Flemish people
This article is about the Flemish as an ethnic group. For information on citizens or nationals of Flanders, see demographics of Belgium; for information on the Dutch speakers of Belgium, see Flemish (linguistics).
The term
Flemings (
Dutch:
Vlamingen) is currently mostly used to refer to the ethnic group native to
Flanders (the northern half of
Belgium), which in total numbers about 6 million people in Belgium (the majority of all Belgians) . The term also designates, not only the native inhabitants of that
Flemish region, but also those ethnic Flemings of
French Flanders (
Frans-Vlaanderen) (mainly in the
département of Nord of present-day
France), the southern part of the Dutch province of
Zeeland known as
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and other Flemish communities around the world.
French Flanders and
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen are former parts of the
countship of Flanders, which gave its name to the whole, although a small majority of Belgian Flanders was in other principalities, the major one being the
Duchy of Brabant.
The Flemish
diaspora consists of Flemish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as
France, the
United States,
Britain,
Canada,
South Africa and
Latin America.
During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, when the territory of present-day
Flanders formed the setting for an impressive economic and cultural boom as well as certain internal problems, many artists and craftsmen sought refuge elsewhere, particularly in southern Europe. Flemish settlers introduced the first printing presses into
Spain and
Portugal. The Flemish contribution to the exploitation as well as the population of the
Azores was so conspicuous, that for a long time the archipelago was referred to as the Flemish islands.
Following in the wake of the explorers, Flemish missionaries such as
Pieter van Gent in
Mexico,
Joos de Rijcke in
Ecuador,
Ferdinand Verbiest in
China,
Constant Lievens in
India,
Pierre-Jean DeSmet in the
United States and
Jozef de Veuster in
Molokai built up a reputation in various overseas countries that continues even to this day.
A combination of a demographic explosion and inadequate economic growth resulted in an
emigration from Flanders that continued up to the
First World War. It was something that every family faced sooner or later. Not only did it involve the so-called lower classes of the population, but also members of the better classes who found a future overseas in teacher-training colleges and colleges of engineering and agriculture.
Louis Cruis, for example, was a Flemish engineer who lead expeditions to lay down the boundaries of
Brazil and the city limits of the capital
Brasilia.
About 400,000 Flemings settled in
France. They often had to start afresh in poor villages, from where they breathed new life into agriculture. In the
United States and
Canada today, there are more than 1 million Americans who clearly have Flemish roots. In
Detroit, the publishing of the
Detroit Gazette is still in the hands of Flemings.
The destination of the majority of Flemish emigrants was
France. There are an estimated 1,250,000 people with a Flemish surname in France.
*
Flanders*
Flemish Region*
Flemish Community*
De Vlaamse Leeuw
