Limburg (Netherlands)

Limburg
Province
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "Limburg mijn Vaderland" "Limburg My Fatherland"
Location of Limburg in the Netherlands
Topography map of Limburg
Coordinates: 51°13′N 5°56′E / 51.217°N 5.933°E / 51.217; 5.933
Country	Netherlands
Inclusion	1867
Capital (and largest city)	Maastricht
Government
• King's Commissioner[1]	Emile Roemer (SP)
• Council	Provincial Council of Limburg
Area  (2023)[2]
• Total	2,210 km2 (850 sq mi)
• Land	2,145 km2 (828 sq mi)
• Water	65 km2 (25 sq mi)
• Rank	11th
Population  (1 January 2023)[3]
• Total	1,128,367
• Rank	7th
• Density	526/km2 (1,360/sq mi)
• Rank	5th
GDP [4]
• Total	€49.119 billion
• Per capita	€44,000
ISO 3166 code	NL-LI
Religion (2003)	Roman Catholic 78% Protestant 2% Others 5% Non-religious 15%
HDI (2018)	0.915[5] very high · 8th
Website	www.limburg.nl

Limburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x] ^ⓘ, Limburgish: [ˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦(ə)x]), also known as Dutch Limburg, is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is bordered by Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to its west. Its long eastern boundary forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg, part of which is delineated by the river Meuse. To the South, Limburg is bordered by the Belgian province of Liège. The Vaalserberg is on the extreme southeastern point, marking the tripoint of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

Limburg had a population of about 1,128,000^[3] as of January 2023. Its main municipalities are the provincial capital Maastricht (population 120,837 as of January 2022),^[6] Venlo (population 102,176) in the northeast, as well as Sittard-Geleen (population 91,760, bordering both Belgium and Germany) and Heerlen (population 86,874) in the south. More than half of the population, approximately 650,000 people, live in the south of Limburg, which corresponds to roughly one-third of the province's area proper. In South Limburg, most people live in the urban agglomerations of Maastricht, Parkstad and Sittard-Geleen.