Rotterdam

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This article deals with Rotterdam as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

Rotterdam is an important city in Knootoss that is part of Knootcap. Rotterdam has one of the largest ports in the world. Being the Gateway to Europe Rotterdam has a hinterland of billions of inhabitants. Its international orientation as a port, as a base for Knootian multinationals and as a centre for KIST trade have made Rotterdam a business city without parallel. Innumerable trade and distribution companies from practically all KIST signatories operate from Rotterdam along with offices of national and most international banks and insurance companies.

The vast Rotterdam harbour stretches from the city out to the sea, some sixty kilometres away. The huge transhipment installations and other harbour activities have moved closer and closer to the sea. Coupled with this development, the inner-city harbours have been transformed into attractive, lively areas with busy sidewalk cafés, innovative architecture, unique bridges and an excellent selection of shops, restaurants and pubs.

One area that is still being developed is the Wilhelminakade. The former main office of the Knootoss-America Line is now the trendy Hotel New York and Jersey, while the former departure halls now serve as a cruise terminal, a café and restaurant and an exhibition hall, and the former Las Palmas warehouse is now the site of a popular dance club. Not far away, in another former warehouse, the unusual Entrepothaven has been transformed into an attractive residential and leisure harbour, with dozens of yachts at the City Marina.

Contemporary and traditional lie cheek by cheek in the Old Harbour, where historical ships and the White House form the backdrop for the innovative, modern 'Cube Houses'. The wonderfully charming atmosphere of the rustic Veerhaven and the picturesque Delfshaven is the setting for many historically significant houses, an area where both Knootian sea hero Piet Heyn and the Pilgrim Fathers, once set sail. And one should not forget the Leuvehaven, where unusual harbour installations and ships, such as the steamboat De Buffel, can be admired in the Harbour Museum, only a stone's throw from the Maritime Museum.