Tienen

Tienen
Tienen
	Tienen City Hall
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Tienen Location in Belgium
	Coordinates: 50°48′N 04°56′E / 50.8°N 4.933°E
Country	Belgium
Region	Flemish Region
Community	Flemish Community
Province	Flemish Brabant
Arrondissement	Leuven
	Government
• Mayor	Marcel Logist (SP.A)
• Governing party/ies	SP.A, CD&V
	Area
• Total	71.77 km2 (27.71 sq mi)
	Population (1 January 2010)
• Total	32,552
• Density	450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
	Demographics
• Foreigners	2.27% (7 January 2005)
Postal codes	3300
Area codes	016
Website	www.tienen.be
	Map of Tienen

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Tienen or Thienen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈti.nə(n)]) (French: Tirlemont) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Tienen proper and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Vissenaken. On January 1, 2006 Tienen had a total population of 31,835. The total area is 71.77 km² (27.71 sq mi) which gives a population density of 444 inhabitants per km².

Tienen is known in Belgium as the center of sugar production. The huge sugar beet processing factory, Sugar refinery of Tienen (Tiense Suikerraffinaderij - Raffinerie Tirlemontoise), is located at the eastern edge of the town. The company Citrique Belge, is one of the biggest producers of citric acid. Tienen has a facility for making energy saving lamps by Havells-Sylvania.

Other noticeable facts about Tienen include the railway station building, which is the oldest in Belgium that is still being used and the inversed roundabout.

Tienen is also well known for its summer rock festival Suikerrock.

[edit] In history

[edit] Dumouriez' last victory

In the late eighteenth century, under the French name Tirlemont, the city was the site of a small-scale battle during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republican army of General Charles François Dumouriez met and turned back the Austrian army of Prince Josias of Coburg on 16 March 1793.^[2] For the veteran Dumouriez, the hero of Valmy and Jemappes, this was to be the very last victory. Within a week his army suffered such catastrophic defeats that the victor of Tirlemont defected infamously to the royalists for the rest of his life.^[3]