The city of Liège (Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich) on the Meuse River is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, of which it is the capital. On January 1, 2004, Liège had a total population of 185,488 (90,431 males and 95,057 females) and about 600.000 inhabitants in the area. The total area is 69.39 km² which gives a population density of 2,673.05 inhabitants per km².

It is the centre of the Walloon country, and Walter Scott commits a curious mistake in Quentin Durward in making its people talk Flemish.

It has a railway connection with Maastricht, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Antwerp, and Aachen in Germany. A high-speed link to Leuven was completed in 2003, cutting travelling times to Brussels to one hour and to Paris to 2 hours and a half. Also Hasselt is not far from Liège.

Liege is one of the steel-making centers of Belgium, the area around Charleroi being the other. It once boasted numerous blast furnaces and mills. Although a mere shadow of its former self, steel production and manufacturing of steel goods remains a vital part of its economy.

The great cathedral of Saint Lambert was destroyed and sacked by the French in 1794, and in 1802 the church of St. Paul, dating from the 10th century but rebuilt in the 13th was declared the cathedral.

See also

• Alger of Liège
• Bishop of Liège
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège

External link

• Official website of the city (http://www.liege.be)
• A few pictures free of rights (http://liege.eu.org/photos/index.html)

bg:Лиеж da:Liège de:Lüttich es:Lieja fr:Liège nl:Stad Luik wa:Lidje