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Antwerpen

Antwerpen,1 België,2 is one of the world's busiest ports. The metropolitan area has 1.1 million, but fewer than a million live in the city proper. It is located on the Schelde3 River, not far upstream from the Westerschelde inlet of the North Sea. Sights include its zoo; its 11th century cathedral, topped by a tower with four clock faces; its early 20th century railway station done in eclectic style; its 16th century city hall; and the KBC Tower, nicknamed the Farmers' Tower, which claims to be Europe's first skyscraper (built in 1932). The belfries and Béguinages of both Antwerpen and of nearby Lier (Lierre) are part of World Heritage Sites.

CityYearPopulation4Political entity
Amberes160039,000Reino de España (Spain, nominally the independent Países Bajos españoles, and also nominally part of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum or Holy Roman Empire)
Amberes170067,000Reino de España (Spain, and also nominally part of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum or Holy Roman Empire)
Anvers180053,000République française (French Republic)
Antwerpen1900361,000België (Belgique or Belgium)

External references

Statue of a giant with its hand severed by a hero (tale associated with a folk etymology of the city's name)

Historical maps

map showing part of the Reino de España, 1600 CE

map showing part of the Reino de España, 1700 CE

map showing part of the République française, 1800 CE

map showing part of België, 1900 CE

map showing Deutschland, the Benelux and Danmark (part), 2000 CE

Footnotes

1. Anvers n French; Antwerp in English.
2. Belgique (French) or Beligium (English)..
3. Escault in French; Scheldt in English.
4. Estimates in Tables of the World's Largest Cities in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 1600 Antwerpen was the largest city in what is now Benelux, Deutschland (Germany) and Danmark (Denmark).