ROTTERDAM (dent or dike of the Rolle), after Amsterdam, the largest city in the Netherlands, and a place of great commercial activity, is situated at the confluence of the Rotte with the Maas, in the province of South Holland. It forms a triangle with the apex to the n., and the base stretching along the river, ships from all parts of the world discharging their cargoes in front of the Boompjes, a splendid row of houses shaded with trees. The Hoog squat, built on the dam or dike formed to repel inundations, divides the city into the Binnenstad and Buitenstad, the former being n. of that line, the latter extending southward to the Maas. Broad canals or havens, full of shipping, cut i the Buitenstad into islands, and lofty houses face the quays on either side. The largest canals are the Lenvenhaven and Oudehaven, which trend inward from the Maas, and the Seheenmakershaven, Wijnhaveu, Blaak, Haringvliet, and Nieuwhaven, parallel with the river. Rotterdam is rapidly extending in all directions. The population has more than doubled within 50 years, and on Jan. 1, 1872, it amounted to 123,677, or 58,411 males, and 65,266 females. On Dec. 31,1874, the number had risen to 129,239, or 59,817 males. and 69,422 females. About two-thirds are Protestants, nearly one-third Roman Catholics. and 4,500 Jews.
The industries are varied. including sugar-refining, gin-distilling, the making of liqueurs, beer-brewing, iron-founding, soap-boiling, the manufacture of vinegar, cigars:, patent oil, sail and hair cloths, articles of gold and silver, ship-building, etc. The works of the Netherlands steamboat company, at Feijnoord, employ 700 men. The shipping trade is extensive. In 1875 there cleared in 863 sailing vessels of 274,497 tons, and 2,572 steamships of 1,380,074. Of these, 277 sailing-ships and 1975 steamers were from British ports, representing 1,028,0S3 tons; and 43 sailing-ships from British colonim large traffic is carried on with Germany, Belgium, and the interior of the Netherlands.
Refined sugar is extensively exported. Large quantities of butter, cheese, yeast, madder, flax, and fruits are annually sent to Great Britain; also iminetise numbers of cattle, calves, swine, and sheep.
Rotterdam has railway communication with the. ther cities of the Netherlands, Ger many, and Belgium. It is about 20 m. from the mouth of the Maas, the great com mercial highway between the open sea and the Rhine provinces of Prussia. The muni cipal government consists of a burgomaster, 4 wethouders (aldermen or bailies), and 34 councilors. Rotterdam has 4 Dutch reformed churches, 1 French Protestant, 1 Eng lish Episcopal, 1 Scotch church, 6 Roman Catholic chapels, and 1 Jewish synagogue. The schools are good, and subsidized by the municipality. There are 3 for gymnastics; a normal school; one for training boys for sea; a medical school; an institute for the deaf and dumb, at which 93 boys, and 52 girls are educated by 15 teachers, 64 of the pupils being admitted free; a grammar school called the Erasmus; and several institu tions for arts, sciences, architectural drawing, and music. The medical school has an anatomical museum; the Batavian society possesses a good collection of philosophical instruments, books, and models. The museum Boijmans, with many valuable painting-4 and works of art, was destroyed by fire in 1863. The exchange, built in 1722. is a plain rectangular building of hewn stone. The hospital, on the Coolsingel, a handsome erec tion, with excellent internal arrangements, can receive 250 patients. Rotterdam has also a children's hospital. which is a great boon to the poor. The St. Laurence church, built at the end of the 15th e., is a spnions building, resting on 14 Gothic pillars, and orna mented with a high truncated tower, the top of which is reached by 826 steps. It has a splendid organ, and several beautiful marble monuments, in honor of De Witt, admiral Kortenaar, and other distinguished men. A bronze statue of Erasmus stands on the great market, and the house in which he was born is pointed out in the Breede Kerk straat, which leads to the great church. The city has been added to and improved, and the water-way-to the sea deepened and altered (the works completed in 1872), so as to avoid, as far as possible, the hindrances to the navigation which are caused by the sand-banks at the mouth of the Maas.