The Belgian city of Antwerp has developed its diamond trade since the 15th century. The industry took off dramatically in 1456 when a diamond cutter, Lodewyk van Berken, invented a new form of polishing tool, the scaif, which could be used to polish multifaceted diamonds with perfect symmetry. The invention, which is still used today, contributed significantly to market demand for diamonds.

Antwerp's diamond district, also known as the 'Diamond Quarter' or simply 'the Square Mile', contains a concentration of 380 workshops as well as boutiques and markets run by 8,000 diamond cutters, brokers, and merchants, also known as diamantiers. The workforce is mainly composed of jewel specialists of Jewish, Jain Indian, Maronite Christian Lebanese and Armenian communities. Antwerp's 'Square Mile' is the largest diamond district in the world with a yearly turnover of $54 billion dollars.

Around 1.2 million people live in the metropolitan area of Antwerp, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in Belgium after Brussels. It is Europe's second-busiest port after Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Antwerp also gained an artistic reputation starting from the 17th century when painters such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, and the Teniers attended its art school. Since the 1980s, the city's notoriety has spanned into the fashion world, with renowned designers, for example, the "Antwerp Six", graduating from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts fashion school.

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