Satellite image of Europoort, Netherlands (4

Europoort (, en, Eurogate, also "Europort") is an area of the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the worl ...

and the adjoining industrial area in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Being situated at Southside of the mouth of the rivers

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

with the

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

consisting of the Netherlands,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and partly

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Europoort is one of the world's busiest ports and considered a major entry to Europe. The port handled 12 million containers in 2015. The Europoort area is very heavily industrialised with petrochemical refineries and storage tanks, bulk iron ore and coal handling as well as container and new motor vehicle terminals. Europoort is situated on the South bank of the

Nieuwe Waterweg The Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur (a branch of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta) west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg con ...

, same as the

Maasvlakte The Maasvlakte () is a massive man-made westward extension of the Europoort port and industrial facility within the Port of Rotterdam. Situated in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Maasvlakte is built on land reclaimed ...

area. On the Northern bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg one could find

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

(in Dutch: Hoek van Holland).

Development of Europoort

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

has developed from a small town into a major harbour city. In earlier centuries, docks were built on the banks of the

Nieuwe Maas The Nieuwe Maas (; "New Meuse") is a distributary of the Rhine River, and a former distributary of the Maas River, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It runs from the confluence of the rivers Noord and Lek, and flows west through Rotterd ...

river. In the 19th century, connections between Rotterdam and the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

were poor, with a large

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

area with many small

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

s between them. Ships had to sail around

Voorne-Putten Voorne-Putten is an island between the North Sea, the Brielse Meer and the rivers Oude Maas, Spui and Haringvliet in the province of South Holland. Voorne-Putten consists of the two former islands Voorne (the larger, western part) and Put ...

to go out to sea. This could take several days or even weeks. To improve the situation, the ''

'' ("New Waterway"), a large canal, was designed to connect the

and

rivers to the sea. The ''Nieuwe Waterweg'', designed by

Pieter Caland Pieter Caland ( Zierikzee, 23 July 1826 - Wageningen, 12 July 1902) was a Dutch civil engineer in the service of the Rijkswaterstaat. He devised the plan for the Nieuwe Waterweg and implemented it from 1864 to 1872. This visionary project was ...

, was to be partly dug, then to further deepen the canal bed by the natural flow of the water. Ultimately however, the last part had to be dug also. Nevertheless, Rotterdam from now on had a direct connection between the sea and harbour areas with sufficient depth. The ''Nieuwe Waterweg'' has since been deepened several times. Over the years the port was further developed seaward by building new docks and harbour-basins. In the 1970s the port was extended into the sea at the south side of the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg by completion of the ''

'' (Meuse-plain), a large land reclamation area with even more refineries and storage tanks. This project was called ''Europoort'', literally the "Gate to Europe". The

Maasvlakte 2 Maasvlakte 2 is a major civil engineering project in the Netherlands, constructing a new port and supporting infrastructure on reclaimed land adjoining the Maasvlakte. Approximately 2000 hectares will be reclaimed, behind a 4 km dike; approxi ...

project is extending Europoort even further seaward, but the UK-Netherlands border is set equidistantly from the IJmuiden harbour coast line and remains unaffected by the expansion. In the past five years the industrialized skyline has been changed by the addition of large numbers of

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s taking advantage of the exposed coastal conditions.

Factors for Europoort's success

The most important factor contributing to the large amount of cargo shipping in and out of Europort is the presence of the Maas (Meuse) and

rivers. Through these rivers, Europoort is connected to the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

as well as Switzerland,

and

. Furthermore, Europoort is connected to its rival, the port of Antwerp by the

Scheldt–Rhine Canal The Scheldt–Rhine Canal (Schelde-Rijnkanaal) in Belgium and the Netherlands connects Antwerp with the Volkerak, and thereby the Scheldt with the Rhine. Route The canal starts close to the Scheldt river, at the port of Antwerp, and generally ...

. Adding to its transit-function, Rotterdam is connected to Germany by the A15 highway and a railway-network. In 2007, an extra railway connection (the ''

Betuweroute The Betuweroute is a double track freight railway between Rotterdam and Germany. is the official name, after the Betuwe area through which the route passes. The line is popularly called Betuwelijn, after an older track in the same region. Th ...

'') was completed to create an extra connection to the Ruhr area. The P&O passenger/car/lorry overnight ferry service to Hull, England, operates from Europoort using 2 ferries: the Pride of Rotterdam and the Pride of Hull.

References

External links

*Maps (select ''plattegrond''): **Europoort

**Maasvlakte

**

Rozenburg Rozenburg () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 13,173 in 2004, and covers an area of 6.50 km² (of which 1.99 km² water). It was the ...

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{{Coord, 51, 56, 36, N, 4, 08, 33, E, region:NL_type:landmark, display=title Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Port of Rotterdam