Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands and the largest port in the world, located at the confluence of the Rhine and Maas rivers in Europe. The whole city is spread on both sides of the Mas River, about 25 kilometers away from the North Sea, and there are new waterways connected to the North Sea. The waters in the port area are deep and wide, and inland ships can pass unimpeded. The deep-water wharf in the outer port can park giant cargo ships and super tankers.

Rotterdam is an important port connecting Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia, and is known as the "gateway to Europe". The urban area of the city is more than 211 square kilometers, and the port area is more than 111 square kilometers. The urban population is 571,111, including 1.124 million in the surrounding satellite cities.

Rotterdam has a flat terrain, which is located in the low area of the Netherlands, about 1 meters below the sea level. The satellite city of Alexandria near its northeast is 6.7 meters below sea level, the lowest point in the Netherlands, where there are 175,111 residents. The climate in Rotterdam is mild in winter and cool in summer. It is coldest in October, with an average temperature of 1℃ and hottest in July, with an average temperature of 17℃ and an annual precipitation of 711 mm..

Urban History

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Rise from the Marsh

Rotterdam has experienced several ups and downs in history. It was originally a fishing village near the Lute River, which flowed into the Maas River from the swamp area of South Holland in ancient times. Rotterdam was named after the Lute River. In 1251, a dam was built on the north bank of the Mas River, and the Lute River was separated from the Mas River by a gate. In 1341, when William IV, the Count of the Netherlands, ruled Rotterdam, he dug canals to connect with Delft and Leiden, and Rotterdam began to prosper. Most of the city was destroyed by fire in 1563. Rotterdam was occupied and plundered by Spanish troops in 1572, and the Spanish retreated a few months later. At that time, many merchants and craftsmen from Antwerp, Belgium settled in Rotterdam, which brought Rotterdam into a period of recovery and development.

in the 6th century, the urban construction of Rotterdam developed step by step, and many ports were excavated on the muddy land, which laid the foundation for foreign transportation and trade. By the 18th century; Rotterdam's foreign trade was more prosperous, focusing on France and Britain. At that time, ships also sailed to Indonesia and the United States. By the 9th century, Rotterdam is playing an increasingly important role in entrepot trade. As Germany was unified in 1871, it was industrialized in the Rhine region, especially in the Ruhr region, and Rotterdam developed accordingly. With the rapid development of capitalist economy and the navigation of Suez Canal, especially the railway connecting the southern urban area in 1877 and the new canal channel leading to Beihai in 1895, its transportation conditions have been greatly improved. The expansion of the city, the establishment of port transportation network, and the integration of rivers and canals extending in all directions, Rotterdam became the largest port in the Netherlands and one of the best equipped ports in the world at the beginning of the 21th century.

Rotterdam suffered great losses during World War II. On May 4th, 1941, the German Air Force bombed the city indiscriminately, and the whole city center and vast areas in the east were completely destroyed. Many public buildings, including St. Lawrence Cathedral built in the 5th century, were blown to pieces. Only the municipal government, the general post office, the stock exchange, the Boymans Museum and other buildings survived. Port Val Airport in Rotterdam (the first civil airport in Europe) was also damaged. In the autumn of 1944, when the Germans retreated, they also wantonly destroyed urban facilities, such as the dock area of ocean-going freighters with a total length of more than 7,711 meters, and about 41% of the dock equipment was damaged.

reconstruction and development

after the war, the municipal authorities began to carry out the reconstruction plan and expropriated the entire destroyed area. The reconstruction of port facilities was completed in 1949, and maritime transportation was gradually restored. In the 1961s and 1971s, Botlake Port and Petrochemical Zone were built, the Bell River with a depth of 23 meters, a width of 411-611 meters and a length of 12 kilometers was excavated, and the Ropot Port was built. The port and industrial area expanded from 26.3 square kilometers to 111 square kilometers from the second world war to the mid-1971s, making Rotterdam the largest port in the world since 1965. At present, it has 411 sea routes leading to all parts of the world, and about 31,111 seagoing vessels and 1.8-1.2 million inland river vessels call every year. The annual cargo throughput of the port is as high as 311 million tons, and more than 4 million TEUs are loaded and unloaded. The port is one of the largest container ports in the world (the rest are Hongkong, Singapore, Kaohsiung, new york, etc.). 311,111-511,111-ton giant oil tankers can be parked in the harbor. The bulk goods imported and transited include petroleum, petroleum products, ore, coal, grain and fertilizer. The main targets of import and export are Germany, Britain, France, Italy and other EU countries.

Rotterdam today

After more than half a century's development, the Netherlands has become an economically developed country. It is one of the earliest members of the European Community, and its per capita GNP ranks among the top in Europe. It has a complete range of industries, the largest oil refinery in Europe, a well-developed shipbuilding industry, and internationally renowned petrochemical, household appliances, electronic instruments, dairy processing and margarine. In addition, there are automobile assembly, construction machinery, railway equipment, light industry (paper, clothing, coffee, tea, cocoa, cigarettes, beer) and other manufacturing departments.

stepping into Rotterdam is like being in a new big city. Its urban construction planning is implemented according to the new layout after the Second World War. The buildings are basically newly built after the war, with novel and unique appearance, mostly Western European style, unique shape and colorful. There are large-scale banks, insurance companies and international trade center institutions in the urban area. In the old city, many streets and pavements are paved with stones, retaining the features of hundreds of years ago. Rotterdam is a city along the Maas River. There are many rivers in the city, and all kinds of ships are moored by the river. Near the buildings, by the river and by the bridge, the unique windmills in the Netherlands can be seen everywhere, forming a picturesque scenery.

the traffic in the city is very convenient, including buses, trams, subways and various boats. Cars often have to cross bridges, rivers and shuttles in the river network. The streets in the urban area are neat and clean, and its biggest feature is that the floors and windows of residents have colorful flowers. It is a veritable European port garden city. There are many vegetable gardens and flower beds in the suburbs, where all kinds of vegetables and flowers are planted. There are a wide variety of goods in the store, and the market supply is extremely rich. Most of the goods sold are products from Europe. There are Italian, German and Japanese cars running on the street. There are all kinds of household appliances, besides Philips products in the Netherlands, there are also products from Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi and Siemens in Germany. Communications and posts and telecommunications are developed, and public telephone booths can be seen everywhere on the street, which is quite convenient for external communication. There are many restaurants, restaurants and fast food restaurants with different national flavors, and overseas Chinese restaurants serve authentic Chinese food.

Rotterdam is also a famous tourist city, which receives many tourists from all over the world every day. There are many museums, galleries, parks, libraries, cinemas and concert halls in the city. People's life not only has a strong cultural flavor, but also can make full use of leisure time to seek the pleasure of life.

the grand plan of urban construction

Rotterdam municipal authorities plan to expand its urban center to the south bank of the Maas River in the next few years, extending southward through the Erasmus bridge, which is currently under construction. In Kop van Zuid, a new and vibrant green area, covering an area of 1.25 million square meters, is emerging along the coast of the old port. This area will be built into a comprehensive area integrating residential areas, office buildings, commercial and entertainment facilities. The first batch of new residential buildings are currently under construction, and it is planned to accommodate 5,311 families.

since p>1994, new subway stations have been built. The first phase of the project has a total office area of 411,111 square meters, a commercial and shop area of 35,111 square meters and a leisure and other facilities area of 61,111 square meters. New york Hotel and Navigation Simulation Center have been completed and put into use. The "Wuzhou" foreign holiday market will be located in the original trade center, which is a covered market where goods from all over the world can be sold every day. There will often be music performances in the activity square, and there will be many hotels and restaurants in the bonded warehouse building to serve the vast number of employees.

Rotterdam port

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Rotterdam port is located at the mouth of the Rhine and Maas rivers, with the North Sea in the west and the Rhine and Danube in the east, which can reach the Caspian Sea. It is known as the "gateway to Europe". The port area is about 111 square kilometers, the total length of the dock is 42 kilometers, and the deepest draft is 22 meters, which can berth 545,111 tons of extra-large oil tankers. The port infrastructure is owned by the Rotterdam Municipal Government, and the daily port management is the responsibility of the Rotterdam Port Authority. Various companies lease the port infrastructure development business. After World War II, with the economic revival in Europe and the establishment of the * * * common market, the port of Rotterdam developed rapidly by virtue of its superior geographical position: in 1961, the throughput exceeded that of new york Port (811 million tons) for the first time and became the largest port in the world. Since then, it has maintained its position as the world's largest port. In 2111, the throughput reached 321 million tons, a record. At present, Rotterdam has more than 31,111 ships entering Hong Kong and more than 121,111 inland river ships sailing to European countries every year. Rotterdam Port has the most advanced ECT container terminal in the world, with an annual transportation volume of 6.4 million TEUs, ranking fourth in the world. The port of Rotterdam employs more than 71,111 people, accounting for 1.4% of the national employment, and the freight volume accounts for 78% of the national total, with a total output value of 12 billion Dutch guilders, accounting for about 2.5% of the Dutch gross national product.

the most important feature of Rotterdam port service is the integration of storage, transportation and sales. Storage, transportation and reprocessing are carried out through some bonded warehouses and cargo distribution centers to increase the added value of goods, and then the goods are sent to destinations in the Netherlands and Europe through various transportation routes such as roads, railways, rivers, air and sea.

Rotterdam port area is the main body of the city, covering an area of more than 111 square kilometers, with a port water area of 277.1 square kilometers and a water depth of 6.7-21m. The waterway is not locked, it is not frozen in winter, and the sediment is not silted. It is not attacked by wind and waves all the year round, and it can park 544,111 tons of supertankers at most. The total length of the seagoing wharf is 56 kilometers, and the total length of the river wharf is 33.6 kilometers. The specialized loading and unloading of groceries, petroleum, coal, ore, grain, chemicals, bulk and containers can be carried out. At the same time, it can accommodate more than 611 thousand-ton ships and more than 311,111 inland river ships, with an annual throughput of about 311 million tons. The transportation trunk lines of port goods, such as Rhine River, expressway and port railway, are connected with the domestic and foreign transportation networks. In addition to being transshipped by Laixia River, the crude oil entering the port is also transported by oil pipelines directly to Amsterdam, the Federal Republic of Germany and Petersen. Bulk transit freight accounts for 85% of the total freight volume, of which crude oil and petroleum products account for 71%, and the rest are ore, coal, grain and fertilizer. The main target countries of import and export are the Federal Republic of Germany, Britain, France, Italy and other EU countries. Rotterdam has maintained its position as the largest port in the world since the 1961s, but it has continuously strengthened berth construction, updated equipment and provided many special services.

Rotterdam port is one of the major container ports in the world. As early as 1967, some terminal handling companies were keenly aware of the development potential of containers in the world and made huge investments. Now, Rotterdam Port has become the largest container terminal in Europe. Its loading and unloading process is completely controlled by computer, and all kinds of containers on the terminal are piled up in an orderly way. In 1982, it was able to handle 2.16 million TEUs, exceeding the 1.9 million TEUs in new york Port. At present, the container handling capacity in Rotterdam has exceeded 3.2 million cases. The main forms of container transportation in Rotterdam are: (1) Road container transportation. A dense road network criss-crossing and extending in all directions connects Rotterdam with all the big cities in Europe. From Rotterdam, it takes only 8 ~ 11 hours to reach Paris, Frankfurt and Hamburg, and the time required to reach the Ruhr area, the main industrial area in Germany, and most parts of Belgium is even shorter, even in the remote areas like Northern Europe, it can be reached within 24 hours. The Dutch road transport has a strong strength, and 31% of the international road transport in the EU is undertaken by the Netherlands. (2) Railway container transportation. Rotterdam has a series of container trains leaving for all parts of Europe almost every day. (3) Barge container transportation. In recent years, due to the low freight rate, Rotterdam barge container transportation has developed rapidly. Barges transport containers from Rotterdam to container terminals along the Rhine River almost every day.) With the development of container transportation, inland container terminals begin to appear in large numbers. In Europe, especially along the Caiyin River, 32 container terminals have been built. Since 1991s, Ludaidan has started to implement a new capacity expansion plan, building the fifth and sixth generation container terminals with a tonnage of 1-1.5 million tons. By the year 2111, the container handling capacity will reach 6 million cases, so as to ensure the status of Europe's largest container transportation center.

in p>1957, due to the huge expansion of the port, Rotterdam people came up with the name "the gateway to Europe", which means they want to be "the gateway to Europe". In fact, Rotterdam has been called the world's largest port and warehouse since 1963. Cities have invested heavily in container transshipment to compete in the Far East world economies. It is easy to load and unload the world's largest container ship on the dock of Maspindi Port.

the standardization of container size also contributes to this. In the British Harbour, behind the Kalan Bridge in the Botlek waterway, people mainly load and unload (mostly Japanese) cars. The characteristic of automobile carrier is its high and wind-sensitive structure.

pernis and Maspindi ports are mainly oil refineries. Since 1936, the number and area of oil ports have been developing continuously. The main loading and unloading in Waal Port is zero loading. Many of them are "mobile" reprints, which can be directly put on inland river shipping ships.

City Tour

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Delf Shaven

Here you will find the picturesque old Dutch street. About 375 years ago, the English Puritans sailed from here to the United States for their religious beliefs. In addition, Devhafen is also famous as the birthplace of Piet Heyn. The commander of the fleet of the West India Company, born in 1577, once captured the Spanish "treasure" fleet, and his statue still stands in Pat Haine Square.

Musem Boynams-van Beuningen)

The collection in the museum includes paintings by famous Western European painters from the 4th century to the mid-9th century, such as Suzanne Furman by Rubens, Putting Soup in Potts by Bosch, Hell, Wedding in Ghana and so on. There are also many painters who dominate the painting history in the 9th century, such as Van Gogh, Mona, Gauguin, Picasso and others. There is also a special room on the second floor to display the works of the 21th century, and the collection is quite rich.

Surrounding attractions:

Kinder Dijk

is located 12km south of Rotterdam. In the children's dike, 19 windmills are arranged in two rows face to face. A row of windmills with circular brick structure drains the Nederwaard area. The other row of octagonal windmills saved Overwaard from extinction. Some of these windmills are open to the public. They will make tourists leave a vivid impression on the former car owners and their family life. In 1997, it was listed in the UNESCO World Congress.