| Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is ca. 461,496 (as of January 2006) and its total area is 204.51 km² with a population density of 2,257 inhabitants per km².
Antwerp has long been an important city in the nations of the Benelux both economically and culturally. It is located on the right bank of the river Scheldt, which is linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde. Antwerp's seaport, one of the world's largest and after the port of Rotterdam the second largest in Europe, has a high level of cargo shipping and oil refineries traffic. Families of the large Hasidic Jewish community have traditionally controlled Antwerp's global centre of the diamond trading industry, although the last two decades have seen Indian and Armenian traders become increasingly important.
Although Antwerp was formerly a fortified city, nothing remains of the former enceinte or of the old citadel defended by General Chassé in 1832, except for the Steen, which has been restored. Modern Antwerp's broad avenues mark the position of the original fortifications. After the establishment of Belgian independence, Antwerp was defended by the citadel and an enceinte around the city. In 1859, seventeen of the twenty-two fortresses constructed under Wellington's supervision in 1815-1818 were dismantled and the old citadel and enceinte were removed. A new enceinte 8 miles long was constructed, and the villages of Berchem and Borgerhout, now parishes of Antwerp, were absorbed within the city.
This enceinte is protected by a broad wet ditch, and in the caponiers are the magazines and store chambers of the fortress. The enceinte has nineteen openings or gateways, but of these seven are not used by the public. As soon as the enceinte was finished eight detached forts from 2 to 2-½ miles from the enceinte were constructed. They begin on the north near Wijnegem and the zone of inundation, and terminate on the south at Hoboken. In 1870 Fort Merksem and the redoubts of Berendrecht and Oorderen were built for the defence of the area to be inundated north of Antwerp.
In the 1870s, the fortifications of Antwerp were deemed to be out of date, given the increased range and power of artillery and explosives. Antwerp was transformed into a fortified position by constructing an outer line of forts and batteries 6 to 9 miles from the enceinte.
Antwerp had an artistic reputation in the 17th century, based on its school of painting, which included Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, the two Teniers and many others. Informally, most Antverpians (in Dutch Antwerpenaren, people from Antwerp) daily speak Antverpian, a dialect that Dutch-speakers know as distinctive from other Brabantic dialects through its typical vowel pronunciations: approximating the vowel sound in 'bore'— for one of its 'a'-sounds while other 'a's are very sharp. The Echt Antwaarps Teater ('Authentic Antverpian Theatre') brings the dialect on stage.
Antwerp is a rising fashion city, and has produced some famous designers such as the Antwerp Six. The city has a rather a cult status in the fashion world, largely due to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, one of the most important fashion academies in Europe. It has served as the learning centre for a large number of well-known Belgian fashion designers.
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