The first settlement in that region was founded in the Stone age about 25000 years ago, the first permanent settlement was founded by the Celts about 500 B.C. Maastricht got City Rights in 1204. Since 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, Maastricht belongs to the Netherlands. The European Contract of 1992 was signed in Maastricht, the so-called Treaty of Maastricht.