Geleen (Dutch pronunciation: [ɣəˈleːn]; Limburgish: Gelaen [ɣəˈlɛːn]) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.

[3] The remains of one of the oldest prehistoric farms in the Netherlands were found here.

In the 20th century the exploitation of coal mines in this area (the state-owned coal mine "Maurits", the biggest in Europe, was located in Geleen) brought a fast population increase.

During the 1960s and 1970s the Dutch coal mines, which were all located in this part of the province, were closed.

The state mining company DSM (privatised in 1989) remained active in Geleen, however, now purely as a chemicals producer.