Gaume () is a region in the extreme southeast of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. At a lower altitude than the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, it borders the French region of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

to the south (although some consider the bordering parts of Lorraine to be Gaume française), the Land of Arlon (Luxembourgish: Arelerland) to the east the Belgian part of the

to the north. In cultural terms, Gaume is the

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

-speaking part of what is now called

Belgian Lorraine Belgian Lorraine is the part of Lorraine that lies in the south of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, in Wallonia. The term is used solely in a geological context, as the region borders the geologically-distinct Ardennes, to the north. Cultural ...

, Arelerland being its Luxembourgish-speaking part. Gaume was part of the

Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

till 1839, when it was integrated in the newly-created Belgian province of Luxembourg. It is composed of the districts of

Chiny Chiny (; wa, Tchini) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 the municipality, which covers , had 5,175 inhabitants, giving a population density of 46 inhabitants per km2. The m ...

, Étalle,

Florenville Florenville (; Gaumais: ''Floravile'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2016 the municipality had 5,639 inhabitants. The total area is 146.91 km², giving a population den ...

Habay Habay (; wa, Habâ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 103.64 km2, had 7,903 inhabitants, giving a population density of 76.3 inhabitants per km2. ...

Meix-devant-Virton Meix-devant-Virton (, literally ''Meix before Virton''; Gaumais: ''Minch-duvant-Vèrtan''; wa, Méch-divant-Vierton) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2017 the municipality had 2,812 inhab ...

, Musson, Rouvroy,

Tintigny Tintigny (; wa, Tintnî) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2015 the municipality had 4,200 inhabitants. Its total area is 81.79 km2, giving it a population density of 45.7 inhabitants ...

and

Virton Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; wa, Vierton) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the princ ...

, but some villages in the northern districts are not in Gaume (as Suxy or Hachy). Historically, the area around

Montmédy Montmédy (, german: Mittelberg) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Citadel of Montmédy In 1221 the first castle of Montmédy was built on top of a hill by the Count of Chiny. Montmédy soon became the ...

Carignan Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...

and Charency-Vezin, that was ceded to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1659, is also part of Gaume. Therefore, strictly speaking, the southern border of the region is not the border with France. The French part of the Gaume, named Gaume française by some, is part of a greater cluster of former Luxembourgish territories called French Luxembourg. It consists of the canton of

, almost all of the canton of

and parts of the cantons of

Damvillers Damvillers is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Meuse department The following is a list of the 499 communes of the Meuse department of France. The communes cooperate in the f ...

and

Longuyon Longuyon () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Longuyonnais''. Geography Longuyon is located at the confluence of the Chiers and Crusnes rivers and ...

. It largely corresponds with the now French part of the county of

. The unofficial capital of the Gaume region is

. Temperatures in this region are often 1 °C to 3 °C higher than in other parts of the

province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...

because of a distinctive

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

. Gaume is a popular destination for tourism in Belgium. The

Lorrain language Lorrain is a language (often referred to as patois) spoken by now a minority of people in Lorraine in France, small parts of Alsace and in Gaume in Belgium. It is a langue d'oïl. It is classified as a regional language of France and has the r ...

, a

langue d'oïl Langue is a municipality in the Valle Department, Honduras. The town is located near the border of El Salvador and is a regional Hammock making center. Most of the town is made up of sharecroppers and day laborers. There are usually Mormon mis ...

that is distinct from the

Walloon language Walloon (; natively ; french: wallon) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and (to a very small extent) in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near Givet, northern France; and a clutch of communities in northeastern Wisconsin, ...

, is a minority language in Gaume, where it is known as ''gaumais''. Although it is in decline, several local authors are trying to revive its usage. Lorrain is recognised as a regional language of Wallonia.

Gallery

Image:Tintigny JPG01.jpg, The Church of Tintigny Image:Florenville_050422_(4).JPG, The

Semois The Semois (; ''Simwès'' in Walloon, often under elided form ''Smwès''; ''Semoy'', ''Sesbach'' in German, ''Setzbaach'' in Luxemburgish of Arlon; and known as the ''Semoy'' in France) is a river flowing from the Ardennes uplands of Belgium and ...

river near Florenville Forest in Gaume.jpg, Forest in Gaume

External links

Gaumais museum - official websiteParc Naturel de Gaume - official website
Geography of Luxembourg (Belgium) Regions of Wallonia Areas of Belgium Virton {{LuxembourgBE-geo-stub