NAMUR - Geography and history
In the province of Namur, which covers an area of 3 666 km², a wide variety of natural regions give the countryside its particular flavour. From north to south there are six separate regions in the space of scarcely 60 km.
In the north, the open peneplain of Hesbaye (150 to 200 m above sea-level) consists of a thick layer of alluvium, which provides good soil for crop growing over much of the area.
The Sambre and Meuse corridor constitutes a narrow transitional zone between Hesbaye and the Condroz part of the Ardennes. It borders an area of forests and valleys and opens on to the Condroz region (200 to 300 m above sea-level), where fertile meadows alternate with woodland.
Wet and barren, but nevertheless pitoresque, the Famenne depression separates the Condroz from the Ardennes, where the ground is noticeably higher (highest point La Croix-Scaille, 500 m), although not excessively so. The side valleys of the Meuse are popular tourist destinations.
The province is rich in natural sites thanks to the wide variety of landscapes and the structure of the soil and subsoil, and is also graced with a number of monuments testifying to the continuity of man's work.
Progressive diversification of an essentially services-based production infrastructure
The province of Namur suffers from a geographical imbalance on both a demographic and economic level.
Namur industry is unable to boast many large companies, but it holds a respectable place in sectors as varied as glass manufacture, stove production, dolomite extraction, cutlery, hospital equipment and, more generally, metalworking, chemistry and food processing.
Twenty or so industry parks and one science park encourage diversification of activities.
At the same time, the services sector is playing an ever more important role in Namur's economy: Namur exerts its attraction far beyond the borders of the province, creating an obvious link with Brussels.
Agriculture has been largely rationalized by means of land reallocation and mechanization. The exploitation of forestry resources has given rise to numerous sawmills and wood processing factories, and the province has an obvious attraction for tourists.
In addition to comprehensive provision of secondary education, the agricultural faculties of Gembloux provide highly specialized teaching and are in the process of developing high-tech activities. The university faculties of Notre-Dame de la Paix in Namur have, in addition to classical disciplines, set up a renowned institute of computer science.
More than just the 'garden of Belgium'
The average population density in the province of Namur is low (122 inhabitants per km² in 2002), but this figure conceals major disparities between the north (the district of Namur: 237 inhabitants per km²) and the south (Phillippeville 68 and Dinnant 63). In 2002, the province of Namur had a total population of 447 775.
The province of Namur lies at the edge of the most densely populated and dynamic area in north-western Europe, although its southern reaches extend into the sparsely populated tracts of land that stretch from the Champagne through the Ardennes to the Eifel.
Lying between Wallonia's main industrial basins of Liège and Charleroi, the northern part of the province links Brussels with the south-east of the country. It is also important from a European point of view in that it is a crossroads for international traffic.
The markedly rural nature of much of the province, the beauty of its natural sites, the extent of its forests, its preservation from the industrialization of the nineteenth century and its low population density have earned it a reputation as the 'garden of Belgium'.
However, this is only part of the picture. Although the description is further justified by the fact that the province is undoubtedly an attractive place to live, it takes no account of the major activities of the lower Sambre (Gembloux, Andenne, Ciney, Couvin), or the important commercial and services role played by the provincial capital, which is also the capital of Wallonia.
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