Romance Flanders or Gallicant Flanders is the part of the county of Flanders where people speak Romance languages

Romance languages

The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...

, like varieties of Picard

Picard language

Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...

. It currently straddles the border of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

Name

In early modern English

Early Modern English

Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period to 1650. Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English...

, it was also called Welch Flanders or Gallike Flanders. The original French name is Flandre Gallicane or Flandre Gallicante, derived from the Latin term : Gallo Flandria or Flandria Gallica.

The term Walloon Flanders

Walloon Flanders

Walloon Flanders is part of the County of Flanders.Walloon Flanders usually means the same territory, the bailiwick of Douai and the castelleny of Lille, but in two different periods :In the Spanish Low Countries, it was the part of Romance Flanders which signed the Union of Arras on January 6,...

should not be used to designate the entire region, as it refers only to a part of Gallicant Flanders. It was used to refer to the part of Romance Flanders that adhered to the Union of Arras in 1579 and was annexed to France after the Treaties of Nijmegen

Treaties of Nijmegen

The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and December 1679...

 (in both cases, Mouscron

Mouscron

Mouscron is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. The Mouscron municipality includes the old communes of Dottignies , Luingne, and Herseaux .-Middle Ages:...

, for instance, was not a part of Walloon Flanders). The use of Walloon Flanders is political, not linguistic as Romance Flanders or Gallicant Flanders.

Territory

In France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 :

• • The Lilloise Flanders (in French
    French language
    French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
    
     Flandre Lilloise, in Dutch
    Dutch language
    Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
    
     Rijsels-Vlaanderen) ;
  • The northern part of the Scarpe plain with the Pévèle and the bailiwick of Douai
    Douai
    -Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
    
     (Douaisis);

In Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 :

• • The historical Tournaisis (in Dutch
    Dutch language
    Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
    
     Doornikse);
  • The regions of Mouscron
    Mouscron
    Mouscron is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. The Mouscron municipality includes the old communes of Dottignies , Luingne, and Herseaux .-Middle Ages:...
    
     and Comines
    Comines-Warneton
    Comines-Warneton is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006, Comines-Warneton had a total population of 17,562. The total area is 61.09 km² which gives a population density of 287 inhabitants per km². The name "Comines" is believed to have a...
    
    , bilingual communes of (or part of) the old castelleny of Courtray;