ROTTERDAM a city of the Netherlands in the province of South Holland, situated in 51“ 55' 19'' N. lat. and 4" 29' 7" E. long., on the right bank of the Nieuwe Maas at the point where it is joined by the Rotte, a small stream rising near Moerkapelle. By rail it is 14 J miles south-east of The Hague and 44⅜ south of Amsterdam. As defined by its 17th-century fortifications the town was an isosceles triangle with a base of I^ miles along the river, but in modern times it has spread out in all directions beyond the limits of its own commune (which was increased in 1869 by the island of Fijenoord and part of the south bank of the river) into those of Delfshaven, Kralingen, and Hillegersberg. A huge dyke on which stands Hoog Straat or High Street divides the triangular portion into nearly equal parts—the inner and the outer town; and the latter is cut up into a series of peninsulas and islands by the admirable system of harbours to which Rotterdam owes so much of its prosperity. The central part of the river frontage is lined by a broad quay called the Boompjes from the trees with which it is planted. From the apex of the triangle the town is bisected by a great railway viaduct (erected about 1870, and mainly constructed of iron), which is continued across the river to Fijenoord and the south bank by a bridge on a similarly grand scale, the line being the Great Southern Railway which connects Belgium and Holland and crosses the Hollandsch Diep by the Moerdijk bridge. Parallel with the railwaybridge the municipality, in 1873, built a road-bridge, and apart from tbeir ordinary function these constructions have proved a sufficient barrier to prevent the ice-blocks of the upper part of the river from descending so as to interfere with the seaward navigation. Tramways, ...