Antwerp diamond heist

The Antwerpsche Diamantkring was established in 1928 in Antwerp, Belgium, to become the first diamond bourse worldwide that is dedicated exclusively to rough diamonds trade.It is a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses. 85% of the world’s diamond supply is traded in Antwerp, and in particular in the Antwerpsche Diamantkring.

Antwerp Province (Dutch: Provincie Antwerpen [ˈɑntʋɛrpə(n)] (listen)' French: Province d'Anvers, German: Provinz Antwerpen) is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the North Brabant province of the Netherlands to the north and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp, which includes the Port of Antwerp, the second-largest seaport in Europe. It has an area of 2,876 km2 (1,110 sq mi), and with over 1.85 million inhabitants as of January 2019, is the country's most populous province. The province consists of three arrondissements: Antwerp, Mechelen and Turnhout. The eastern part of the province comprises the main part of the Campine region.

On 20 October 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, in the diamond district of Antwerp. The explosion took place 9.30 on a Tuesday morning, shortly before Simchat Torah religious services were to begin. Three people were killed and 106 wounded.

Antwerp's diamond district, also known as the Diamond Quarter (Diamantkwartier), and dubbed the Square Mile, is an area within the city of Antwerp, Belgium. It consists of several square blocks covering an area of about one square mile. While as of 2012, much of the gem cutting and polishing work historically done in the neighborhood had moved to low wage centers elsewhere, about 84% of the world's rough diamonds passed through the district, making it the largest diamond district in the world with a turnover of 54 billion dollars. Each year, approximately 50% of the rough diamonds return to Antwerp for cutting and polishing.Over $16 billion in polished diamonds pass through the district's exchanges each year. There are 380 workshops that serve 1,500 companies. There are also 3,500 brokers, merchants and diamond cutters. In 2017, roughly 234 million carats were traded in the district, an area with a workforce of 30,000 people. Over 80% of rough diamonds were purchased in Antwerp.Within the area is the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, and four trading exchanges including the Diamond Club of Antwerp and the Beurs voor Diamanthandel, both of which were founded by Hasidic diamantaires, the Antwerpsche Diamantkring and the Vrije Diamanthandel.The neighborhood is dominated by Jewish, Jain Indians, Maronites Christian Lebanese and Armenian dealers, known as diamantaires. More than 80% of Antwerp's Jewish population works in the diamond trade; Yiddish was, historically, a main language of the diamond exchange. No business is conducted on Saturdays.

Cinema Rex was a cinema located at Keyserlei 15 in Antwerp, Belgium. It opened in 1935 and was designed by Leon Stynen, a Belgian architect, modeled after large American movie theatres.On 16 December 1944 (the first day of the Ardennes Offensive), at 15:20, a V-2 rocket fired from The Netherlands (Hellendoorn) by the SS Werfer Battery 500 directly landed on the roof of the cinema during a showing of The Plainsman. There were approximately 1,100 people inside the cinema and the explosion killed 567 people including 296 Allied servicemen (194 further servicemen were injured) and 11 buildings in total destroyed. It took nearly a week to dig all the bodies out of the rubble. It was the single highest death total from a single rocket attack during the war. Following the attack all public performance venues were closed and the town council ordered that a maximum of 50 people were allowed to congregate in any one location. The theatre was re-built in 1947 but closed in 1993 and was demolished in 1995.

The Antwerp Tower is a skyscraper in Antwerp (Belgium). Originally built in 1974 with a height of 87 m (285 ft), the Antwerp Tower was the third tallest building in Antwerp, behind the Cathedral of our Lady and the KBC tower. After the completion of an extensive renovation in 2019-2021 where two double-height floors were added, the Antwerp Tower is now the second tallest building in the city overall and the highest residential building, with a height of 100.70 m (330.4 ft).

Diamant premetro station is an Antwerp Premetro station. Located under the Pelikaanstraat and next to Antwerp Central Station, it is served by lines 2, 6, 9 and 15. This station was built during the second construction phase (opened on March 10, 1980) and is the deepest used premetro station in Antwerp. Because the Pelikaanstraat is a very narrow street, the station was built as a ± 200 meters long corridor in four levels. The level -1 is a long entrance hall with exits along the De Keyserlei, Antwerp Central Station and the parking underneath the Astridplein (with an underground passage to Astrid). The exit at the corner the Pelikaanstraat and the Vestingstraat is out of order, and is now used as an emergency exit. The level -2 is a second entrance hall for direct access to Antwerp Central Station and the access to the 90 meters long platforms. The level -3 is the platform towards Opera and Astrid. The level -4 is the deepest and goes to Plantin and out of town. In 2009-2010 the station was converted with better signage and elevators for better accessibility towards wheelchair users. The level -1 was converted to a corridor. The corridor to the premetro station Astrid and the exits on the Koningin Astridplein are from that period. In 1980 only tram routes 2 and 15 served this station. On October 27, 2007, tram route 6 joined, and on September 1, 2012, tram route 9 joined.

The Franklin Rooseveltplaats is a large square in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, placed at the crossing of the Leien and Turnhoutsebaan, and within walking distance of the Koningin Astridplein and Antwerp-Central station. The square functions primarily as the main bus station in Antwerp, which with its 28 platforms handles a large part of all bus transport in the city, as well as several tram routes.

Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (Dutch: Station Antwerpen-Centraal, French: Gare d'Anvers-Central, IATA code: ZWE), officially Antwerpen-Centraal, is the main railway station in Antwerp, Belgium. The station is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).

Aquatopia was a popular educational attraction in central Antwerp, Belgium. It used to feature a set of aquariums, along with recreations of other marine habitats, including swamps, rain forests, river deltas, and coral reefs. Aquatopia also included a number of special exhibits covering sharks, nautilus, and mysteries of the deep. The multi-story attraction was located on Koningin Astridplein, opposite Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It had 1,000,000 litres (220,000 imp gal; 260,000 US gal) of water.

Chinatown' is located on Van Wesenbekestraat a street in Antwerp, Belgium. Historically supporting the Chinese community that settled in Antwerp post-World War II, today Chinatown is well known for its pan-Asian atmosphere. The district houses an abundance of restaurants offering a variety of Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Pakistani, Thai and Nepali. Pan-Asian organisations and businesses supporting the Chinese, Nepali, Indonesian and Filipino communities for example are found throughout the district and the biggest Asian supermarket in the country (named Sun Wah which stocks items from China, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and India) is also found in Chinatown. A Buddhist temple and a school for mastering kungfu are other commodities also found in the district. Chinese presence is still dominant. However, traders from Thailand, Nepal and other Asian countries have also settled in the district resulting in some dubbing it as Asiatown to reflect the changing demographics. Both at the entrance and the end of the street, two Chinese lions guard the street. A paifang known as the "Pagodepoort" (Pagoda Gate) was erected at the southern entrance to the street in 2010 after four years of planning.

The Queen Elisabeth Hall (in Dutch: "Koningin Elisabethzaal") is a concert and event venue located at the Koningin Astridplein in Antwerp, Belgium. It has a capacity of 2,000 seats and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is its residential orchestra. The Queen Elisabeth Hall is part of the Elisabeth Center of Antwerp, managed by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (Koninklijke Maatschappij voor Dierkunde Antwerpen).