Maastricht, Limburg Province, Netherlands

🇳🇱 Maastricht is a city and a municipality in the south-eastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse, at the point where the Jeker joins it. It is adjacent to the border with Belgium. It is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, a metropolis, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Liège and Hasselt.

Maastricht developed from a Roman settlement (Trajectum ad Mosam) to a medieval religious centre. In the 16th century it became a garrison town and in the 19th century an early industrial centre. Today, the city is a thriving cultural and regional hub. It became well known through the Maastricht Treaty and as the birthplace of the euro. Maastricht has 1677 national heritage buildings (rijksmonumenten), the second highest number in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. The city is visited by tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large international student population.

Private companies based in Maastricht • Sappi – South African Pulp and Paper Industry • Royal Mosa – ceramic tiles • O-I Manufacturing;– previously Kristalunie Maastricht; glass • BASF – previously Ten Horn; pigments • Mondi – packaging • Rubber Resources/Elgi Rubber – previously Vredestein; rubber recycling • Radium Foams – Talalay products • Hewlett-Packard – previously Indigo, manufacturer of electronic data systems • Vodafone – mobile phone company • Q-Park – international operator of parking garages • DHL – international express mail services • Teleperformance – contact centre services • Mercedes-Benz – customer contact centre for Europe • VGZ – health insurance, customer contact centre • Pie Medical Imaging – cardiovascular quantitative analysis software • Esaote (former Pie Medical Equipment) – manufacturer of medical and veterinary diagnostic equipment • BioPartner Centre Maastricht – life sciences spin-off companies.

Public institutions Since the 1980s, a number of European and international institutions have made Maastricht their base. They provide an increasing number of employment opportunities for expats living in the Maastricht area. • Administration of the Dutch province of Limburg • Meuse-Rhine Euroregion • Limburg Development Company LIOF • RHCL and SHCL – archives of the province of Limburg • Eurocontrol – The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation • European Journalism Centre • European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) • European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) • European centre for work and society (ECWS) • Maastricht Centre for Transatlantic Studies (MCTS) • Expert Centre for Sustainable Business and Development Cooperation (ECSAD) • Council of European Municipalities and Regions (REGR) • European Centre for Digital Communication (EC/DC) • UNU-MERIT • Maastricht Research School of Economics of TEchnology and ORganization (METEOR) • Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS) • Cicero Foundation (CF).