What is Bottrop?
{{Infobox German Location |Art = City |image_photo = |imagesize = |image_caption = Church St. Peter and Paul in Bochum. |Wappen =DEU_Bottrop_COA.svg |image_flag = Flagge der Stadt Bottrop.svg |coordinates = {{coord|51|31|29|N|06|55|22|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |Lageplan = |Lageplanbeschreibung = |Bundesland = Nordrhein-Westfalen |Regierungsbezirk = [[Münster Government Region|Münster]] |Gemeindeschlüssel = 05512000 |Kreis = Urban District |Höhe = 60 |Fläche = 100.7 |area_metro = |Einwohner = 118975 |pop_metro = |Stand = 2006-12-31 |pop_ref = [http://www.lds.nrw.de/statistik/datenangebot/Regionen/amtlichebevoelkerungszahlen/rp5_dez06.html Landesamt für Statistik] |PLZ = 46236 – 46244 |Vorwahl = 02041, 02045 |Kfz = BOT |Website = {{url|http://www.bottrop.de/}} |Bürgermeister = Peter Noetzel |Partei = SPD }} '''Bottrop''' is a city in west central [[Germany]], on the [[Rhine-Herne Canal]], in the [[States of Germany|state]] of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Bottrop is in the [[Ruhr area|Ruhr industrial area]], It is next to [[Essen]], [[Oberhausen]], [[Gladbeck]] and [[Dorsten]]. The city had been a coal-mining and rail center. There are factories producing [[coal]]-[[tar]] [[derivative]]s, [[chemical]]s, [[textile]]s, and [[machine]]ry. The population is currently 119,655. Bottrop grew as a mining center beginning in the 1860s and was chartered as a city in 1921. In 1975 it was put together with the unification with the neighbor communities of Gladbeck and Kirchhellen, but Gladbeck left in 1976. == History == The place is first heard of in 1150, as ''Borthorpe''. This name means ''[[village]] on the [[hill]]side''. In the year 1423, Bottrop is awarded the status of a [[market town]]. In 1786 the first [[cotton mill]] opens. Coal mining starts in 1856. The city gets [[town privileges]] in 1919. In 1953, the population passed 100.000 people for the first time. == Popular persons == [[File:Bottrop quadrat 2.jpg|thumb|Bottrop, Museum Quadrat]] * [[Josef Albers]] * [[August Everdin