What Do You Call Someone From Belgium? (Answered!)

Someone from Belgium is called Belgian. The connection to Belgium of any individual Belgian may vary—it may be ethnic, of course, but it could also just be residential, cultural, or historical. Belgians are by no means ethnically homogenous, and so Belgian is mostly an indicator of nationality rather than ethnicity. Either way, they are called Belgian.

So, the simple answer is that someone from Belgium is called Belgian.

No matter the country, the question of national and ethnic identity is never going to be a simple one.

But in Belgium it is certainly an easier question to answer than in many of the world’s more ethnically diverse countries.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What are people from Belgium called?

People from Belgium are called Belgian.

It’s never really as clear cut and simple as this, though, as there are always multiple layers to any person’s national identity.

On the one hand, you have the simpler question of someone’s legal nationality and citizenship.

For most people, this is of course going to play a role in how they think of their own identity. If you have citizenship in Belgium, then in one sense or another you are Belgian.

But ethnically speaking, the question is a lot more complex.

There are two distinct linguistic groups to which most Belgians belong: the Dutch-speaking Flemings of Flanders, and the French- or Walloon-speaking Walloons, in Wallonia.

There is also a third group, tiny in comparison, yet officially recognized, of German speaking Belgians.

An individual of any one of these groups may feel themselves to be more one thing than the other—they may, for example, feel themselves to be more Walloon than Belgian, or the other way around.

Flemish people are native to Flanders, a region of Belgium, and make up around 60% of Belgians.

In the past this was a geographical term for the inhabitants of the County of Flanders, but today is an indicator of ethnic identity.

There are around 6,400,000 Flemish Belgian people.

Walloons, on the other hand, are native to Belgium but also France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

That said, the majority live in Belgium.

The point is that Belgian may not be the first thing these people think of themselves as.

There are layers to the identity of any Belgian person and Belgian may simply be their national, legal identity, rather than their cultural or ethnic one.

Whether it’s the place you live, the language you speak, or your ancestry, there are many things to which any one person may attribute their identity.

Where does the name “Belgium” come from?

The 1830 Revolution led to the establishment of modern-day Belgium as a nation, which had previously been part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Belgians at this time traced their ancestry back a very long way to name the country Belgium.

The name “Belgium” was adopted based on the term Gallia Belgica, which had been the Roman name for the northern region of Gaul, in modern day France and central Europe.

At this time, it was inhabited by the Belgea, as the Romans called them, which was a mixture of Germanic and Celtic peoples.

It is always hard to know how far the Roman depiction and record represents the actual people living in the region—they of course made direct contact with these peoples and even lived alongside them, but they remained outsiders.

Further, most of the writings we have detailing the Belgea come from second-hand accounts, and thus it is very hard to know how accurate this is.

Either way, this idea of Celtic identity in particular is still very important to that part of the world, both in Belgium and further west in Brittany.

Where do Belgians live?

It’s also important to note that there is a considerable Belgian diaspora spread across the world which may also feel multiple things about their identity.

The total population of Belgians is estimated around 12 million in total. 10-11 million of these live in Belgium.

There is a large population of Belgians, around 350,000, in the United States, and many in Canada and France.

Any of these Belgians may first feel themselves to be Belgian, or they may first feel themselves to be identified with the country they now live in.

Again, it’s a very individual thing, but in some sense these people are still Belgian.

What nationality is Flemish?

Flemish is not a nationality today—it is a language spoke in the north of Belgium.

As mentioned, Flanders was a historical medieval county and a very powerful one at that, at a time when France was not a centralized kingdom.

Its many states and regions were largely self-governing, though they would pay lip service to the King of France.

Today, then, to be “Flemish” usually just means you speak the language and live in what was once the region of Flanders.

To be Flemish is not a nationality, though indeed many Belgians may consider themselves Flemish.

So, people from Belgium are called Belgian.

Anything that originates in Belgium is called Belgian.

But the people of Belgium comprise multiple different ethnic identities, not to mention that there are Belgians spread all over the world who may feel multiple things to be true at once of their ethnic identity.

In any case, if you’re unsure, you can always ask an individual for their own take on it!

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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