Hesbaye

thumb|right|Blooming fruit trees at Kerniel, a typical Hesbayean village in the municipality of Borgloon. thumb|300px|right|The natural regions of Belgium. The Hesbaye (French, ), or Haspengouw (Dutch and Limburgish, ), is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has been one of the main agricultural regions in what is now Belgium since before Roman times, and specifically named in records since the Middle Ages, when it was an important Frankish pagus or gau, called Hasbania in medieval Latin.

==Location== Major parts of three Belgian provinces are dominated by the Hesbaye landscape, important for both tourism and agriculture, and by some definitions it stretches further: The southern half of the province of Limburg, including the cities of Tongeren, Sint-Truiden, Bilzen and Borgloon. Liège province north of the Meuse, including for example the towns of Hannut and Waremme. Eastern Walloon Brabant including Jodoigne and Perwez. Easternmost Flemish Brabant, including Tienen, Hoegaarden, Landen and Zoutleeuw. Northern Namur province.