Charleroi
Flag of Charleroi
Country	Belgium
Communauté	Communauté française
Région	Wallonia
Province	Hainaut
Post codes	From 6000 to 6061
Old communes (before merger	Charleroi, Couillet, Dampremy, Gilly, Gosselies, Goutroux, Jumet, Lodelinsart, Marchienne-au-Pont, Marcinelle, Monceau-sur-Sambre, Montignies-sur-Sambre, Mont-sur-Marchienne, Ransart, Roux
Mayor	Jacques Van Gompel
Political majority	PS (left)
Longitude	E 4°26'
Latitude	N 50°24'
Elevation	mean: 121 m lowest: 100 m highest: 216 m
Area	10 213 ha = 102,1 km²
Population (City)	201 433 inhabitants (1 July 2005)
Population (City area)	421 586 inhabitants (1 July 2005)
Density	1 972,90 inhab./km²
Official website	http://www.charleroi.be/

Charleroi (Walloon: Tchålerwè) is the first city and municipality of Wallonia in population. It is located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2005, Charleroi had a total population of 201,373. The total area is 102.08 km² which gives a population density of 1,972.75 inhabitants per km². The agglomeration has a population of around 500,000. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos. Image File history File links Charleroi_blason. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: country In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical territory. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonien, Walloon: Walonreye, Dutch: Wallonië) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne, Dutch: Waals Gewest) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ... This article is about political regions. ... Hainaut (French; English traditionally Hainault, Dutch: Henegouwen, German: Hennegau, Walloon: Hinnot) is the westernmost province of Wallonia, in Belgium. ... Its when a man takes his penis and puts it in another mans mouth. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger,greater) is in modern times the title of the highest ranking municipal officer, who discharges certain judicial and administrative functions, in many systems an elected politician, who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of municipalities. ... Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Basic Definition In geography, the elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level (or some other fixed point). ... Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per unit of volume. ... Image File history File links Charleroi_Hainaut_Belgium_Map. ... Walloon (Walon) is a regional Romance language spoken as a second language by some in Belgium. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... Wallonia (French: Wallonie, German: Wallonien, Walloon: Walonreye, Dutch: Wallonië) or the Walloon Region (French: Région Wallonne, Dutch: Waals Gewest) is the predominantly French-speaking region that constitutes one of the three federal regions of Belgium, with its capital at Namur. ... Hainaut (French; English traditionally Hainault, Dutch: Henegouwen, German: Hennegau, Walloon: Hinnot) is the westernmost province of Wallonia, in Belgium. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ...

The municipality features an industrial area, iron and steel industry, glassworks, chemicals, and electrical engineering. Charleroi is in the center of a vast coal basin, called Pays noir. Many slag heaps still surround the city. A slag heap is a pile made of accumulated tailings, which are by-products of mining. ...

History

The origin of the city is in a small village named Charnoy. In 1666 the Spaniards built a fortress in Charnoy, which was named Charleroy in honor of the child-king Charles II. Charles II of Spain. ...

Transport

Air

The local airport, Charleroi Brussels South, is a base of low-cost airline Ryanair. Eastern european low-cost carrier Wizz Air flies to Budapest, Ljubljana and Warsaw, while italian operator OnAir has seasonal services to Pescara, Italy. Charleroi Brussels South, also called Brussels South Airport, is located near Charleroi, 46 km from central Brussels, Belgium. ... Ryanair (ISEQ: RYA LSE: RYA NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an Irish airline headquartered in Dublin, although its biggest operational base is at London Stansted Airport. ... Wizzair is a Polish/Hungarian low-cost airline focusing on the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Paris of the East, Pearl of the Danubeor Queen of the Danube Location Location of Budapest in Hungary Government Country   County Hungary   none Mayor Gábor Demszky (SZDSZ) Geographical characteristics Area    - City 525,16 km²    - Land   n/a km²    - Water   n/a km² Population    - City (2005... (IPA: ) is the capital and largest city in Slovenia. ... Warsaw (Polish: , (?), in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto StoÅ‚eczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... Pescara is a city in central Italy, in the region of Abruzzo. ...

The current terminal, which has exceeded capacity, is to be replaced by a new one in 2007 (currently under construction), boosting total capacity to 3.000.000 passengers a year.

Public transport

Public transport is run by TEC (Transport En Commun), the Wallon public transport company. The greater Charleroi region is served by bus lines and a light rail Metro system (Métro Léger de Charleroi). Part of the latter is famous for incorporating one of the few remnants of the Vicinal, the former Belgian national tramway network. TEC may refer to: TEC-XX, a fictional computer from the video game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Thermo Electric Converter, see Peltier effect or heat pump TEC, a professional counter-strike clan. ... The term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. ... This article is about light rail systems in general. ... Metro is: a general term, synonymous with rapid transit, subway or underground, for an urban underground rail public transit system (see list of rapid transit systems); any of several specific public transport systems, including: Bi-State Development Agency in Missouri and Illinois, d/b/a Metro since 2003 Buffalo Metro... The Vicinal or Buurtspoor were a system of narrow gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country and had a greater route length than the mainline railway system. ...

The métro: grand plans unrealized

The TEC Light Rail Métro is equally famous for the parts of it which were never built, partially built, or fully completed but not opened. It was planned in the 1960s as a 48-km light rail network, operating on heavy rail metro infrastructure, consisting of eight lines radiating from a central loop downtown. However only one line (to Petria), part of another line (to Gilly), and three-quarters of the loop were actually built and opened to traffic, all between 1976 and 1996. The high costs of construction, together with a decline in Charleroi's traditional "smokestack" industries, and questioning of the scope of the whole project in proportion to the actual demand for it, are all cited as reasons for the original plan going unfulfilled. The term heavy rail is often used for regular railways, to distinguish from systems such as trams/light rail and metro. ...

Completion of the central loop and the Gilly line to Soleilmont are planned within the next five years. Part of another branch (to Châtelet) was fully completed but never placed in service, and is unlikely ever to be opened or completed.

See also

• Municipalities of Belgium
• List of Walloon municipalities
• R. Charleroi S.C.
• ICDI affair

Belgium is divided into 589 municipalities (Dutch: gemeenten, French: communes, German: Gemeinde) grouped into three regions and 10 provinces, except the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital region which do not belong to any of the 10 provinces. ... Wallonia has the following 262 municipalities: Categories: ... R. Charleroi S.C. is a Belgian football club. ... The ICDI affair is a Belgium political scandal involving the Intercommunale pour la Collecte et la Destruction des Immondices (ICDI), the refuse collector of the Wallonian region of Charleroi. ...

External links

• Official web site
• Unofficial history of tramways in Charleroi (in French)
• Urban adventurers explore and photograph an unused Métro line