The first chapter of this book surveys the history of the Belgian state and discusses the role of the Flemish movement in the rise of linguistic self-consciousness of the Flemish (and French) speaking population. Chapter two presents a comprehensive overview of the language groups in Belgium, and of the three main cleavages constituted by religion, class and language. Chapter three addresses group images, attitudes and the political system. Chapter four deals with language legislation and the Belgian state reform in the 1980s. A final chapter comments on the ambiguity of the Belgian case.