Limburg (Belgium)

This airticle deals wi a province in Belgium. For ither uises o Limburg, see: Limburg. Limburg (Dutch: Limburg ) is the eastmaist province o modren Flanders, which is ane o the three main poleetical an cultural sub-diveesions o modren Belgium. It is locatit wast o the river Meuse (Dutch Maas). It borders on (clockwise frae the north) the Dutch provinces o North Brabant an Limburg an the Belgian provinces o Liège, Flemish Brabant an Antwerp. Its caipital is Hasselt. It haes an aurie o 2,414 km² which is dividit intae three arrondissements (arrondissementen in Dutch) containin 44 municipalities. Amang them, apairt frae Hasselt, are Borgloon, the early medieval caipital, Genk, a major economic centre, Diepenbeek, hame tae Hasselt University, an Tongeren, kent as the auldest ceety in Belgium acause it wis the anerlie Roman ceety in the province. Belgian Limburg wis niver cried Limburg till the 19t century, it's name bein a result o post-Napoleonic politics. The same region wis historically cried Loon. Leid As in aw Flemish provinces, the offeecial leid is Dutch, but twa municipalities: Herstappe an Voeren are tae a certaint extent alloued tae uise French tae communicate wi thair ceetizens. Sic municipalities are cried the municipalities wi leid facilities in Belgium. Several variations o Limburgish are an aw still actively uised, thir bein a diverse group o dialects which share features in common wi baith German an Dutch. Limburg mijn Vaderland is the offeecial anthem o baith Belgian an Dutch Limburg, an haes versions in various dialects o Limburgish, varyin frae accents closer tae staundart Dutch in the wast, tae mair destinctive dialects near the Maas. Ootside o the twa Limburgs relatit dialects or leids are foond stretched oot towards the nearbi Ruhr valley region o Germany. An thare are an aw relatit dialects aroond Aachen an in the extreme north o the province o Liège. As in the rest o Flanders a heich level o multi-lingualism is foond in the population. Limburg is close tae Germany an Wallonie, an acause o the naitural poleetical, cultural an economics links, French an German hae lang been important seicont leids in the aurie. Inglis haes an aw nou acome a leid which is widely unnerstuid an uised in business an cultural activities, an is supplantin French in this regaird. Veldeke, the medieval property o Hendrik van Veldeke, wis near Hasselt, alang the Demer river, tae the wast o Kuringen. He is ane o the first authors kent bi name in baith Dutch an German. References Ither sources Jappe Alberts (1974), Gecheidenis van de Beide Limburgen, Van Gorcum Wightman, Edith Mary (1985), Gallia Belgica, University of California Press See an aw Limburgish leid Leet o Govrenors o Limburg, Belgium Limburg (Netherlands), a province in sootheastren Netherlands. Hesbaye CIPAL Campine Limburg Science Park Freemit airtin (in Dutch) Offeecial wabsteid Archived 1996-12-24 at the Wayback Machine