antwerp ( (listen); dutch: antwerpen [ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] (listen); french: anvers [ɑ̃vɛʁs] (listen)) is the largest city in belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of antwerp province in the flemish region.with a population of 530,504, it is the most populous municipality in belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in belgium, second only to brussels.antwerp is on the river scheldt, linked to the north sea by the river's westerschelde estuary.it is about 40 km (25 mi) north of brussels, and about 15 km (9 mi) south of the dutch border.the port of antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in europe and within the top 20 globally.the city is also known as the hub of the world's diamond trade.in 2020, the globalization and world cities research network rated antwerp as a gamma + (third level/top tier) global city.both economically and culturally, antwerp is and has long been an important city in the low countries, especially before and during the spanish fury (1576) and throughout and after the subsequent dutch revolt.the bourse of antwerp, originally built in 1531 and re-built in 1872, was the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange.in 1920, the city hosted the summer olympics.the inhabitants of antwerp are nicknamed sinjoren (dutch pronunciation: [sɪˈɲoːrə(n)]), after the spanish honorific señor or french seigneur, 'lord', referring to the spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century.the city's population is very diverse, including about 180 nationalities; as of 2019, more than 50% of its population had a parent that was not a belgian citizen at birth.a notable community is the jewish one, as antwerp is one of the only two cities in europe (together with london and its stamford hill neighbourhood) that is home to a considerable haredi population in the 21st century.the form antverpia is neo-latin.a germanic (frankish or frisian) origin could contain prefix anda ('against') and a noun derived from the verb werpen ('to throw') and denote, for example: land thrown up at the riverbank; an alluvial deposit; a mound (like a terp) thrown up (as a defence) against (something or someone); or a wharf.if andoverpis is celtic in origin, it could mean 'those who live on both banks'.there is a folklore tradition that the name antwerpen is from dutch handwerpen ('hand-throwing').a giant called antigoon is said to have lived near the scheldt river and extracted a toll from passing boatmen.he severed the hand of anyone who did not pay, and threw it in the river.eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named silvius brabo, who cut off the giant's own hand and flung that into the river.this is unlikely to be the true origin, but it is celebrated by a statue (illustrated further below) in the city's main market square, the grote markt.excavations carried out in the oldest section near the scheldt, 1952–1961 (ref.princeton), produced pottery shards and fragments of glass from mid-2nd century to the end of the 3rd century.in the 4th century, antwerp was first named, having been settled by the germanic franks.the merovingian antwerp was evangelized by saint amand in the 7th century.het steen castle has its origins in the carolingian period in the 9th century.the castle may have been built after the viking incursions in the early middle ages; in 879 the normans invaded flanders.the surviving structure was built between 1200 and 1225 as a gateway to a larger castle of the dukes of brabant which was demolished in the 19th century.
antwerp | country | belgium
antwerp ( (listen); dutch: antwerpen [ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] (listen); french: anvers [ɑ̃vɛʁs] (listen)) is the largest city in belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of antwerp province in the flemish region.with a population of 530,504, it is the most populous municipality in belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in belgium, second only to brussels.antwerp is on the river scheldt, linked to the north sea by the river's westerschelde estuary.