"Soft" location factors
The southernmost province in the Netherlands is characterised by its strong European orientation.
The signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 in the provincial government buildings was a memorable occasion. A large proportion of the local population is multilingual and, because of its border location and the presence of a number of European institutions, the city also appeals to the international labour market. The workforce therefore also contains many native speakers of other languages.
Varied cultural infrastructure
Besides the excellent hard infrastructure of first-class multimodal connections between the major ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp and logistics hubs in the hinterland by road, rail and water, Dutch Limburg also features an extensive cultural infrastructure noted for its diversity.
This diversity manifests itself not only in a variety of spoken dialects but also in a varied series of cultural events, ranging from events on an international scale such as:
- the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade
- The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht
to colourful local traditional events such as:
- the traditional annual shooting tournament: 'Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest' (OLS)
- the traditional Christmas market in the grottoes of Valkenburg which attracts many international visitors in the run-up to Christmas.
