Charleroi

Charleroi (Walloon: Tchålerwè) is a city and a municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2005 Charleroi had a total population of 201,373. The total area is 102.08 km² which gives a population density of 1,972.75 inhabitants per km². The agglomeration has a population of around 500,000. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos.

The municipality features an industrial area, iron and steel industry, glassmakings, chemicals, electrical engineerings. Charleroi is in the center of a vast coal basin, called Pays noir. Surrounding the town, there are still many slag heaps.