Antwerp

Antwerp
Antwerpen (Dutch)
Anvers (French)
Flag of Antwerp
Coat of arms of Antwerp
Nicknames: 
Sinjoren and Pagadders
Motto: 
Atypisch Antwerpen (Atypical Antwerp)
Map
Map
Map
Coordinates: 51°13′04″N 04°24′01″E / 51.21778°N 4.40028°E / 51.21778; 4.40028
Country Belgium
RegionFlanders
ProvinceAntwerp
Boroughs
Government
 • MayorBart De Wever (N-VA)
 • Governing partiesN-VA, Vooruit, Open Vld
Area
 • Municipality204.32 km2 (78.89 sq mi)
Elevation
8 m (26 ft)
Population
 (2023-01-01)
 • Municipality536,079
 • Density2,600/km2 (7,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
1,230,000
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode
2000–2660
Area code03
Websiteantwerpen.be

Antwerp (/ˈæntwɜːrp/ ; Dutch: Antwerpen [ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] ; French: Anvers [ɑ̃vɛʁs] ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 536,079,[1] it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million people, the country's second-largest metropolitan area after Brussels.[a][3]

Flowing through Antwerp is the river Scheldt. Antwerp is linked to the North Sea by the river's Westerschelde estuary. It is about 40 km (25 mi) north of Brussels, and about 15 km (9 mi) south of the Dutch border. The Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe after Rotterdam[4][5] and within the top 20 globally. The city is also known as the hub of the world's diamond trade. In 2020, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network rated Antwerp as a Gamma + (third level/top tier) Global City.[6]

Both economically and culturally, Antwerp is and has long been an important city in the Low Countries, especially before and during the Spanish Fury (1576) and throughout and after the subsequent Dutch Revolt. The Bourse at Antwerp, originally built in 1531 and re-built in 1872, was the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange.[b] In 1920, the city hosted the Summer Olympics.

The inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪˈɲoːrə(n)]), after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, "lord", referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century.[9] The city's population is very diverse, including about 180 nationalities; as of 2019, more than 50% of its population had a parent that was not a Belgian citizen at birth.[10] A notable community is the Jewish one, as Antwerp is one of the only two cities in Europe (together with London and its Stamford Hill neighbourhood) that is home to a considerable Haredi population in the 21st century.

  1. ^ On January 1st 2023. Statistics of the Federal Public Service of the Interior: https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fileadmin/user_upload/fr/pop/statistiques/population-bevolking-20230101.pdf Archived 23 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Statbel the Belgian statistics office". Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ^ "De Belgische Stadsgewesten 2001" (PDF). Statistics Belgium. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2008. Definitions of metropolitan areas in Belgium.
  4. ^ "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Port of Antwerp. 2014. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Antwerp is Europe's second largest port". 9 November 2016. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  6. ^ "The World According to GaWC 2020". GaWC - Research Network. Globalization and World Cities. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Antwerp Bourse—World's Oldest—Closes". Los Angeles Times. 31 December 1997. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  8. ^ "A look inside one of the world's oldest stock exchange buildings". Barcroft TV. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  9. ^ Geert Cole; Leanne Logan, Belgium & Luxembourg p.218 Lonely Planet Publishing (2007) ISBN 1-74104-237-2
  10. ^ "Waarom is Antwerpen een majority-minoritystad?". Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2022.


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