Red Lands

The Red Lands form a geographic region in southern and south-western

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 ...

. They are so called for their red

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in fro ...

-laden earth. The Red Lands roughly correspond with the southern part of the canton of

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (; lb, Esch-Uelzecht ; german: Esch an der Alzette or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is the second city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's second-most populous commune, with a population of 35,040 inhabitants, . It lies ...

, along the border with France. Geologically, the Red Lands are sedimentary, mostly

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s and conglomerates, formed in the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations c ...

epoch. As one of the most prodigious iron-producing regions in Western Europe, the Red Lands developed a thriving local

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resist ...

industry, which has now developed into

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...

, the world's largest producer of

. Throughout the period of industrial decline, the Red Lands have diversified into production of construction materials, engineering services, and chemical manufacturing. The region is the most densely populated part of Luxembourg, with several of Luxembourg's largest towns and cities, including

Bettembourg Bettembourg ( lb, Beetebuerg , german: Bettemburg) is a commune and town in southern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, which is part of the district of Luxembourg. , the town of Bettembourg, which lies in the east of the ...

Differdange Differdange ( lb, Déifferdeng or (locally) ; german: Differdingen) is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg, west from the country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France and it is located in the canton ...

Dudelange Dudelange (; lb, Diddeleng , german: Düdelingen) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 19,734 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. , the town of Dude ...

, Kayl, and

Schifflange Schifflange ( lb, Schëffleng , german: Schifflingen) is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. , the town of Schifflange, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 9,332. ...

, all of which have populations in excess of 7,000 people. Regions of Luxembourg Esch-sur-Alzette (canton) {{Esch-geo-stub