The Hageland is a landscape in the

Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and t ...

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 ...

, situated in the eastern part of the Province of Flemish Brabant. It is mainly comprised between the cities of

Aarschot Aarschot () is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Aarschot proper and the towns of Gelrode, Langdorp and Rillaar. On January 1, 2019, Aarschot had a total popul ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Marg ...

and

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60 ...

, and probably coincides to some extent with the twelfth-century

County of Leuven The Counts of Louvain were a branch of the Lotharingian House of Reginar which from the late 10th century ruled over the estates of Louvain ('' French'') or Leuven (''Dutch'') in Lower Lorraine. History The likely ancestor of the Reginars, Gi ...

. The French Government that controlled the area that later became Belgium in the last years of the 18th and early 19th century, had extended Limburg, which since then comprises the minor part of the Hageland at the city of

Halen Halen (), formerly Haelen ( li, Hôle), is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, to the west of Hasselt. On January 1, 2018, Halen had a ...

. The name refers to land with dense (low) forest and/or undergrowth. Its earliest attestation (spelled as ''Hagelant'') dates from 1528.

Geography

The area is a series of east–west–directed ridges of ironstone hills. The ridge that includes the 106-metre-high ''Molenberg'' hill at the village of Pellenberg forms the southern border of the Hageland, and the Velp, a tributary of the

Demer The Demer is an long river in eastern Belgium, right tributary of the Dijle. It flows through the Belgian provinces Limburg and Flemish Brabant. Its source is near Tongeren. It flows into the river Dijle in Werchter, Rotselaar municipality. ...

, limits its southeast. Touristic publications of Hageland often erroneously include a landscape of Flemish Brabant that lies to the south-east of it, which geophysically rather belongs to the drylands (Tienen, Hoegaarden, Landen) and wetlands (Zoutleeuw) region of

Hesbaye The Hesbaye ( French, ), or Haspengouw (Dutch and Limburgish, ) is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has be ...

(in Dutch ''Haspengouw''). This led to an informal name of South Hageland distinct from North Hageland (Hageland proper). Another tributary, the

Gete The Gete (; french: Gette) is a river in Belgium which flows south to north. It is a left tributary of the Demer. The Gete is formed by the confluence of the rivers ''Grote Gete'' ("Large Gete") and ''Kleine Gete'' ("Small Gete") near Zoutleeuw, ...

, is the eastern and the river

itself the northern border of Hageland.

Geography

References

Notes

See also