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Liège , with the acute accent) is a major city located in the Belgian province of Liège, of which it is the capital. It is situated in the valley of the Meuse River near Belgium's eastern borders with the Netherlands and Germany, at the point where the Meuse meets the Ourthe.

As of January 1, 2005, Liège had a total population of 185,574 on a surface of 69.39 km² which gives a population density of 2,674.29 inhabitants per km². The area of Liège has around 600,000 inhabitants.

The city is the principal cultural centre of Wallonia and its inhabitants are predominately French-speakers. The city is home to a major university, founded in 1817. The large Italian community (the Italian name of the town is Liegi) and smaller populations of recent immigrants add to the city's cultural mix.

Liège is one of the steel-making centers of Belgium, the area around Charleroi being the other. It once boasted numerous blast furnaces and mills. Although now a mere shadow of its former self, steel production and manufacturing of steel goods remains a vital part of its economy. Other major industries include the manufacture of weapons, textiles, paper, and chemicals. The city possesses one of the largest river ports in Europe.

The city is an important transportation hub, linked by road and railway to Maastricht in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Antwerp, and Aachen in Germany. A new tunnel system now connects the E25 highway to the rest of the highways in the northwest of the city. A high-speed Thalys railway link to Leuven was completed in 2003, cutting travelling times to Brussels to one hour and to Paris to 2.5 hours. Work is ongoing on a high speed link to Germany, and the line to Maastricht is being upgraded. The Albert Canal and Meuse River also pass through Liège.

Liège airport opened a new terminal building in 2005. There are no regular flights at the moment. The airport is a main hub for TNT.

A science park south east of the city, close to the main university campus, concentrates some of the more high tech industries, including space industry.

Though some Roman settlements found place in Roman times. Liège was first recorded in writing in 558. Probably about 705, St. Lambert, who completed the conversion of the pagans in the region, was murdered at Liège, named at that time Vicus Leudicus, and he was popularly regarded as a martyr. His successor, St. Hubert, built, to enshrine his relics, a basilica which became the true nucleus of the city, and near which the residence of the bishops was fixed. The city, and the surrounding province, has been the capital of a prince-bishopric from 985 till 1794. The first prince-bishop Notger made of the city a major intellectual and ecclesiastical centre which maintained its cultrural importance during the Middle Ages and was renowned for its many churches (the oldest of which, St Martin's, dates from 682). Although nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire, in practice it possessed a large degree of independence.

The strategic position of Liège has made it a frequent target of armies and insurgencies over the centuries. It was fortified early on with a castle on the steep hill that overlooks the city's western side. In 1345, the citizens of Liège rebelled against Prince-Bishop Engelbert de la Marck, their ruler at the time, and defeated him in battle near the city. After a rebellion against rule from Burgundy, King Louis XI of France and Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy captured and largely destroyed the city in 1468, after a bitter siege which was ended with a successful surprise attack. Liège was technically part of the Holy Roman Empire and after 1477, the city came under the rule of the Habsburgs and, after 1555, under Spanish sovereignty, although its immediate rule remained in the hands of its prince-bishops and maintained a high degree of independence. The reign of Erard de la Marck coincides with the Renaissance Liégeoise. The diocese of Liège was later on during Counter-Reformation split and progressively lost its role as a regional power. Several prince-bishops came from the Holy Roman Empire, they were prince-bishops of Cologne and other bishoprics in the northwest of the Holy Roman Empire as well.

The Duke of Marlborough captured the city from the Bavarian prince-bishop and his French allies in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. In the middle of the eighteenth century the ideas of the French encyclopedists began to be received at Liège; Bishop de Velbruck (1772-84), encouraged their propagation and thus prepared the way for the Revolution Liégeoise, which burst upon the episcopal city on 18 August, 1789. In the course of the Campaigns of 1794 of the French Revolution, the French army took the city and imposed a harsh and strongly anticlerical regime, destroying the great cathedral of Saint Lambert in 1794. The disparition of the prince-bishopric was confirmed in 1801 by the Concordat co-signed by Napoléon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. France lost the city in 1815 when the Congress of Vienna awarded it to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Dutch rule lasted only until 1830, when the Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium which incorporated Liège. After this, Liège developed rapidly into a major industrial city which became one of continental Europe's first large-scale steelmaking centres.

Liège's fortifications were redesigned by Henry Alexis Brialmont in the 1880s and a chain of twelve forts was constructed around the city to provide defence in depth. This presented a major obstacle to Germany's army in 1914, whose Schlieffen Plan relied on being able to quickly pass through the Meuse valley and the Ardennes en route to France. The German invasion on August 5, 1914 soon reached Liège, which was defended by 30,000 troops under General Gérart Leman. The forts initially held off an attacking force of about 100,000 men but were pulverised into submission by a five-day bombardment by the Germans' 42cm Big Bertha howitzers. Due to faulty planning of the ventilation of the underground defense tunnels under the main citadel, one direct artillery hit caused a huge explosion, which eventually led to the surrender of the Belgian forces.

The Belgian resistance was shorter than had been intended, but the twelve days of delay caused by the siege nonetheless contributed to the eventual failure of the German invasion of France. The city was subsequently occupied by the Germans until the end of the war.

The Germans returned in 1940, this time taking the forts in only three days. Most Jews were saved, with the help of the sympathising population. Many Jewish children and refugees were hidden in the numerous monasteries.

The German occupants were expelled by the United States Army in May 1944 but Liège was subsequently subjected to intense aerial bombardment, with more than 1,500 V1 and V2 missiles landing in the city between its liberation and the end of the war.

After the war, Liège suffered from the collapse of its steel industry, which produced high levels of unemployment and stoked social tension. In January 1961, disgruntled workers went on a rampage and severely damaged the central railway station Guillemins.

Liège is also known as a traditonally social democrat city. In 1991, powerful social democrat André Cools was murdered there, many suspecting that he knew too much about a subsequent corruption scandal which swept the Socialist Party.

Liège has shown some signs of economic recovery in recent years with the opening up of borders within the European Union, surging steel prices, and improved administration. Several new shopping centres were built, and numerous repairs executed. Presently, a grand new railway station, designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava , is under construction.

The city is well-known for its very crowdy folksfestivals. The 15th of August festival ("Le 15 août") is maybe the best known one. The population gathers in a quarter named i with plenty of tiny pedestrian streets and old yards. Many people come to see the procession but also to drink alcohol and beer, eat cabage, sausages or pancakes or simply enjoy the atmosphere till very early in the morning. The Saint Nicholas festival around the 6th of December is organized by and for the students of the University. During 24 hours, the students (wearing very dirty kittens) are allowed to beg for money for drinking.

The nightlife in Liège is also very important. In the middle of the pedestrian zone, a squared quarter (100m times 100m - i) is full with very loud pubs which are opening till the last client leaves, i.e. around 6 a.m. Other areas include Place du Marché.

The jazz festival i is also interesting. This year, Erik Truffaz, Miroslav Vitouš and Bugge Wesseltoft were to see.

Liège also hosts the cycle race Liège-Bastogne-Liège - which is the oldest of the monuments of road cycling - in the spring. The route starts from the city of Liège, goes to the city of Bastogne and comes back to finish in the Liège suburb of Ans. The second half contains most of the climbs in the race, such as the Stoceu, Haute-Levee, La Redoute, Saint-Nicolas and the Col de Forges.

Liège has a very active art cinema (Le ChurchillLe Parc), and for those more into mainstream cinema the Kinepolis group has 2 megaplexes.

Liège also has a particular Walloon dialect, sometimes said to be one of Belgium's most distinctive. There is a large Italian community, and Italian can be heard at many places. Knowledge of other languages (German, Dutch) is usually rather poor while English is more widely spoken.

Liège has some older or run down quarters, and roadpavement maintenance is not always of the highest standards. Crime rates have been going down recently, but Liège is still cited as one of the most unsafe cities in Belgium. The road network is good for drivers, but cuts of the Meuse river from the city by an extensive set of semi-highways on the quays, making the river almost unaccesible for people looking to go for a riverside stroll.