Power Sharing: Belgium and Sri Lanka

Vocabulary flashcards covering the ethnic demographics, majoritarian measures in Sri Lanka, and the accommodation model in Belgium.

Brussels

The capital city of Belgium where $80$ per cent of the people speak French and $20$ per cent speak Dutch.

Ethnic

A social division based on shared culture where people believe in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of culture or both.

Flemish region

The region in Belgium where $59$ per cent of the total population lives and speaks the Dutch language.

Wallonia region

The region in Belgium where $40$ per cent of the people live and speak French.

Sri Lankan Tamils

Tamil natives of Sri Lanka who make up $13$ per cent of the population and are concentrated in the north and east of the country.

Indian Tamils

A subgroup of Tamils in Sri Lanka whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during the colonial period.

Majoritarianism

A belief that the majority community should be able to rule a country in whichever way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority.

1956 Act

A legislative act passed in Sri Lanka to recognise Sinhala as the only official language, thus disregarding Tamil.

Tamil Eelam

An independent state demanded by several political organisations in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka during the $1980s$.

Civil war

A violent conflict between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like a war.

Community government

A third level of government in Belgium elected by people belonging to one language community (Dutch, French, and German) with power regarding cultural, educational, and language-related issues.

European Union Headquarters

Brussels was chosen as this location when many countries of Europe came together to form the union.

Belgian Constitution Amendments

Between $1970$ and $1993$, the Belgian leaders amended their constitution four times to work out an arrangement for coexistence.