Liege (city)
Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich, Spanish: Lieja), is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, of which it is the capital. On January 1, 2002, Liège had a total population of 185,131 (89,801 males and 95,330 females). The total area is 68.94 km² which gives a population density of 2,685.39 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, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Antwerpen, and with Aachen, Germany. A high-speed link to Leuven, Belgium, was completed in 2003, cutting travelling times to Brussels, Belgium, to one hour.
Centre of Belgian arms production FN-Rifle, Herstal.
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 still is a vital part of its economy.
The great cathedral of St. 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
