RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN ROTTERDAM
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ABOUT ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam is, in terms of population, the second largest municipality in the Netherlands after the capital, Amsterdam, and the largest city in the province of Zuid-Holland (South Holland). The city has the largest port of Europe. It became the world's busiest port in 1962, but lost this status to Shanghai in 2004. It is situated on the banks of the river Nieuwe Maas ("New Meuse"), one of the streams in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse rivers. The name "Rotterdam" derives from the city's origin at a dam in a small tributary river, the Rotte.
Rotterdam consists of 11 submunicipalities: Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hoek van Holland, Hoogvliet, IJsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, and Prins Alexander (with around 85,000 inhabitants the most populous submunicipality). Two other areas, Centrum (“Center”) and Pernis, do not have official submunicipality status.
Rotterdam lies in the Zuidvleugel (“South Wing”) of the Randstad (“Ring City”) conurbation, with 7.5 million inhabitants the sixth largest metropolitan area in Europe (after Moscow, London, the Ruhr Area, Istanbul, and Paris). The Zuidvleugel includes Leiden, The Hague, Zoetermeer, Delft, Vlaardingen, Schiedam, Capelle aan den IJssel, Spijkenisse and Dordrecht, and has a population of around 3.5 million.
Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe, with the rivers Meuse and Rhine providing excellent access to the upstream hinterland, reaching to Basel, Switzerland and into France. Since 2004, Asian ports like Singapore and Shanghai have taken over its world leading position. In 2004, Rotterdam was the seventh largest port in the world in terms of containers handled.