The Low Countries

The Low Countries are a historical and geographically coastal lowland region of northwestern Europe forming the lower basin of the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt delta, today comprising Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, together known as the Benelux countries, with the term sometimes extended to parts of France and Germany. Historically, inland areas without direct access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to coastal ports to form various unions of ports and hinterland stretching toward the German Rhineland, and although the name originally referred to low lying land, some hilly or elevated areas, including Luxembourg and southern Belgium, are now also considered part of the Low Countries. During the medieval period the region became a major European center, home to early independent trading centers whose density of population in the twelfth century rivaled that of northern Italy, with cities governed by guilds and councils and an economy built primarily on trade and manufacturing.