Evere (; ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). , the municipality had a population of 43,608 inhabitants. The total area is , which gives a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

(French–Dutch).

History

Evere's character was essentially rural until the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was famous for its

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

ers, pioneers in the cultivation of chicory (, ). It was also the centre of the history of aviation in Belgium between 1914 and 1945 welcoming, among others, on the neighbouring town of Haren, the ''Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques'' ( SABCA) and ''Societé Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne'' ( SABENA).

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

flew the '' Spirit of St. Louis'' to Evere airfield after his historic 1927 transatlantic flight to Paris. He was welcomed by a crowd of over 25,000. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the explosion of population and the scarcity of free building plots in the Brussels region accelerated the disappearance of agricultural land in Evere in favor of urbanisation. From 1968 onwards, the arrival of the NATO headquarters on the disused site of the old aerodrome in Haren, also brought about the arrival of a number of companies of the tertiary sector.

Main sights

* Brussels Cemetery is partly in Evere and partly in the municipality of Zaventem in

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

. * In September 2008, a former windmill in Evere, originally built in 1841, was opened as the 'Brussels Mill and Food Museum' (''Musée bruxellois du Moulin et de l'Alimentation''). * The NATO headquarters are located near Evere in Haren (part of the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

). Besides, several major international companies have set up their headquarters near Evere, notably

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

in Haren,

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

in Zaventem (previously in Diegem), and

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

in Diegem. File:Evere - Église Saint-Vincent - 002.jpg, Church of St. Vincent File:Cimetière de Bruxelles 01.jpg, Brussels Cemetery's main entrance File:MBMA-Moulin Molen Evere.jpg, Former windmill at the Brussels Mill and Food Museum File:Cité-jardin du Tuinbouw 01.JPG, Tuinbouw garden city

Sport

Evere is home to BUC Saint Josse Rugby Club, former Belgian Champions who currently play in the Belgian Elite League

Transportation

Evere is served by Evere railway station on line 26 (which goes from Halle to

Vilvoorde Vilvoorde (; ; ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city in the Halle-Vilvoorde district (''arrondissement'') of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Bra ...

). Bordet railway station, on the same line, is also in the municipality.

References

External links

* * (in French and Dutch only)
Archives Evere
{{Authority control Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region Populated places in Belgium