37 Facts About Rotterdam

Rotterdam's history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte.

In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by William IV, Count of Holland.

Rotterdam is known for its university, riverside setting, lively cultural life, maritime heritage and modern architecture.

Port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six "chambers" of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the Dutch East India Company and one of the five "chambers" of the West-Indische Compagnie, the Dutch West India Company.

Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the 1950s through to the 1970s.

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Rotterdam was voted 2015 European City of the Year by the Academy of Urbanism.

Rotterdam is divided into a northern and a southern part by the river Nieuwe Maas, connected by : the Beneluxtunnel; the Maastunnel; the Erasmusbrug; a subway tunnel; the Willemsspoortunnel ; the Willemsbrug together with the Koninginnebrug ; and the Van Brienenoordbrug .

From its inland core, Rotterdam reaches the North Sea by a swathe of predominantly harbour area.

For instance, the Prins Alexander Polder in the northeast of Rotterdam extends 6 metres below sea level, or rather below Normaal Amsterdams Peil or 'Amsterdam Ordnance Datum'.

Size of the municipality of Rotterdam is the result of the amalgamation of the following former municipalities, some of which were a submunicipality prior to 19 March 2014:.

Since 1795 Rotterdam has hosted the chief congregation of the liberal Protestant brotherhood of Remonstrants.

Rotterdam has always been one of the main centres of the shipping industry in the Netherlands.

Nowadays, well-known companies with headquarters in Rotterdam are consumer goods company Unilever, asset management firm Robeco, energy company Eneco, dredging company Van Oord, oil company Royal Dutch Shell, terminal operator Vopak, commodity trading company Vitol and architecture firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture.

Furthermore, Rotterdam has the Dutch headquarters of Allianz, Maersk, Petrobras, Samskip, Louis Dreyfus Group, Aon and MP Objects.

The City of Rotterdam makes use of the services of semi-government companies Roteb and the Port of Rotterdam Authority .

Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, with the rivers Maas and Rhine providing excellent access to the hinterland upstream reaching to Basel, Switzerland and into France.

In 2006, Rotterdam was the world's seventh largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units handled.

From Rotterdam, goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road.

The main shopping venue in the south of Rotterdam is Zuidplein, which lies close to Rotterdam Ahoy, an accommodation centre for shows, exhibitions, sporting events, concerts and congresses.

Rotterdam has one major university, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, named after one of the city's famous former inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus.

In terms of alternative culture, Rotterdam had from the 1960s until the 2000s a thriving squatters movement which as well as housing thousands of people, occupied venues, social centres and so on.

Rotterdam is the home of Gabber, a type of hardcore electronic music popular in the mid-1990s, with hard beats and samples.

Rotterdam has become world famous because of its modern and groundbreaking architecture.

Rotterdam is famous for its Lijnbaan 1952 by architects Broek en Bakema, Peperklip by architect Carel Weeber, Kubuswoningen or cube houses designed by architect Piet Blom 1984.

Rotterdam has a reputation in being a platform for architectural development and education through the Berlage Institute, a postgraduate laboratory of architecture, and the NAi, which is open to the public and has a variety of exhibitions on architecture and urban planning issues.

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Rotterdam is the home of three professional football clubs, being first tier clubs Feyenoord, Sparta and Excelsior.

Sparta, founded in 1888 and situated in the northwest of Rotterdam, won the national title six times; Excelsior, in the northeast, has never won any.

Rotterdam has three fourth tier clubs, SC Feijenoord, PVV DOTO and TOGR.

Rotterdam is and has been the home to many great football players and coaches, among whom:.

Rotterdam has its own annual international marathon, which offers one of the fastest courses in the world.

In November 2008 Rotterdam was chosen as the host of the Grand Depart of the 2010 Tour de France.

Rotterdam is home to the most successful European baseball team, Neptunus Rotterdam, winning the most European Cups.

Ma Braun later coached the Rotterdam-born, three-times Olympic champion Rie Mastenbroek during the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

Rotterdam offers connections by international, national, regional and local public transport systems, as well as by the Dutch motorway network.

Rotterdam is well connected to the Dutch railway network, and has several international connections:.

BusRotterdam offers 55 city bus lines with a total length of 432.

RET runs buses in the city of Rotterdam and surrounding places like Barendrecht, Ridderkerk, Rhoon, Poortugaal, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Delft and Capelle aan den IJssel.