| Oudsbergen | |
| Picture-Legend: | Commandery of Gruitrode |
| Map: | Oudsbergen Limburg Belgium Map.svg |
| Map-Legend: | Location of Oudsbergen in Limburg |
| Arms: | Oudsbergen wapen.jpg |
| Flag: | Flag of Oudsbergen, Belgium.svg |
| Arrondissement: | Maaseik |
| Nis: | 72042 |
| Mayor: | Marco Goossens (CD&V) |
| Majority: | CD&V |
| Postal-Codes: | 3660, 3670 |
| Telephone-Area: | 011, 089 |
| Web: | oudsbergen.be |
| Coordinates: | 51.0866°N 5.5885°W |
Oudsbergen (in Dutch; Flemish pronounced as /ˈʌutsˌbɛrɣə(n)/; Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish: Audsberge in Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish pronounced as /ˈawtsbæʀ(ə)ɣə/) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg that arose on 1 January 2019 from the merging of the municipalities of Opglabbeek and Meeuwen-Gruitrode.
The merged municipality has an area of 116.24 km2 and a population of 23,520 people in 2021.[1]
See also: Fusion of the Belgian municipalities. The Flemish Government provides incentives for municipalities to voluntarily merge. The municipal councils of Opglabbeek and Meeuwen-Gruitrode approved a merge in principle in November 2016. Definitive approval occurred on 26 June 2017, which was ratified by Flemish decree of 4 May 2018 alongside several other merges, all to be effective per 1 January 2019.
As of 1 January 2018, the municipality of Opglabbeek had a population of 10,332 and Meeuwen-Gruitrode a population of 13,091.
The first elections for the new municipality were held during the regular local elections of 14 October 2018, electing a municipal council for the legislative period of 2019–2024. CD&V obtained a majority of seats in the municipal council (17 out of 27). Lode Ceyssens, who was mayor of Meeuwen-Gruitrode until then, became mayor of Oudsbergen.