Ardennes

Ardennes, hilly and wooded area extending from France through south-eastern Belgium and Luxembourg to the Rhineland, in Germany. In ancient times, Ardennes referred to a vast forest lying between the Rhine and Sambre rivers. The Ardennes includes most of the French department of Ardennes, part of the Belgian provinces of Liège and Namur and all of the Belgian province of Luxembourg, as well as part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The hills, sloping gradually in a north-western direction towards the plains of Flanders, are rarely above 488 m (1,600 ft) high. Large sections of the Ardennes consist of gently undulating plateaux, with oak and beech trees; other areas are marshy and covered with heath. The main economic activities of the Ardennes are tourism, agriculture, food production (ham, sausages, cheeses, etc), and forestry and forest products. The region is rich in timber and minerals. Coal and iron were once mined in the north-west; lead, antimony, and manganese are also found here. Cattle and sheep are raised extensively.