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Liège (province) facts for kids

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Liège
Province of Belgium
Coo Waterfall Panorama.jpg
The Coo Waterfalls (municipality of Stavelot)
Flag of the Province of Liège.svg
Flag
Wapen van Luik (provincie).svg
Coat of arms
Country  Belgium
Region  Wallonia
Capital Liège
 - coordinates 50°39′N 5°34′E / 50.650°N 5.567°E / 50.650; 5.567
Highest point Signal de Botrange
 - location Waimes, Verviers, Liège
 - elevation 694 m (2,277 ft)
 - coordinates 50°30′06″N 6°05′33″E / 50.50167°N 6.09250°E / 50.50167; 6.09250
Area 3,862 km² (1,491 sq mi)
Population 1,102,531 (1 January 2017)
Density 285 /km² (738 /sq mi)
Subdivisions 4 Arrondissements
84 Municipalities
Governor Hervé Jamar
Timezone CET (UTC+1)
 - summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal codes 4000–4999
ISO 3166-2 BE-WLG

Liège (Walloon: Lîdje; Dutch: Luik; German: Lüttich) 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 speaks German.

History

Reinhardstein CH1bJPG
Reinhardstein castle (1354) in Waimes

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 3,862 km2 (1,491 sq mi), with a population of 1,102,531 and a density of 285.5 inhabitants per km². The province is divided into four arrondissements (arrondissementen in Dutch) with 84 municipalities, 75 French-speaking municipalities and 9 German-speaking municipalities.

With 694 m (2,277 ft), 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 950 km (590 mi), 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.

LiègeGemeenten2
Map of the municipalities of Liège
(names are in the following table)
Municipalities by arrondissements, with their numbers in the map
Huy Liège Verviers Waremme
Arrondissement Huy Belgium Map.png Arrondissement Liège Belgium Map.png Arrondissement Verviers Belgium Map.png Arrondissement Waremme Belgium Map.png

Population by arrondissement

Population on 1 January of each year.

Arrondissement 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Huy 104,756 105,770 106,793 107,832 108,960 109,728
Liège 594,579 597,478 600,269 604,062 609,392 612,740
Verviers 274,973 276,569 278,142 280,203 282,293 283,668
Waremme 73,106 73,905 74,831 75,588 76,558 77,264
Province of Liège 1,047,414 1,053,722 1,060,035 1,067,685 1,077,203 1,083,400


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Provincia de Lieja para niños

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