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Rotterdam
KNOWLEDGE OF Rotterdam
Rotterdam, located in the province of Zuid Holland, is the second largest municipality in the Netherlands (after Amsterdam), yet depending on the calculation methods the agglomeration in which Rotterdam is situated vies with the Amsterdam agglomeration for first spot in the nation. The city has the largest port in Europe and was until recently the largest port on earth; it is found on the banks of the river the Nieuwe Maas, one of the streams in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse rivers. The name "Rotterdam" is derived from a dam in a small river, the Rotte, which joins the Nieuwe Maas at the heart of the city.
As of 1 January 1999 the municipality had an area of 304.22 km² (206.44 km² land) with a total population of 604,819, the population of the greater Rotterdam area is approximately 1.2 million. (01-01-2005).
Apart from the center the municipality consists of the following towns, villages and townships: Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hoek van Holland, Hoogvliet, IJsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, Pernis, Prins Alexander, and the industrial and port areas Botlek, Eemhaven, Europoort, Maasvlakte, Spaanse Polder, Vondelingenplaat, Waalhaven.
Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe (Port of Rotterdam). Since 2004 Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai have taken over its world leading position. In 2004 Rotterdam has the seventh largest port in the world in terms of containers (TEU) handled.
Most important for the harbour of Rotterdam are the petrochemical industry and general cargo transhipment handlings. The harbour functions as an important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the European continent and other parts of the world. From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. Since 2000 the Betuweroute, a fast cargo railway from Rotterdam to Germany, has been under construction. Large oil refineries are located west of the city. The rivers Meuse and Rhine also provide excellent access to the hinterland.
In the first half of the twentieth century the harbour activities moved from the centre towards the North Sea. The Nieuwe Waterweg was dug from Rotterdam to the North Sea, a canal to disembogue the shallow Rhine and Meuse. The Nieuwe Waterweg was ready in 1872 and all sorts of industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal.
Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the Europoort (gate to Europe) complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg, and by the Maasvlakte in the North Sea near Hoek van Holland. The lay-out of a second Maasvlakte was the subject of political debate in the 1990s, because it would be partly government-financed. Construction started in the summer of 2004.
Rotterdam was granted city rights on 7 June 1340 by Willem IV of Holland.
The port of Rotterdam grew out, slowly but steadily, to a port of importance; in Rotterdam one of the six chambers of the VOC, or the Netherlands East India Company, was seated.
The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed after the already mentioned completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the South bank of the river. Delivering evidence of its rapid growth and success is the skyscraper in the French Chateau style, the White House, or Witte Huis, built in the American spirit of office buildings in 1898; its height is 45 m, it was at the time of completion the tallest office building in Europe.
On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, on the last of five days of war in the Netherlands (save Zeeland). The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed, which Ossip Zadkine later expressed strikingly with his statue Stad zonder hart (City without a heart). The statue is located near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the north of the city. From the 1950s through the 1970s the city was rebuilt. It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city center with a new skyline. In the 1990s a new business centre on the south bank of the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built. The White House survived the bombing campaign.
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and a number of smaller cities in the west of the country are expanding towards each other to the extent that the entire area is sometimes denoted as a single metropole known as Randstad.
As of 1 January 1999 the municipality had an area of 304.22 km² (206.44 km² land) with a total population of 604,819, the population of the greater Rotterdam area is approximately 1.2 million. (01-01-2005).
Apart from the center the municipality consists of the following towns, villages and townships: Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hoek van Holland, Hoogvliet, IJsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, Pernis, Prins Alexander, and the industrial and port areas Botlek, Eemhaven, Europoort, Maasvlakte, Spaanse Polder, Vondelingenplaat, Waalhaven.
Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe (Port of Rotterdam). Since 2004 Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai have taken over its world leading position. In 2004 Rotterdam has the seventh largest port in the world in terms of containers (TEU) handled.
Most important for the harbour of Rotterdam are the petrochemical industry and general cargo transhipment handlings. The harbour functions as an important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the European continent and other parts of the world. From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. Since 2000 the Betuweroute, a fast cargo railway from Rotterdam to Germany, has been under construction. Large oil refineries are located west of the city. The rivers Meuse and Rhine also provide excellent access to the hinterland.
In the first half of the twentieth century the harbour activities moved from the centre towards the North Sea. The Nieuwe Waterweg was dug from Rotterdam to the North Sea, a canal to disembogue the shallow Rhine and Meuse. The Nieuwe Waterweg was ready in 1872 and all sorts of industrial activity formed on the banks of this canal.
Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the Europoort (gate to Europe) complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg, and by the Maasvlakte in the North Sea near Hoek van Holland. The lay-out of a second Maasvlakte was the subject of political debate in the 1990s, because it would be partly government-financed. Construction started in the summer of 2004.
Rotterdam was granted city rights on 7 June 1340 by Willem IV of Holland.
The port of Rotterdam grew out, slowly but steadily, to a port of importance; in Rotterdam one of the six chambers of the VOC, or the Netherlands East India Company, was seated.
The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed after the already mentioned completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the South bank of the river. Delivering evidence of its rapid growth and success is the skyscraper in the French Chateau style, the White House, or Witte Huis, built in the American spirit of office buildings in 1898; its height is 45 m, it was at the time of completion the tallest office building in Europe.
On May 14, 1940 Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, on the last of five days of war in the Netherlands (save Zeeland). The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed, which Ossip Zadkine later expressed strikingly with his statue Stad zonder hart (City without a heart). The statue is located near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the north of the city. From the 1950s through the 1970s the city was rebuilt. It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city center with a new skyline. In the 1990s a new business centre on the south bank of the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built. The White House survived the bombing campaign.
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague and a number of smaller cities in the west of the country are expanding towards each other to the extent that the entire area is sometimes denoted as a single metropole known as Randstad.
Chapi