Limburgish language in the context of "Guigoven"

The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, Northern America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, English, is also the world's most widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. All Germanic languages are derived from Proto-Germanic, spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia, Iron Age Northern Germany and along the North Sea and Baltic coasts.

The West Germanic languages include the three most widely spoken Germanic languages: English with around 360–400 million native speakers; German, with over 100 million native speakers; and Dutch, with 24 million native speakers. Other West Germanic languages include Afrikaans, an offshoot of Dutch originating from the Afrikaners of South Africa, with over 7.1 million native speakers; Low German, considered a separate collection of unstandardized dialects, with roughly 4.35–7.15 million native speakers and probably 6.7–10 million people who can understand it (at least 2.2 million in Germany (2016) and 2.15 million in the Netherlands (2003)); Yiddish, once used by approximately 13 million Jews in pre-World War II Europe, now with approximately 1.5 million native speakers; Scots, with 1.5 million native speakers; Limburgish varieties with roughly 1.3 million speakers along the Dutch–Belgian–German border; and the Frisian languages with over 500,000 native speakers in the Netherlands and Germany.

50°38′N 06°02′E / 50.633°N 6.033°E / 50.633; 6.033

The German-speaking Community (German: Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft (Belgiens), pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃˌʃpʁaːxɪɡə ɡəˈmaɪnʃaft ˈbɛlɡi̯əns], DG), also known as East Belgium (German: Ostbelgien [ˈɔstˌbɛlɡi̯ən] ), is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. The community is composed of nine municipalities in Liège Province, Wallonia, within the Eupen-Malmedy region in Eastern Belgium. The primary language of the community is German, making this one of the three official languages in Belgium. Traditionally the community and the wider area around it forms an intersection of various local languages and/or dialects, namely Limburgish, Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian varieties. The community has an area of 854 km (330 sq mi), and has a population of around 79,000 (as of January 2024) – about 7.0% of Liège Province and about 0.7% of the national total.

Mönchengladbach (German: [mœnçn̩ˈɡlatbax] ; Limburgish: Jlabbach [jəˈlɑbɑx]) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.

Maastricht (/ˈmɑːstrɪxt/ MAH-strikht, US also /mɑːˈstrɪxt/ mah-STRIKHT, Dutch: [maːˈstrɪxt] ; Limburgish: Mestreech [məˈstʀeːx]) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse (Dutch: Maas), at the point where the river is joined by the Jeker. Mount Saint Peter (Sint-Pietersberg) is largely situated within the city's municipal borders. Maastricht is adjacent to the border with Belgium and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, an international metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Liège, and Hasselt.

Maastricht developed from a Roman settlement (Trajectum ad Mosam) to a medieval river trade and religious centre. In the 16th century it became a garrison town and in the 19th century an early industrial centre. Today, the city is a thriving cultural and regional hub. It became well known through the Maastricht Treaty and as the birthplace of the euro. Maastricht has 1,677 national heritage buildings (rijksmonumenten), the second highest number in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. The city is visited by tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large international student population. The last stage of the Cretaceous period and the Mesozoic era, the Maastrichtian, is named after this city, at the end of which was the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which resulted in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Roermond (Dutch pronunciation: [ruːrˈmɔnt] ; Limburgish: Remunj [ʀəˈmʏɲ] or Remuunj [ʀəˈmyːɲ]) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roermond's town centre has become a designated conservation area.

Through the centuries, the town has filled the role of commercial centre and a principal town in the duchy of Guelders. Since 1559, it has served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond. The skyline of the town is dominated by the towers of its two churches, St. Christopher's Cathedral and Roermond Minster ("Munsterkerk" in Dutch). In addition to the churches, the town centre has many significant buildings and monuments.

Halen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦaːlə(n)] ), formerly Haelen (Limburgish: Hôle), is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of Limburg, to the west of Hasselt. On January 1, 2018, Halen had a total population of 9,461. The total area is 36.29 km which gives a population density of 261 inhabitants per km.

The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities: Halen proper, Loksbergen, and Zelem.

Solingen (German pronunciation: [ˈzoːlɪŋən] ; Limburgish: Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of the regional authority of the Rhineland.

Solingen is called the "City of Blades", and has long been renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by firms such as WKC, P.D Rasspe Söhne, DOVO, Wüsthof, Zwilling J. A. Henckels, Böker, Güde, Hubertus, Diefenthal, Puma, Clauberg/Klauberg, Eickhorn, Linder, Carl Schmidt Sohn, Dreiturm, Herder, Martor Safety Knives, Wolfertz, Ralf Aust and numerous other manufacturers.

Ratingen (German pronunciation: [ˈʁaːtɪŋən] ; Limburgish: Rotinge) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf.

Krefeld (/ˈkreɪfɛld, -ɛlt/ KRAY-feld, -⁠felt, German: [ˈkʁeːfɛlt] ; Limburgish: Krieëvel [ˈkʀiə˦vəl]), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its center lying just a few kilometers to the west of the river Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine. Because of its economic past, Krefeld is often referred to as the "Velvet and Silk City". It is accessed by the autobahns A57 (Cologne–Nijmegen) and A44 (Aachen–Düsseldorf–Dortmund–Kassel).

Krefeld's residents now speak Hochdeutsch, or standard German, but the native dialect is a Low Franconian variety, sometimes locally called Krefelder Platt, Krieewelsch Platt, or sometimes simply Platt. The Uerdingen line isogloss, separating general dialectical areas in Germany and neighboring Germanic-speaking countries, runs through and is named after Krefeld's Uerdingen district, originally an independent municipality.

Neuss (German pronunciation: [nɔʏs] ; written Neuß until 1968; Limburgish: Nüss [ˈnʏs]; Latin: Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its historic Roman sites, as well as the annual Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest. Neuss and Trier share the title of "Germany's oldest city", and in 1984 Neuss celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding in 16 BCE.

Monheim am Rhein (German pronunciation: [ˈmoːnhaɪm ʔam ˈʁaɪn, ˈmɔn-], lit. 'Monheim on the Rhine'; Limburgish: Monnem) is a town on the right (eastern) bank of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Monheim belongs to the district of Mettmann – with the southern suburbs of Düsseldorf to the north, and the Bergisches Land to the east and the city of Cologne to the south. It consists of the city districts (from north to south) Baumberg (about one third) and Monheim (two thirds).

The Euregio Meuse-Rhine (Dutch: Euregio Maas–Rijn [øːˈreːɣijoː ˌmaːsˈrɛin], French: Eurorégion Meuse–Rhin [øʁɔʁeʒjɔ̃ møz ʁɛ̃], German: Euregio Maas–Rhein [ɔʏˈʁeːɡi̯o ˌmaːsˈʁaɪn], Limburgish: Euregio Maas–Rien [øːˈʀeːɣijoː ˌmaːsˈʀiːn]) is a Euroregion created in 1976, with judicial status achieved in 1991. It comprises 11.000 km 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.

Maaseik (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmaːsɛik]; Limburgish: Mezeik) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size (close to 77 km) and in population (approx. 25,000 inhabitants, of whom some 3,000 non-Belgian), it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg. The town is the seat of the administrative arrondissement of Maaseik (kieskanton). Internationally, Maaseik is known as the assumed birthplace of the famous Flemish painters Jan and Hubert van Eyck.

Limburg (Dutch: Limburg, pronounced [ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x] ; Limburgish: Limburg [ˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx] or Wes-Limburg [wæsˈlɪm˦ˌbʏʀ˦əx]; French: Limbourg, pronounced [lɛ̃buʁ] ), also known as Belgian Limburg, is a province in Belgium. It is the easternmost of the five Dutch-speaking provinces that together form the Region of Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern-day Belgium. As of January 2024, Limburg had a population of 0.9 million.

Limburg is located west of the Meuse (Dutch: Maas), which separates it from the similarly named Dutch province of Limburg. To the south it shares a border with the French-speaking province of Liège, with which it also has historical ties. To the north and west are the old territories of the Duchy of Brabant. Today these are the Flemish provinces of Flemish Brabant and Antwerp to the west, and the Dutch province of North Brabant to the north. Historically Belgian Limburg is roughly equivalent to the Dutch-speaking part of the secular lordship of the medieval Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which was dominated by the County of Loon.

Heerlen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦeːrlə(n)] ; Limburgish: Heële [ˈɦeə˦lə]) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as a municipality, it is the fourth largest municipality in the province of Limburg.

Heerlen forms part of the city-region of Parkstad Limburg, an agglomeration with about 250,000 inhabitants and encompassing 8 municipalities. It is to the east of Maastricht and north of the German city of Aachen.

Diepenbeek (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdipə(m)beːk] ; Limburgish: Diepenbik) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2012, Diepenbeek had a total population of 18,337. Its total area is 41.19 km (15.90 sq mi) which gives a population density of 430 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,100 inhabitants/mi).

The municipality includes the communities and hamlets of Bijenberg, het Crijt, Dorpheide, Keizel, Lutselus, Pampert, Piannesberg, Reitje, Rooierheide, Rozendaal, and Zwartveld.

The Vaalserberg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvaːlsərˌbɛr(ə)x]; Limburgish: Vaolserberg [ˈvɒː˦˨lsəʀˌbæː˦˨˧ʀəx]) is a hill with a height of 322.4 metres (1,058 ft) above NAP and is the highest point in the European part of the Netherlands. The Vaalserberg is located in the province of Limburg, at the south-easternmost edge of the country, near the town of Vaals (after which it is named).

The Vaalserberg was the highest point anywhere in the Netherlands until the Caribbean island of Saba, with its 887-metre-high (2,910-foot) volcano, was incorporated into the country as a "special municipality" in 2010.