Liège (province)

**Liège**  (, , , , , , ) is the easternmost province of the Walloon Region, in Belgium. Its capital is the city of Liège.

It is an area of French and German ethnic groups. Most of its inhabitants speak French and a minority of them speak German.

## History

The present province comes from a department created by the French government in the late eighteenth century, the Department of Ourte. In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon, the eastern part (Eupen, Malmedy, Saint-Vith and four other German municipalities) was given to the Prussian empire.

While maintaining the French administrative borders, King William I of the Netherlands gave back the more traditional names of the provinces instead of the names used by the French. He named the province as Liège, remembering the old principality of Liège, although the region did not correspond much to the old principality.

In 1919, after the Prussian defeat, the cantons Eupen, Malmedy and Saint-Vith were again part of the province of Liège.

## Geography

The province of Liège is in southeastern Belgium and borders on (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and in Belgium the provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant (Wallonia), and those of Flemish Brabant and Limburg (Flanders).

The province has an area of  and a population of about 1,111,000 in 2022. The province is divided into four arrondissements (_arrondissementen_ in Dutch) with 84 municipalities, 75 French-speaking municipalities and 9 German-speaking municipalities.

With , the Signal de Botrange is the highest point of the province and of Belgium. It is in Waimes, Verviers district.

### Rivers

The main river is the _Meuse_ (Dutch: _Maas_) river; its source is in France, in Champagne-Ardenne and then flows through Belgium by the provinces of Namur and Liège. After , it flows into the North Sea.

Other rivers in the province are:
- _Ourthe_, tributary of the Meuse.
- _Vesdre_, also a tributary of the Meuse.
- _Amblève_, tributary of the Ourthe.
- _Warche_, tributary of the Amblève.
- _Geer_, another tributary of the Meuse.

## Administrative divisions

The province of Liège is divided into 4 _arrondissements_ (Huy, Liège, Verviers and Waremme) and a total of 84 municipalities.

|Huy|Liège|Verviers|Waremme|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Amay (1) * Anthisnes (4) * Burdinne (15) * Clavier (19) * Engis (25) * Ferrières (29) * Hamoir (35) * Héron (36) * Huy (40) * Marchin (50) * Modave (51) * Nandrin (52) * Ouffet (56) * Tinlot (73) * Verlaine (76) * Villers-le-Bouillet (78) * Wanze (81)|style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff"|* Ans (3) * Awans (6) * Aywaille (7) * Bassenge (9) * Beyne-Heusay (11) * Blegny (12) * Chaudfontaine (18) * Comblain-au-Pont (20) * Dalhem (22) * Esneux (26) * Flémalle (31) * Fléron (32) * Grâce-Hollogne (34) * Herstal (38) * Juprelle (42) * Liège (44) * Neupré (53) * Oupeye (57) * Saint-Nicolas (63) * Seraing (65) * Soumagne (66) * Sprimont (68) * Trooz (75) * Visé (79)|style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Amel (2) * Aubel (5) * Baelen (8) * Büllingen (14) * Burg-Reuland (16) * Bütgenbach (17) * Dison (23) * Eupen (27) * Herve (39) * Jalhay (41) * Kelmis (43) * Lierneux (45) * Limbourg (46) * Lontzen (48) * Malmedy (49) * Olne (54) * Pepinster (58) * Plombières (59) * Raeren (60) * Saint-Vith (64) * Spa (67) * Stavelot (69) * Stoumont (70) * Theux (71) * Thimister-Clermont (72) * Trois-Ponts (74) * Verviers (77) * Waimes (80) * Welkenraedt (84)|width="175" style="vertical-align:top;background:#ddffff;"|* Berloz (10) * Braives (13) * Crisnée (21) * Donceel (24) * Faimes (28) * Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher (30) * Geer (33) * Hannut (36) * Lincent (47) * Oreye (55) * Remicourt (61) * Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse (62) * Waremme (82) * Wasseiges (83)|

## Population by arrondissement

Population x 1,000 (on 1 January since 1980).

|Arrondissement|1970|1980|1990|2000|2010|2020||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Huy|94|88|93|100|108|114|
|align="left"|Liège|618|612|590|586|604|626|
|align="left"|Verviers|240|245|252|266|280|288|
|align="left"|Waremme|58|61|63|68|76|82|

## Other websites

- Official web site of the Liège province  (in French)
- _ Bureau des Relations Extérieures de la Province de Liège_  (in French, Dutch, German and English)

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Liège
- **native name**:

- **settlement type**: Provinces of Belgium, Province of Belgium
- **image alt**: Liègois landscape scene: The Coo Waterfalls
- **image flag**: Flag of the Province of Liège.svg
- **flag size**: 120x80px
- **image shield**: Wapen van Luik (provincie).svg
- **shield size**: 100x90px
- **image map**: Province de Liège in Belgium.svg
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: Region
- **seat type**: Capital

- **seat**: Liège
- **leader title**: Governor
- **leader name**: Hervé Jamar (MR)
- **area total km2**: 3857
- **population total**: 1,110,989
- **population as of**: 1 January 2022
- **population density km2**: 288
- **blank name sec2**: Human Development Index, HDI (2019)
- **blank info sec2**: 0.903
 · List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index, 8th of 11