article 2 [Communities]
Belgium is made up of three Communities: the French
Community, the Flemish Community, and the German-speaking
Community.
Article 3 [Regions]
Belgium is made up of three Regions: the Walloon Region, the
Flemish Region, and the Brussels Region.
Article 4 [Linguistic Regions]
(1) Belgium has four linguistic regions: the French-speaking
Region, the Dutch-speaking Region, the bilingual Region of
Brussels-Capital, and the German-speaking Region.
(2) Each commune of the Kingdom is part of one of these
linguistic regions.
(3) The limits of the four linguistic regions can only be changed
or modified by a law adopted by majority vote in each linguistic
group in each House, on the condition that the majority of the
members of each group are gathered together and from the
moment that the total of affirmative votes given by the two
linguistic groups is equal to at least two thirds of the votes
expressed.
Article 5 [Provinces]
(1) The Walloon Region is made up of the following provinces:
Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liege, Luxemburg, and Namur.
The Flemish Region is made up of the following provinces:
Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, and
Limburg.
(2) By law, the territory can be divided into a greater number
of provinces, if necessary.
(3) A law can shield certain territories whose limits it fixes,
from division into provinces, make them depend directly on the
federal executive power, and make them subject to a statute of
their own. This law must be adopted by majority vote as
provided for in Article 4, last paragraph.
Article 6 [Provincial Sub-Divisions]
The provincial sub-divisions can only be established by law.
Article 7 [Delimitation]
The delimitation of the State, the provinces, and the communes
can only be changed or modified by law.