Who lives where in Rotterdam
651,605 residents by migration background, 1 January 2021. One dot ≈ 3 people, placed at random inside each of 86 neighbourhoods (CBS buurten). The Dutch background group starts hidden so the minorities stand out — click any group to show or hide it, and hover an area for its official counts.
What the colours mean
Migration background. CBS's migration background (migratieachtergrond): you count under a country if you were born there, or — if born in the Netherlands — your mother was, or your father if your mother was born in the Netherlands. Third generation counts as Dutch. 2021 is the last year CBS published Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese and Antillean origin for every neighbourhood; from 2022 it only splits Europe from outside Europe.
- Dutch background307,125 · 47.1%
Born in the Netherlands to two parents born in the Netherlands (total minus everyone with a migration background).
- Western background88,680 · 13.6%
Europe (excluding Türkiye), North America, Oceania, Indonesia and Japan — CBS's pre-2022 'westers'.
- Moroccan background45,910 · 7.0%
Born in Morocco, or a parent born there.
- Turkish background47,805 · 7.3%
Born in Türkiye, or a parent born there.
- Surinamese background52,405 · 8.0%
Born in Suriname, or a parent born there.
- Antillean & Aruban background27,180 · 4.2%
Born in the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, or a parent born there.
- Other non-Western82,500 · 12.7%
Every other country in Africa, Latin America and Asia (excl. Indonesia and Japan).
- Background not published0
Neighbourhoods where CBS withheld the breakdown for confidentiality.
What is exact and what is not
- Exact: how many people of each group live in each of the 86 neighbourhoods (CBS buurten), as published by the source below. The Exact areas view and the hover numbers show these figures directly.
- Not exact: where a dot sits inside its buurt. Dots are scattered at random within the area's boundary — including over parks, railways or water inside it — so a dot never marks a real home, and a pattern smaller than one buurt is not in the data.
- Rounded: each count becomes count ÷ 3 dots, rounded up or down at random, so very small groups in an area can show one dot more or fewer than the exact figure would give.
Source and method
Counts: CBS (Statistics Netherlands) — Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021 (table 85039NED).
Boundaries: CBS Wijk- en buurtkaart 2021 (v3).
Method: Dutch background = inhabitants − Western − non-Western (all published counts). Each area's count for each group becomes count ÷ 3 dots (rounded up or down at random, so totals are right on average), scattered uniformly inside the area — a dot's exact position means nothing, only the area does. 217,198 dots in all. Map style after Karim Douïeb's Brussels. A lovely Melting-Pot.