NAMUR  , one of the nine provinces of

Belgium . It lies between Hainaut on the one side and Liege and Luxemburg on the other, and extends from Brabant up the Meuse valley to the French frontier . Area, 1414 sq. m.; pop . (1904) 357,759 . The part north of the Meuse is very fertile, but the rest is covered with forest and is little suited for agriculture . There are a few iron and coal-mines between the Sambre and Meuse, and the quarries are of great importance . Arboriculture, and especially fruit-tree plantation, is on the increase . The province is divided into the three arrondissements of Namur, Dinant and Philippeville, and there are fifteen cantons for judicial purposes .