Antwerp - Overview

Antwerp (Dutch name: Antwerpen; French name: Anvers) is a city and a municipality in Belgium, its chief centre of commerce and a strong fortified position; it is capital of Antwerp province, in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is ca. 457,749 (January 2005). Its total area is 204.51 km² with a population density of 2,238.23 inhabitants per km². The agglomeration has a population of ca. 800,000 (municipality: 457,749 (2005), metropolitan area: ca. 1,225,000 (2004)). Antwe ...

Including:

• Antwerp - Overview
• Antwerp - Commerce
• Antwerp - Fortifications
• Antwerp - History
• Antwerp - Historical population
• Antwerp - Municipality
• Antwerp - Sports
• Antwerp - Famous Antwerp people
• Antwerp - Reference

Read more here: » Antwerp: Encyclopedia - Antwerp

Antwerp is, historically, one of Belgium and the Low Countries' most important cities in terms of economy and culture. It is one of the three primary centers of the global diamond industry (along with New York City's "diamond district", and South Africa), traditionally controlled by the city's Hassidic Jewish population, the largest outside of New York. Antwerp is also well-known for its seaport with a high level of cargo shipping and oil refineries. Since the 1990s it has been recognised internationally as an important city for fashion design, as several graduates of the (Belgian) Royal Academy of Fine Arts have become i ...

See also:

Antwerp, Antwerp - Overview, Antwerp - Commerce, Antwerp - Fortifications, Antwerp - History, Antwerp - Historical population, Antwerp - Municipality, Antwerp - Sports, Antwerp - Famous Antwerp people, Antwerp - Reference

Read more here: » Antwerp: Encyclopedia II - Antwerp - Overview

According to folklore, the city got its name from a legend involving a mythical giant called Antigoon that lived near the river Scheldt. This giant exacted a toll from passers-by who wished to navigate the river. On refusal, the giant often severed one of their hands and threw them into the Scheldt. Eventually, the giant was slain by a young hero named Brabo, who cut off the giant's hand and threw it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen from Dutch Hand werpen (hand-throwing). There's a statue of Brabo and the ...

See also:

Antwerp, Antwerp - Overview, Antwerp - Commerce, Antwerp - Fortifications, Antwerp - History, Antwerp - Historical population, Antwerp - Municipality, Antwerp - Sports, Antwerp - Famous Antwerp people, Antwerp - Reference

Read more here: » Antwerp: Encyclopedia II - Antwerp - History

Besides being the chief commercial port of Belgium, Antwerp is the greatest fortress of that country. Nothing, however, remains of the former enceinte or even of the famous old citadel defended by General Chassé in 1832, except the Steen, which has been restored and contains a museum of arms and antiquities. After the establishment of Belgian independence Antwerp was defended only by the citadel and an enceinte of about 2-½ miles round the city. No change occurred till 1859, when the system of Belgian defence was radically altered b ...

See also:

Antwerp, Antwerp - Overview, Antwerp - Commerce, Antwerp - Fortifications, Antwerp - History, Antwerp - Historical population, Antwerp - Municipality, Antwerp - Sports, Antwerp - Famous Antwerp people, Antwerp - Reference

Read more here: » Antwerp: Encyclopedia II - Antwerp - Fortifications

Since 1863, when Antwerp was opened to the trade of the outer world by the purchase of the Dutch right to levy toll, its position has completely changed, and no place in Europe made greater progress in that period than the ancient city on the Scheldt. The eight principal basins or docks already existing in 1908 were the Little or Bonaparte dock; the Great dock, also constructed in Napoleon's time; the Kattendijk, built in 1860 and enlarged in 1881; the Wood dock; the Campine dock, used ...

See also:

Antwerp, Antwerp - Overview, Antwerp - Commerce, Antwerp - Fortifications, Antwerp - History, Antwerp - Historical population, Antwerp - Municipality, Antwerp - Sports, Antwerp - Famous Antwerp people, Antwerp - Reference

Read more here: » Antwerp: Encyclopedia II - Antwerp - Commerce