Meuse–Rhine Euregion
|
|
---|---|
Type | Euroregion |
Membership | |
Establishment | 1976 |
Area | |
• Total
|
11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Estimate
|
3,900,000 |
The Meuse–Rhine Euroregion (Dutch: Euregio Maas–Rijn, French: Eurorégion Meuse–Rhin, German: Euregio Maas–Rhein, Limburgish: 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–Hasselt–Liège. 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 European urbanisation corridor.
The Meuse–Rhine Euregion comprises:
The official languages of the three countries involved in the Euregion are Dutch (in Belgium and the Netherlands), French (in Belgium) and German (in Belgium and Germany). Regional languages are also spoken namely Limburgish (which is recognised as a regional language 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.