Rotterdam city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country (after Amsterdam), with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007. It forms the southern part of the Randstad, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of 6.7 million.
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. From 1962 to 2004, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded byShanghai. 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.
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'.
Rotterdam is home to the Dutch half of consumer goods giant Unilever, and Mittal Steel Company N.V., subsidiary of Luxembourg-basedArcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel company. It imports over 100 million tons of crude oil a year!
The port's main activities are petrochemical industries and general cargo handling and transshipment. The harbour functions as an important transit point for bulk materials and between the European continent and overseas. From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. In 2007, the Betuweroute, a new fast freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany, has been completed.
In 1872, the Nieuwe Waterweg ('New Waterway') opened, a ship canal constructed to keep the city and port of Rotterdam accessible to seafaring vessels as the natural Meuse-Rhine channels silted up.
No comments:
Post a Comment