Pelt (municipality)

Pelt
Municipality
Saint Hubert College in Neerpelt
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Pelt
Pelt Location in Belgium Location of Pelt in Limburg
Coordinates: 51°13′N 05°25′E / 51.217°N 5.417°E / 51.217; 5.417
Country	Belgium
Community	Flemish Community
Region	Flemish Region
Province	Limburg
Arrondissement	Maaseik
Government
• Mayor	Dennis Fransen (CD&V)
• Governing party/ies	CD&V, Samen Pelt
Area
• Total	83.78 km2 (32.35 sq mi)
Population  (2022-01-01)[1]
• Total	33,601
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Postal codes	3900, 3910
NIS code	72043
Area codes	011
Website	www.gemeentepelt.be

Pelt (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɛlt] ^ⓘ) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. It arose on 1 January 2019 from the merging of the municipalities of Neerpelt and Overpelt.^[2]

After Neerpelt and Overpelt had previously agreed in principle to a merger, the new name of the municipality was announced on 4 November 2017 after a local referendum on the question. Out of the three possibilities Dommelpelt, Pelt or Pelten more than 74 percent of the votes eventually went to Pelt. The name goes back to the Romans, who called the sandy area Palethe, meaning boggy land.

The municipal councils definitively approved the merger on 18 December 2017. Neerpelt and Overpelt thus ceased to exist on 31 December 2018. A day later, on 1 January 2019, Pelt officially became a new municipality in Limburg.^[3]

The merged municipality has an area of 83.63 km² and counts more than 32,000 inhabitants.

• Media related to Pelt at Wikimedia Commons