Wallonia (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Republic of Wallonia Republike do Walonreye Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: Wallonia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Nos estans fir d' esse Walons (Walloon) ("We are proud to be Wallons")
Anthem:  Li Tchant des Walons
Location of Wallonia
Capital		Namur
Other cities		Liège; Charleroi
Official languages		Walloon
Other languages		French; German; Littleboroughish
Ethnic groups		Walloons; Germans; Littleburians
Religion		Christianity; Irreligion
Demonym		Wallonian; Wallon
Government		Unitary state; Parliamentary constitutional republic
-	President	Bernard Anselme
-	Prime Minister	Paul Magnette
Legislature		Parliament of Wallonia
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Establishment
-	Independence from Belgium	August 1, 1950
Area
-	Total	16,844 km2  6,503.5 sq mi
Population
-	estimate	3,633,795
Currency		Euro (EUR)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
Internet TLD		.wa
Calling code		+335
Membership international or regional organizations		United Nations; European Community; French Community

Wallonia (Walloon: Walonreye), officially the Republic of Wallonia (Walloon: Republike do Walonreye), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe. Wallonia is landlocked country which covers an an area of 16,844 sq km (5283 sq mi) and has a population of about three million people. Wallonia borders Belgium and Metropolitan Netherlands in the north, Metropolitan France to the south and west, and West Germany and Littleborough to the east. The capital of Wallonia is Namur, and the most populous city is Charleroi. Geographically, most of Wallonia's major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley.

During the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the region wealth, and from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century, Wallonia was more prosperous than the rest of Belgium. Since World War II, the importance of heavy industry has greatly diminished, and the Flemish part of Belgium surpassed Wallonia in wealth, as Wallonia declined economically. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major factors of Wallonian independence from Belgium in 1950.

Further readings