Limburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɪm.bʏrx] ( listen), Dutch and Limburgish: (Nederlands-)Limburg) is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and is bordered by the Dutch provinces of Gelderland to the north and North Brabant to the north and northwest, Germany (state of Northrhine-Westphalia) to the east and Belgium (the Dutch-speaking province of Limburg) and French-speaking province of Liège to the south and part of the west. Its capital is Maastricht.
Limburg has a highly distinct character. The social and economic trends which affected the province in recent decades generated a process of change and renewal which has enabled Limburg to transform its national peripheral location into a highly globalized regional nexus, linking the Netherlands to the Ruhr metro area and the southern part of the Benelux region. A less appreciated consequence of this international gateway location is rising international crime, often drugs-related, especially in the southernmost part of the province.
Gulpen-Wittem ( pronunciation (help·info)) (Limburgish: Gullepe-Wittem) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands (in the province of Limburg) with 14.677 inhabitants as of 2008.
Gulpen-Wittem came into being after the merger of the municipalities Gulpen and Wittem. This took place after a request of both municipalities. At the time of the merger, both municipalities had about 8000 inhabitants, although Wittem was bigger than Gulpen. The town hall was situated in Gulpen, and has kept its function as town hall in the new municipality. The former town hall of Wittem was situated in a manor house in Mechelen since 1986, which is now being used as a "nursing hostel".
The municipality is very rural, with a lot of castles, half-timbered houses and old monumental farms. Yearly, Gulpen-Wittem attracts many tourists from the entire country because of its relatively sloping landscape, especially during the summer.