Power sharing

• Belgium is a small country in Europe, smaller in area than the state of Haryana
• Belgium has borders with France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg
• Belgium has a population of a little over one crore, about half the population of Haryana
• 59% of the population in the Flemish region speaks Dutch, while 40% in the Wallonia region speaks French, and 1% speak German
• In the capital city Brussels, 80% of the population speaks French and 20% speak Dutch
• The minority French-speaking community in Belgium was relatively rich and powerful, leading to tensions with the Dutch-speaking community during the 1950s and 1960s
• Tensions between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities were more acute in Brussels, where Dutch-speaking people constituted a majority in the country but a minority in the capital
• Sri Lanka is an island nation located just off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu
• Sri Lanka has about two crore people, similar to the population of Haryana
• The major social groups in Sri Lanka are Sinhala-speakers (74%) and Tamil-speakers (18%)
• Among Tamils in Sri Lanka, there are two sub-groups