Rotterdam Tourist Information

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Rotterdam Tourist Information

"Rotterdam

Rotterdam; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the 2nd-largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 on 1 January 2007 and comprises the southern part of the Randstad, the 6th-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of 6.7 million inhabitants.

The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. From 1962 to 2004, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded by Shanghai. Rotterdam is situated on the banks of the river Nieuwe Maas ('New Meuse'), one of the channels in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse rivers. The name Rotterdam derives from a dam in the Rotte river.

Municipality

On 1 January 2007 (source: Statistics Netherlands), the municipality covered an area of 319 km² (206.44 km² of which is land) with a population of 584,046. It is part of a larger metropolitan area called Rijnmond ('Mouth of the Rhine') with a total population of about 1.2 million. In 1965, the municipal population of Rotterdam reached its peak of 731,000, but by 1984 it had decreased to 555,000 as a result of suburbanization.

Rotterdam consists of 11 submunicipalities: Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hoek van Holland, Hoogvliet, IJsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, and Prins Alexander (the most populous submunicipality with around 85,000 inhabitants). Two other areas, Centrum ('Center') and Pernis, do not have official submunicipality status.

As partly mentioned above already, Rotterdam is situated in the Zuidvleugel ('South Wing') of the Randstad ('Rim City') conurbation, with 6.7 million inhabitants, the sixth largest metropolitan area in Europe (after Moscow, London, the Ruhr Area, Istanbul, and Paris). The Zuidvleugel includes Leiden, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Delft, Vlaardingen, Schiedam, Capelle aan den IJssel, Spijkenisse and Dordrecht, and has a population of around 3 million.

Municipal additions

The current size of the municipality of Rotterdam is the result of the amalgamation of the following former municipalities, some of which now are a submunicipality:

* Delfshaven (added on 30 January 1886)
* Charlois (added on 28 February 1895)
* Kralingen (added on 28 February 1895)
* Hoogvliet (added on 1 May 1934)
* Pernis (added on 1 May 1934)
* Hillegersberg (added on 1 August 1941)
* IJsselmonde (added on 1 August 1941)
* Overschie (added on 1 August 1941)
* Schiebroek (added on 1 August 1941)

Demographics

With 55% of the inhabitants earning a low income, Rotterdam has its fair share of typical urban problems, such as dilapidated inner city areas.

Ethnic make-up of the city

Figures are from 2006:

* Total: 588,718
* Dutch: 317,943
* Surinamese: 52,329
* Turkish: 45,415
* Moroccan: 36,831
* Antillean / Aruban: 19,701
* South-European: 17,774
* Other non-industrialised nations: 66,464
* Other industrialised nations: 32,261

In the Netherlands, Rotterdam has the highest percentage of foreigners from non-industrialised nations. Nearly 50% of the population are not native to the Netherlands or have at least one parent born outside the country. Recent figures show that Muslims comprise close to 25% of the city's population.The city is home to one of the largest Cape Verdean communities in the world, as well as the largest Dutch Antillean community.

Geography

Rotterdam is divided into a northern and a southern part by the river Nieuwe Maas, connected by (from west to east): the Beneluxtunnel; the Maastunnel; the Erasmusbrug ('Erasmus Bridge'); a subway tunnel; the Willemsspoortunnel ('Willems railway tunnel'); the Willemsbrug ('Willems Bridge'); the Koninginnebrug ('Queen's Bridge'); and the Van Brienenoordbrug ('Van Brienenoord Bridge'). The former railway lift bridge De Hef ('the Lift') is preserved as a monument in lifted position between the Noordereiland ('North Island') and the south of Rotterdam.

The city centre is located on the northern bank of the Nieuwe Maas, although recent urban development has extended the center to parts of southern Rotterdam known as De Kop van Zuid ('the Head of South', i.e. the northern part of southern Rotterdam). From its inland core, Rotterdam reaches the North Sea by a swathe of predominantly harbor area.

Built mostly behind dikes, large parts of the Rotterdam are below sea level. For instance, the Prins Alexander Polder in the northeast of Rotterdam extends 6 meters below sea level, or rather below Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) or 'Amsterdam Ordnance Datum'. The lowest point in the Netherlands (6.76 meters (22 ft) below NAP) is situated just to the east of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel.

The Rotte river no longer joins the Nieuwe Maas directly. Since the early 1980s, when the construction of Rotterdam’s second subway line interfered with the Rotte’s course, its waters have been pumped through a pipe into the Nieuwe Maas via the Boerengat."