Antwerp

Antwerp

Antwerp (/ˈæntwɜːrp/ ⓘ; Dutch: Antwerpen [ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] ⓘ; French: Anvers [ɑ̃vɛʁs] ⓘ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 536,079,[1] it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of over 1,200,000 people, the country's second-largest metropolitan region after Brussels.[a][3] Flowing through Antwerp is the river Scheldt. Antwerp is 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 after Rotterdam[4][5] 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.[6]