Sittard-Geleen (; ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the southeastern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It was formed in 2001 from the former municipalities Sittard, Geleen and Born. The combined municipality has approximately 92,650 inhabitants (January 2024) and is thus the third most populated municipality in Limburg (after Maastricht with 125,000 and Venlo with 103,000 inhabitants). Since February 2020, the city has been governed by a coalition of CDA (''Christian Democrats''),

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

(''Green'') and the local parties GOB and Stadspartij. The highway connecting the centres of Sittard and Geleen, the Rijkswegboulevard, has been rebuilt to be a main route for cycling and walking. The cycling and walking provision is both generous and continuous. Side road junctions, or crossroads, are made 'subordinate'. The carriageways have been narrowed to one 3m lane in each direction. Parking places have been made, in small groups, at the side of the carriageways. These are made to be "not easy to use for larger vehicles," so the road centre is marked as a place for delivery vehicles to stop. To the west, Sittard-Geleen borders on

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, while to the east, it borders on

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Population centres

Abshoven Abshoven (; ) is a hamlet in the municipality of Sittard-Geleen in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. It is located to the south of Munstergeleen Munstergeleen (; ) is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherl ...

, Born, Broeksittard, Buchten, Einighausen, Geleen, Graetheide, Grevenbicht, Guttecoven, Holtum, Limbricht,

Munstergeleen Munstergeleen (; ) is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, and it lies in the Western Mine Region (''Westelijke Mijnstreek'' in Dutch). History No on ...

, Windraak, Obbicht, Papenhoven, Schipperskerk and Sittard.

Topography

''Dutch topographic map of the municipality''

Notable people

* Saint

Charles of Mount Argus Charles of Mount Argus (11 December 1821 – 5 January 1893), was a Dutch Passionist priest who served in 19th-century Ireland. He gained a reputation for his compassion for the sick and those in need of guidance. His reputation for healin ...

(1821 in Munstergeleen – 1893) a canonized Dutch Passionist priest * Frederic Adolph Hoefer (1850 in Sittard – 1938) a Dutch lieutenant-general, militaria collector and archivist * Godfrid Storms (1911 in Sittard – 2003) a Dutch professor of Old and Middle English Literature * Willy Dols (1911 in Sittard – 1944) a Dutch linguist,

dialectologist Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of dialects: subsets of languages. Though in the 19th century a branch of historical linguistics, dialectology is often now considered a sub-fiel ...

and phonologist * Toon Hermans (1916 in Sittard – 2000) a Dutch comedian, singer and writer * Settela Steinbach (1934 in Buchten – 1944) a Dutch girl who was gassed in Auschwitz-Birkenau * Thea Fleming (born 1942 in Sittard) a Dutch film actress * Rein Willems (born 1945 in Geleen) President of Royal Dutch Shell 2003–2007 * Paul Derrez (born 1950 in Sittard) a visual artist, a jewelry designer, gallery owner and collector * Jan Cremers (born 1952 in Limbricht) a former Dutch politician and sociologist * Wim Heldens (born 1954 in Sittard) a Dutch realist painter * Francine Houben (born 1955 in Sittard) a Dutch architect * Mike van Diem (born 1959, grew up in Sittard) a Dutch film director * Rineke Dijkstra (born 1959 in Sittard) a Dutch portrait photographer * Laurence Stassen (born 1971 in Sittard) an independent politician and a former freelance TV presenter * Caspar Poyck (born 1973 in Sittard) a Dutch-American actor, public speaker and chef IMDb Database
retrieved 12 October 2019 * Myrthe Hilkens (born 1979 in Geleen) a Dutch journalist, non-fiction writer and politician * Mo'Jones (formed 2000 in Sittard) is a funk, soul and pop band

Sport

* Leo Horn (1916 in Sittard – 1995) an international football referee, newspaper columnist, and textile manufacturer * Jan Krekels (born 1947 in Sittard) a retired cyclist, 1968 Olympic champion in the 100 km team time trial *

Huub Stevens Hubertus Jozef Margaretha "Huub" Stevens (; born 29 November 1953) is a Dutch former professional Manager (association football), football manager and player. Playing career Stevens was born in Sittard. While active, he played for Fortuna Sittar ...

(born 1953 in Sittard) a football manager and former defender with 397 club caps * Wilbert Suvrijn (born 1962 in Sittard) a retired Dutch footballer with 341 club caps * Lambert Schuurs (born 1962 in Sittard) a retired handball player and ultra-long-distance runner * Arnold Vanderlyde (born 1963 in Sittard) a former Dutch boxer, who participated in three Summer Olympics (1984, 1988 and 1992) and won three bronze medals * Wil Boessen (born 1964 in Sittard) a Dutch retired football player with 397 club caps and manager * Ton Caanen (born 1966 in Geleen) a Dutch football manager. *

Rens Blom Rens Blom (; born 1 March 1977) is a Dutch retired track and field athlete who competed in the pole vault. He is the 2005 world champion and former Dutch record holder with personal bests of 5.81 m outdoor and 5.75 m indoor. Life Bl ...

(born 1977 in Munstergeleen) a Dutch pole vaulter, competed in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

* Maartje Paumen (born 1985 in Geleen) a former Dutch field hockey player, twice gold medallist at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, silver medallist at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

* Benjamin van den Broek (born 1987 in Geleen) a New Zealand international footballer with 275 club caps * Rob Bontje (born 1981 in Grevenbicht) a volleyball player, competed at the 2004 Olympic Games * Sjoerd Winkens (born 1983 in Geleen) a former professional footballer with over 300 club caps * Dominick Muermans (born 1984 in Geleen) a Dutch racing driver * Perr Schuurs (born 1999 in Nieuwstadt) a Dutch football player

Twin and partner cities

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

, Belgium

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control South Limburg (Netherlands) Municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2001 Belgium–Netherlands border crossings Germany–Netherlands border crossings