According to theInternational Social Survey Programme 2008: Religion III by theAssociation of Religion Data Archives,[5] 73.3% of Antwerp's population identify themselves asCatholics, 24.1% asnon-religious, 2.6% identify themselves as of other religions.
The province of Antwerp has a provincial council, elected every six years, and an executive deputation headed by a governor. The current governor isCathy Berx, appointed in 2008 by theFlemish Government.
Thelast elections were held on 14 October 2018. The following parties were elected to the 36-member council:
The province has a network of roads, railroads, canals and rivers which provide a modern infrastructure. Historically, the traffic infrastructure was an important element of connecting thePort of Antwerp with theRuhr Area inNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Both theIron Rhine railroad and theE313 (KingBaudouin highway) andE34highway connect Antwerp with the Ruhr Area.
The province contains several historical cities, such as Antwerp, Mechelen, Turnhout, Herentals andLier. The Campine region is becoming a popular destination for tourists searching for a quiet and relaxed weekend. Old farms were transformed into bed and breakfast-hotels, the restaurant and café business is very active and an ingenious network for bicycle tours has come to life in recent years. Here and there are still areas of large heathland - and forests, such as theKalmthoutse Heide (E: Kalmthout heathland) inKalmthout, themoors around Turnhout, theLiereman (Oud-Turnhout) and thePrinsenpark inRetie. In a number of villages one can still see the typical Campinelanggevelboerderijen (E:long facade farms).
TheGross domestic product (GDP) of the province was 88 billion € in 2018. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €41,900 or 139% of the EU27 average in the same year.[7]
The Port of Antwerp is the economic heart of the province. Until the agricultural crisis of 1880, the eastern part of the province was a largely agricultural region. The industrial development of the eastern part of the province, part of theCampine region, started at the end of the 19th century when industry established itself in the region. The availability of cheap labor, new roads, canals, tramways and railroads such as theIron Rhine, stimulated the settlement of new industry. Abrickmaking industry was established alongside the canals, paper and printing business in Turnhout, as were non-ferrousmetallurgy in Balen-Nete, dynamite factories inArendonk andBalen,tobacco and cigar factories in Arendonk, and the first shoe factory in Herentals. During the 1920s, the industrial expansion of the region continued with theradium andcopper factories inOlen, the glass factory in Mol-Gompel and the diamond industry inGrobbendonk andNijlen.
In the 20th century the first nuclear installation in Belgium was established at theSCK•CEN in Mol in 1962. The EuropeanInstitute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), one of the EUJoint Research Centres, was founded inGeel in 1957 as a result of theTreaty of Rome. Innotek is a technology centre located in Geel and is part of the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN). Industry in the Campine region of the province is mainly located alongside theE313, theE34 and theAlbert Canal.
AfterWorld War II the Port of Antwerp was expanded, and on its premises several chemical factories andoil refineries were established, including facilities ofBayer,BASF, andMonsanto. The chemical andpetrochemical industry is widely represented in the port region and comprises the world's second-largest cluster petrochemical industry cluster, after that ofHouston (United States). Amoco Chemical Belgium N.V., now part ofBP, was founded in Geel in 1967.
Thediamond industry and trade is traditionally located inAntwerp. At the end of the 19th century Hendrik Cassiers founded a diamond-cutting company outside Antwerp, inGrobbendonk. Hendrik Cassiers and Frans Dela Montagne laid the foundations of the diamond industry in the Campine region. The industry would settle inNijlen,Herenthout,Bevel,Kessel,Vorselaar andBerlaar.
The region around Turnhout became famous for its printing business, with companies such asBrepols, which roots date back to 1796 whenPieter Corbeels established his printing business in Turnhout.[9] In 1833,Van Genechten N.V., Splichal N.V. in 1856, Mesmaekers Freres in 1859, Meses-Goris in 1872,L. Biermans in 1875, Poupaert in 1881, La Belgica N.V. in 1907,H. Proost & Co in 1913, J. Van Mierlo-Proost in 1918, Lityca in 1932 and Veloutex in 1951. More recently in 1970,Cartamundi was established, a world leader in playing cards.
WhileWallonia was famous for its steel industry, theCampine region became renowned for itsnon-ferrousmetallurgies. TheCampine region was scarcely populated in the 19th century, but with the establishment ofcanals, theIron Rhine and cheap labor, several metallurgies were established in the region.[10] In 1888-1889 the metallurgyLa Vieille Montagne was founded inBalen-Nete, close to the Iron Rhine and the canal toBeverlo. The company had its roots in the exploitation of thezinc mines ofMoresnet.
TheUnion Minière du Haut Katanga founded the Société Générale Métallurgique de Hoboken inOlen, which was established along the Iron Rhine and theAlbert Canal. The factory producedradium,cobalt andcopper from the mines of the Union Minière inKatanga,Belgian Congo andRhodesia. Along the canal Turnhout-Schoten, the Métallurgique de la Campine was established in 1910 for the production oflead andantimony. La Metallo-Chimique was established in 1919; this specialized in the production of copper.
In 1872, the Sablières et Carrières Réunies (SCR), nowSibelco, was founded to extract thesilica sand layers in Mol for industrial applications (glass). In 1920 the glass bottle manufacturer Beles Réunios was set up in Mol-Donk.
In 1921, a group of Belgian banks, the Mutuelle Mobilière & Immobilière, theSociété Générale de Belgique, theBanque de Bruxelles and the Financière de Transport, together with the American groupLibbey-Owens, founded the Cie Internationale pour la fabrication mécanique de Verre inMol Gompel. In 1931, due to the economic crisis, the company merged into Glaces et Verres (Glaver).[11] In 1961, Glaver merged with Univerbel to formGlaverbel.
Given that the Campine region was sparsely populated, severaldynamite factories were established in the region. In 1875, the Societe Anonyme d'Arendonk was established which premises would later become part ofRavago. In 1881 La Forcite N.V. was established nearBalen, which was later acquired in 1920 by the Poudreries Réunies de Belgique (PRB). In 1887 a factory was founded near Herentals, which was closed due to the vicinity to the city. The factories produced explosives for themines andquarries. The factories in the province are now closed down.
Historically,wool processing industry was based on the wool from thesheep which were kept on theCampineheath. The centre of the textile industry in the province could be found in Turnhout. Wool processing companies such as Wolspinnerij Van Iersel, Spinnerij en Weverij Van Hoof, and De Wollendekensfabriek Van Doren were located in Mol.
At the end of the 19th centuryArendonk became the centre of the tobacco industry. Additional factories were founded in Turnhout, Mol, Geel and Herentals.[12] After World War II, the ALTO cigar factory was founded byFrans Van den Bergh who would also play an important role atJanssen Pharmaceutica.
The province is divided into three administrativearrondissements (arrondissementen inDutch) containing 67municipalities (numbers refer to the location of the municipalities on the map shown in this section):
Steve Heylen, Bart De Nil, Bart D’hondt, Sophie Gyselinck, Hanne Van Herck en Donald Weber,Geschiedenis van de provincie Antwerpen. Een politieke biografie, Antwerpen, Provinciebestuur Antwerpen, 2005, 2 volumes
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