One of the three regions of Belgium, Wallonia occupies the southern part of the country. GRP per capita is much lower compared to Flanders. The province is heavily subsidized. The first associations for the protection of Walloon interests in the context of economically growing Flanders appeared by the end of the XIX century. In response to the activation of the Flemish national movements, in 1968 the "Walloon Association" (Rassemblement Wallon) arose. The crisis in relations between the regions was the main reason for the beginning of the federal reform - a gradual revision of the Belgian constitution. As a result of reforms that started in 1970, a multi-level federative system with three language communities and three territorial regions was established in Belgium. In 1980, the French-speaking Assembly and the Executive Committee of the Francophone Community were created. The formalization of autonomy was enshrined in the San Michel agreements in 1993. A multi-level federal structure, in which most of the functions are concentrated in the hands of the Regions and Communities, allows the latter to solve management issues on their own.
It was in the process of federal reforms that the official name of the Walloon region appeared, although historically it was used as far as back to the 17th century to refer to a population different from the Dutch in cultural and linguistic regards. Walloons constitute an absolute majority of the population of the region. The official language is French. There are Flemish "exclaves" but their size is difficult to estimate: since 1947, according to the decision of the Belgian government, there were no language censuses in the country.
The regionalization of Belgium led to the disintegration of national political parties into regional ones. As a result, Wallonia has its own party system, consisting of Christian-democratic, socialist, liberal, green, regionalist and populist parties.
On the territory of Wallonia (Liege Province), the German language community is located. Unlike the Flemish and Walloon communities, it does not have the authority to regulate the use of language in administration, education and social services. But in practice, German is widely used.
The Walloon region has broad functions in all spheres of economy and management, but economic problems give rise to dissatisfaction with the situation.
