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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.
City | Year | Population4 | Political entity |
Amberes | 1600 | 39,000 | Reino de España (Spain, nominally the independent Países Bajos españoles, and also nominally part of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum or Holy Roman Empire) |
Amberes | 1700 | 67,000 | Reino de España (Spain, and also nominally part of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum or Holy Roman Empire) |
Anvers | 1800 | 53,000 | République française (French Republic) |
Antwerpen | 1900 | 361,000 | België (Belgique or Belgium) |
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).