The Guttland (; , ) is a region covering the southern and central parts of the

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg ...

. The Guttland (literally "Good Land") covers 68% of the territory of Luxembourg; to the north of Gutland lies the

Éislek The Éislek (), also known by its German name Ösling or Oesling, is a region covering the northern part of both the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm, within the greater Ardennes area that also covers parts of Belgium and Fr ...

, which covers the remaining 32% of the Grand Duchy. To the east, the Luxembourgish Guttland adjoins the of Germany. The Guttland is not an homogeneous region, and includes five main sub-regions: the

Valley of the Seven Castles The Valley of the Seven Castles (; ) is an informal name given to the Äischdall, the valley of the Eisch river, in central Luxembourg. The valley stretches from the confluence with the Alzette upstream to Steinfort, on the border with Belgium. T ...

, Little Switzerland, the Luxembourg plateau, the

Moselle Valley The Moselle Valley (, ; , ) is a region in north-eastern France, south-western Germany, and eastern Luxembourg, centred on the river valley formed by the river Moselle. The Moselle runs through, and along the borders of, the three countries, and ...

, and the

Red Lands The Red Lands form a geographic region in southern and south-western Luxembourg. They are so called for their red iron-laden earth. The Red Lands roughly correspond with the southern part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, along the border with F ...

. Despite its variety, the Guttland does have general geographic characteristics, both physical and human, that separate it from the Éislek. Unlike the sparsely populated Éislek, the Guttland is relatively urbanised. Whereas the Éislek has only one town with a population larger than 2,000 people, the Guttland has four cities with a population largely above 20,000 (

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

/Lëtzebuerg,

Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette (, ; ; or ''Esch an der Alzig'') is a city in Luxembourg and the country's List of communes of Luxembourg by population, second-most populous commune, with a population of 36,625 inhabitants, . It lies in the south-west of the ...

/Esch-Uelzecht,

Differdange Differdange (; or locally ; ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune with List of towns in Luxembourg, town status in south-western Luxembourg, west from the Luxembourg City, country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France an ...

/Déifferdang and

Dudelange Dudelange (; ; ) is a commune with town status in southern Luxembourg. It is the fourth-most populous commune, with 22,043 inhabitants. Dudelange is situated close to the border with France. The commune also includes the smaller town of Bude ...

/Diddeleng). However, the Guttland's urban areas are mostly congregated in the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

(in Luxembourgish: Esch op der Uelzecht),

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

(Lëtzebuerg),

Capellen Capellen ( ) is a town in the commune of Mamer, in south-western Luxembourg, 12 km west of Luxembourg City. , the town has a population of 2,371. Despite not having a commune named after it, Capellen lends its name to the canton of Cape ...

(same in Luxembourgish) and

Mersch Mersch (, ; ) is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, situated in the canton of the same name. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Alzette, Mamer and Eisch. , the town of Mersch, which lies in the centre of the commune, ha ...

(Miersch), whereas some other parts of the Guttland (cantons of

Redange Redange or Redange-sur-Attert (; ; ) is a commune and town in northwestern Luxembourg, near the border with Belgium. It is situated in the eponymous canton of Redange. Redange is situated on the river Attert, a tributary of the Alzette. , the ...

/Réiden,

Echternach Echternach (, ; or locally ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg. History The town grew around the Abbey of Echt ...

/Iechternach,

Grevenmacher Grevenmacher (; ) is a commune with town status in eastern Luxembourg, near the border with Germany. It gives its name to the canton of Grevenmacher, and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Grevenmacher. The town is situated on the l ...

/Gréiwemaacher and

Remich Remich ( ) is a commune with town status in south-eastern Luxembourg with a population of 4,101 inhabitants . It is situated in the canton of the same name. Remich lies on the left bank of the river Moselle, which forms part of the border betwee ...

/Réimech) are almost as sparsely populated as the Éislek region. The Guttland has a lower altitude above sea level and a flatter landscape than the Éislek. Geologically, the Guttland is predominantly a large

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

sandstone formation, part of the Lorrainian system; the Éislek is predominantly

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

. Both are wooded, but the Éislek's forests are more numerous and thicker, a testament to the slower pace of human development in the Éislek. Most of the Guttland is fertile agricultural territory - hence the name.

References

{{Authority control Regions of Luxembourg Natural regions of the Saar-Nahe Uplands Regions of the Eifel