Walloons relate more to French than to Flemings

Two in three Walloons (66.1%) feel 'rather different' or 'very different' from Flemings, reports RTBF, according to a study by The Walloon Institute for Evaluation, Prospective and Statistics (IWEPS). In a survey of 1,200 people from French-speaking Wallonia, the majority of respondents said they feel less kinship with Flanders than with France.

The aim of the study was to determine an average Walloon sense of identity. At the time of the study (2012-2013), 66.1% of the Walloons considered themselves ‘different’ from Flemings. Ten years ago, only about 35% reported feeling different than their fellow countrymen on the northern side of the language border.

The research indicates that 54.9% of Walloons feel ‘rather different’ or ‘very different’ from the French, a marked decrease compared to 10 years ago.

Nearly 78% of the respondents are ‘rather proud’ or ‘very proud’ to be Walloon, which does  not stand in the way of an attachment to their country, with 79% of respondents saying they also feel a sense of Belgian pride.