Charleroi, Province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium

🇧🇪 Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,462 square km and is the 5th most populous in Belgium after Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, and Ghent. The municipality of Charleroi straddles both banks of the river Sambre in an area marked by industrial activities (coal mining and steel industry), which has been nicknamed the Pays Noir ("Black Country"), part of the larger sillon industriel. Even though most of the factories have closed since the 1950s, the landscape remains dotted with spoil tips and old industrial buildings.

Geography The municipality of Charleroi straddles both banks of the river Sambre in an area marked by industrial activities (coal mining and steel industry), which has been nicknamed the Pays Noir ("Black Country"), part of the larger sillon industriel. Even though most of the factories have closed since the 1950s, the landscape remains dotted with spoil tips and old industrial buildings.

Charleroi lies around 50 km (31 mi) south of Brussels.

The municipality comprises: • I. the central district of Charleroi and the following former municipalities, now sections, merged into Charleroi in 1977: • II. Dampremy • III. Lodelinsart • IV. Gilly • V. Montignies-sur-Sambre • VI. Couillet • VII. Marcinelle • VIII. Mont-sur-Marchienne • IX. Marchienne-au-Pont • X. Monceau-sur-Sambre • XI. Goutroux • XII. Roux • XIII. Jumet • XIV. Gosselies • XV. Ransart

Neighboring municipalities: • a. Les Bons Villers • b. Fleurus • c. Châtelet • d. Gerpinnes • e. Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes • f. Montigny-le-Tilleul • g. Fontaine-l'Évêque • h. Courcelles • i. Pont-à-Celles.

Economy The municipality contains an industrial area for electrical engineering and the production of iron, steel, glass and chemicals. The conglomerate ArcelorMittal subdivided its Industeel unit to encompass the Charleroi steelworks.

Charleroi is in the centre of a coal basin. Even so, due to the widespread loss in industrial power in the area since the 1970s, the area suffered some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in Europe for most of the 1980s and 1990s. However, from the early 2000s, the overall economy of the area has diversified to include health care, transportation and telecommunications. Nevertheless, the poverty rates are still significant.

Landmarks • The belfry, part of the City Hall, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site. • The Maison Dorée was built in 1899 by Art Nouveau architect Alfred Frère. Its name is derived from the golden sgraffiti that adorn the façade. • The city is home to several museums of fine art, glass and other disciplines, as well as a significant one specialising in photography, in the Mont-sur-Marchienne district. • In remembrance to the Jews of Charleroi being murdered by the Nazi regime, the German artist Gunter Demnig has collocated nine Stolpersteine in Charleroi. • The Tour Bleue ("Blue Tower"), located in the centre of Charleroi and 75 m high. Realised in 2015 by Jean Nouvel, it is the headquarters of the Police.

Education Charleroi is Belgium's biggest city without having its own university. In 1966 the University of Louvain began operations in Charleroi with three faculties on its UCLouvain Charleroi campus based in the city centre and in Montignies-sur-Sambre, including the Louvain School of Management and, more recently, the Louvain School of Engineering, issuing Bachelor's and Master's degrees and conducting research. Other universities have since started operations in Charleroi, including the Universities of Namur, Mons and the Université libre de Bruxelles.