Luxembourg (Belgium)

Luxembourg (Belgium)

Luxembourg (Dutch: Luxemburg, also German; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerg, Walloon: Lussimbork) is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the East) the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, France, and the Belgian provinces of Namur and Liège. Its capital is Arlon, in the south-east of the province.

It has an area of 4,443 km², making it the largest Belgian province. At around a quarter of a million residents, it is also the province with the smallest population, making it easily the most sparsely populated province in an otherwise densely populated country. Luxembourg province is divided into five administrative districts (arrondissements in French) containing 44 municipalities. The province also covers two regions (of Wallonia, one of the three actual official regions of Belgium) : the Ardennes on the north part and the Belgian Lorraine (of which the Gaume is the Roman part) on the south part.

The province was separated from the neighbouring Luxembourg by the Third Partition of Luxembourg in 1839, after the Belgian Revolution, and declared to remain a part of Belgium. The residents of Luxembourg are mostly Francophone, but there is a small Luxembourgish-speaking minority, in Arelerland, near the border with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.