Thesaurus

The province of Namur lies in the southeast of Belgium bounded on the north by Brabant, on the northeast by Liége, on the east by the province of Luxembourg, on the south by France, and on the west by Hainaut. The Meuse, Sambre, and Lesse Rivers cross it. Formerly its eastern part was ruled by the prince-bishops of Liège, while its northern part was the medieval county of Namur. Transferred to Hainaut in 1188, it temporarily became a marquisate in 1199, was ceded to Flanders in 1263, and then sold to the Duke of Burgundy in 1421.As part of the Burgundian Netherlands it became part of Belgium in 1830. Its land supports a wide variety of agriculture, while the Sambre and Meuse Valleys are part of the "industrial crescent" of southern Belgium. Tourists are drawn to resorts along the Meuse River and to medieval chateaus and abbeys throughout the province. Its area covers some 3,666 square miles in all. The 2003 estimated population was 449,100.