Flemish is an adjective that refers to Flanders, a region in Belgium. It can also refer to the Flemish people, who are the inhabitants of Flanders. Flemish people speak Dutch, specifically its southern variant, which is often colloquially called Flemish. Flemish is not a separate language from Dutch, but rather a dialect cluster spoken in Flanders. The term "Flemish" was historically a geographical term, as all inhabitants of the medieval County of Flanders in modern-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands were referred to as "Flemings", irrespective of their ethnicity or language. Today, Flemish is considered something between Dutch and its dialects, and researchers in Dutch linguistics do not refer to it as a dialect, but would not call it proper Dutch either.