in Continental Europe in the early 19th century. In modern history, Brussels has been the major town or the capital of the region. Because of long Spanish and minor French rule, French became the sole official language. After a brief period with Dutch as the official language while the region was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the people reinstated French after achieving independence in 1830. The Walloon region, a major coal and steel-producing area, developed rapidly into the economic powerhouse of the country. Walloons (in fact French-speaking elites who were called Walloons) became politically dominant. Many Flemish immigrants came to work in Wallonia. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, the gradual decline of steel and more especially coal, coupled with too little investment in service industries and light industry (which came to predominate in Flanders), started to tip the balance in the other direction. Flanders became gradually politically and economically dominant. In their turn, Walloon families have moved to Flanders in search of jobs. This evolution has not been without political repercussions. Walloon identity The heartland of Walloon culture are the Meuse and Sambre river valleys, Charleroi, Dinant, Namur (the regional capital), Huy, Verviers, and Liège. Regional language statistics The Walloon language is an element of Walloon identity. However, the entire French-speaking population of Wallonia cannot be culturally considered Walloon, since a significant portion in the west (around Tournai and Mons) and smaller portions in the extreme south (around Arlon) possess other languages as mother tongues (namely, Picard, Champenois, Lorrain, Flemish, German and Luxembourgish). A survey of the Centre liégeois d'étude de l'opinion pointed out in 1989 that 71.8% of the younger people of Wallonia understand and speak only a little or no Walloon language; 17.4% speak it well; and only 10.4% speak it exclusively. Based on other surveys and figures, Laurent Hendschel wrote in 1999 that between 30 and 40% people were bilingual in Wallonia (Walloon, Picard), among them 10% of the younger population (18–30 years old). According to Hendschel, there are 36 to 58% of young people have a passive knowledge of the regional languages. On the other hand, Givet commune, several villages in the Ardennes département in France, which publishes the journal Causons wallon (Let us speak Walloon); and two villages in Luxembourg are historically Walloon-speaking. Walloons in the Middle Ages Since the 11th century, the great towns along the river Meuse, for example,