Among the educational institutions of the city the most noteworthy are the commercial school, established in 1S52, the AtiltSnee Royal, the Acad emy of Fine Arts, dating from 1665, and attended by over 160 students, and the Royal Conserva tory of Music, with an attendance of about 1350. Some of the higher schools are managed by Jesu its, and the German School is supported by the German Government. Besides numerous scientific associations, Antwerp has many societies for the advancement of art, and its triennial exhibition of paintings is regarded as an important event in the world of art. The city has two theatres and two municipal libraries. Of the 16 daily newspa pers published in Antwerp 6 are in French and 10 in Flemish. Of charitable and benevolent institutions, Antwerp has its full share. Besides two hospitals with 900 beds, an insane asylum, and asylums for orphans and aged people, there are a considerable number of minor charitable in stitutions maintained by private societies. The industrial establishments of Antwerp include dis tilleries and breweries, textile mills, diamond-cut ting works, sugar refineries, cigar factories, etc. Owing to its advantageous position on the west ern coast of Europe, and its proximity to Lon don, Antwerp is inferior to few European cities in the volume of its commerce, and is con sidered one of the greatest centres of the grain import trade. Its commerce is chiefly with the Balkan countries, Russia, the United States, and South America. The total annual value of the commerce, of which a large portion is transit, exceeds $1,200,000.000, of which slightly more than one-half represents imports. Antwerp has magnificent harbor advantages. The quays have a total length of 3IA miles and are provided with gigantic cranes for the loading and unloading of Vessels. There are eight large basins and a num ber of smaller ones connected by sluices with the Scheldt. In 1899. 5613 vessels representing a tonnage of 6,872,545 cleared the port. In 1891 the figures were respectively 4461 and 4,693,235. Antwerp is the chief arsenal of Belgium and is fortified by strong ramparts and numer ous citadels and forts surrounding the city. It has also devices for the flooding of the sur rounding country and contains a garrison of about 10,000 men: Antwerp has consular rep resentatives from all the important countries of the world. The population is (1900) 285,600, not including the suburbs, with a population of over 50,000. In 1830 the total population was
only 73,500, while in 1891 it numbered 232,732. The average annual temperature of the city is about 50*, or nearly the same as that of New York.
Antwerp appears in history as early as the Seventh Century. is spoken of as a market town some hundred years later, and by the middle of the twelfth century seems to have attained considerable prosperity as a trading town. Steadily extending its commercial operations under the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, it be came in the second half of the Fifteenth Century the world-mart of Europe, supplanting the other great Flemish cities, Bruges and Ghent. It was the entreprit for the trade between England and the Continent, and in its harbor vessels from the north and the south of Europe met to ex change their cargoes. In the first half of the Sixteenth Century, under the rule of Charles V., the city was at the height of its splendor and prosperity. It was the principal station of the Hanseatic League and the centre of the money exchanges of Europe, while its manufacturing industry was on a level with its vast shipping. Material prosperity was accompanied by intel lectual progress, and the great schools of Flemish painters made Antwerp their principal home. The events of the Reformation brought about a sudden decline. The reign of terror instituted by the Duke of Alva, and the siege of 14 months by the Duke of Parma (1584-85), to whom the city offered a heroic but ineffectual resistance, sapped the prosperity of Antwerp. its popula tion at the end of the Sixteenth Century had dwindled to 55,000, or less than half of what it had been at the beginning of the century. Its rain was completed by the Treaty of lia, which closed the navigation of the Scheldt. It received new life from the French, who took the city in 1794, and declared the Scheldt open once more. Later Napoleon attempted to set it up as a rival to London. During the Belgian Revolution of 1S30, the Dutch general Chassis held the citadel for two years against the citi zens, until he was forced to surrender by a French army under Gerard. After the revolu tion. the growth of the city was rapid. Consult: J. P. Van Mol, Guide to Ant ircrp (Antwerp, 1886) ; E. Rowland. "Le Port d'Anvers," in L'Eeonamiste Frameaig, Vol. II. (Paris. 1899) ; "The Great Fire at Antwerp, and its Efl'eets," in The Builder, Vol. LXXX. (London, 1901).