Europoort

Europoort ("Eurogate") is a very large harbour and industrial area near the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Rotterdam has developed from a small town into one of the major harbour cities in the world. But in the early 20th century, the situation was very different. The connection between Rotterdam and the North Sea was very bad. Between Rotterdam and the sea was a large estuary/delta area with many small waterways. To improve the situation, a huge canal was dug, the Nieuwe Waterweg ("New Waterway") to lead the Rhine and Meuse rivers to the sea, and to make a reliable connection between the sea and the harbour area.

In earlier centuries, many docks were built on the banks of the Nieuwe Maas river, but by the 1960s, there was not enough space for additional harbours. So, the wetlands between the city and the sea were turned into a huge industrial complex: Europoort, the Gate to Europe.