Flemish Luik
City (pop., 2000 est.: 185,639), eastern Belgium.
Located at the confluence of the Meuse and Ourthe rivers, it was inhabited in prehistoric times and was known to the Romans as Leodium. It became a town when St. Hubert transferred his see there in 721, and it was noted as a centre of learning in the Middle Ages. Annexed to France in 1795, it was later assigned with the rest of Belgium to The Netherlands in 1815. A centre of the successful revolt for Belgian independence in 1830, it is now an industrial research centre and a major port.