Meuse–Rhine Euroregion
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The Meuse–Rhine Euroregion ( nl, Euregio Maas–Rijn , french: Eurorégion Meuse–Rhin, german: Euregio Maas–Rhein , li, Euregio Maas–Rien ) is a Euroregion created in 1976, with judicial status achieved in 1991. It comprises 11.000 km2 and has around 3.9 million inhabitants around the city-corridor of Aachen
Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
HasseltLiège. The seat of the region has been in Eupen, Belgium since 1 January 2007. Within a wider context, the region is part of what is called the
Blue Banana The Blue Banana (also known as the European Megalopolis or the Liverpool–Milan Axis) is a discontinuous corridor of urbanization spreading over Western and Central Europe, with a population of around 111 million. The conceptualisation of the ...
European urbanisation corridor.


Governmental areas

The Meuse–Rhine Euregion comprises: * The western part of the governmental Region of Cologne in Germany including the city of Aachen, the District of Aachen, the District of Düren, the District of Euskirchen and the District of Heinsberg, collectively referred to as the Region of Aachen. * The
German-speaking Community of Belgium The German-speaking Community (german: links=no, Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft, or DG; french: links=no, Communauté germanophone; nl, links=no, Duitstalige Gemeenschap), since 2017 also known as East Belgium (german: links=no, Ostbelgien), is ...
; the seat of the Euroregion is located in its capital
Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border ( Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the " High Fens" ...
. * The
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
Liège Province Liège (; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium. Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Du ...
. * The Belgian Limburg Province. * The southern part of the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
Province of Limburg, with the northern point of the Meuse–Rhine Euroregion being the city of Roermond. The Meuse–Rhine Euroregion includes the provincial capital city of Maastricht as well as the co-operative region
Parkstad Limburg Parkstad Limburg (; Ripuarian and li, Parksjtad Limburg ) is a conurbation of eight municipalities in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. Consisting Heerlen, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Brunssum, Simpelveld, Voerendaal, ...
surrounding the city of Heerlen.


Languages

The official languages of the three countries involved in the Euregion are
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
(in Belgium and the Netherlands), French (in Belgium) and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
(in Belgium and Germany). Regional languages are also spoken namely Limburgish (which is recognised as a
regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...
in Dutch Limburg), Ripuarian and Walloon. The intra-cultural aspect of the Limburgish and Ripuarian is that they are spoken on both sides of the border. Limburgish, although only recognised as such in The Netherlands, is also spoken in Belgian Limburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. Ripuarian is also spoken on both sides of the Dutch–German border, but with the extra trait of having the same variant spoken on both sides of the border. In daily life, one rarely makes a distinction between Limburgish and Ripuarian. The latter language hardly enjoys any recognition by people who speak it. The dialects of both linguistic groups change gradually from village to village, and the overlap from Limburgish dialects to Ripuarian dialects is hard to pin-point. Moreover, Ripuarian-speakers in Dutch Limburg generally consider their dialects to be part of the Limburgish language, not the Ripuarian one. On the other hand, Ripuarian-speakers on the German side of the border rarely use the term "Ripuarian" and generally refer to it as ''Plat(t)'', a term that is also used by Limburgish-speakers for their own mother-tongue.


See also

*
EUREGIO EUREGIO is a cross-border region between the Netherlands and Germany and the first Euroregion. It was founded in 1958 as a German Eingetragener Verein, and has been converted in 2016 into a public body based on the 1991 Treaty of Anholt (german: ...
*
Ems Dollart Region The Ems Dollart Region (EDR), established in 1977, is a cross-border organisation located in the northern Dutch-German border area. The region is named after the Ems River and the Dollart estuary. Its aim is to establish and improve contacts and ...


External links


Meuse-Rhine Euroregion site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meuse-Rhine Euroregion Euroregions Geography of Liège Province Geography of Limburg (Belgium) Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia Regions of Flanders Regions of Limburg (Netherlands) Regions of Wallonia South Limburg (Netherlands)