Wallonia

Church of Saint-Julien, Ath, Wallonia, Belgium.

Wallonia, region that constitutes the southern half of Belgium. The self-governing Walloon Region was created during the federalization of Belgium, largely along ethnolinguistic lines, in the 1980s and ’90s. (The two other political regions created during this process were Flanders and the Brussels-Capital Region.) Wallonia consists of the French-speaking provinces of Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, Namur, and Walloon Brabant. Its elected government has broad authority over such areas as agriculture, transportation, and public works. Namur city is the capital of the region. (See also Fleming and Walloon.) Area 6,504 square miles (16,844 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 3,421,985.