gelegen

Gelegen is a Dutch adjective and the past participle of the verb liggen. It means located or situated and is used to describe where a place or object is positioned relative to other places, regions, or geographic features. In standard usage, het is gelegen is common in sentences with the linking verb zijn, as in De stad is gelegen aan de rivier.

Gelegen is typically followed by prepositional phrases that indicate location, such as aan, in, nabij, or tegenover. Examples include een museum gelegen aan de Dam (a museum located on the Dam), een dorp gelegen in het zuiden van het land (a village located in the south of the country), and een kasteel gelegen nabij het bos (a castle located near the forest). The term is frequently used in official descriptions, geographic summaries, travel writing, and address lists.

Verbs and adjectives related to ligging (location) are often found in formal or neutral prose. Gelegen contrasts with liggend, the present participle of liggen, which describes something that is physically lying down rather than merely being located. Gelegen focuses on spatial position within a larger area, while liggend emphasizes orientation or posture.

Etymologically, gelegen derives from the verb liggen, meaning to lie or to be situated. The form is widely used across Dutch-speaking regions in cartography, real estate descriptions, municipal profiles, and encyclopedic entries to convey precise location information.