Sint-Genesius-Rode
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Sint-Genesius-Rode (unofficially Rhode-Saint-Genèse in French) is a municipality located in Flanders, one of three regions of Belgium, in the province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality only comprises the town of Sint-Genesius-Rode proper. On January 1, 2006 the town had a total population of 17,927. The total area is 22.77 km² which gives a population density of 787 inhabitants per km².
The originally native Dutch language is its official one. The majority of its present residents are Francophone. As for several other municipalities, in the 1960s linguistic facilities were given to local French-speaking residents — mostly stemming from and/or working in neighbouring Brussels — allowing them for instance to request official documents from the local administration in French. The regionalization of Belgium maintained that compromise, though politicians representing French-speakers interpret this as a permanent right also for later newcomers to the Brussels' rim in the Flemish region, where their Flemish counterparts see facilities there mainly as temporarily in order to help those French-speakers who already had come to live there, to better integrate in the Flemish region.
Today, this particular municipality remains a controversial topic of local and national politics. A considerable number of Belgian French-speakers would like to see it for its meanwhile obtained majority of Francophone residents integrated into the Brussels Capital Region, thus creating a common border between Wallonia and Brussels. Politicians as Elio Di Rupo put this in balance against Flemish demands to extend the regionalization to particular matters that still remain federal. It is strongly opposed by most Flemish people, their politicians and their institutions, rebuking the decrease of territory for causing further minorization of native Flemish residents while the precedent would invite further Francophone migration to other municipalities with facilities for what was originally supposed to be a minority, as well as the increase of an already prevalent Francophone influence on the capital region; also claiming a further regionalization to put responsibilities where these belong without requiring one region or community to pay a price to another.
[edit] External link
- http://www.sint-genesius-rode.be/ - official website
- http://www.sint-genesius-rode.com/ - non-official website
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Municipalities in the Province of Flemish Brabant, Flanders, Belgium |
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Halle-Vilvoorde: Affligem | Asse | Beersel | Bever | Dilbeek | Drogenbos | Galmaarden | Gooik | Grimbergen | Halle | Herne | Hoeilaart | Kampenhout | Kapelle-op-den-Bos | Kraainem | Lennik | Liedekerke | Linkebeek | Londerzeel | Machelen | Meise | Merchtem | Opwijk | Overijse | Pepingen | Roosdaal | Sint-Genesius-Rode | Sint-Pieters-Leeuw | Steenokkerzeel | Ternat | Vilvoorde | Wemmel | Wezembeek-Oppem | Zaventem | Zemst |
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