Westerlo ˈβɛs.tər.lo is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 located in the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 province of Antwerp

Antwerp (province)

Antwerp is the northernmost province both of the Flemish Region, also called Flanders, and of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and East Flanders. Its capital is Antwerp which comprises the Port of Antwerp...

. The municipality comprises seven towns:

- Westerlo centrum (population 3,831)

- Oevel (population 3,454)

- Tongerlo (population 4,679)

- Heultje (population 3,973)

- Voortkapel (population 2,408)

- Oosterwijk (population 2,350)

- Zoerle-Parwijs (population 2,202)

On January 1, 2006 Westerlo had a total population of 22,896. The total area is 55.13 km² which gives a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 415 inhabitants per km².

Places of interest

Tongerlo Abbey

Tongerlo Abbey

Tongerlo Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery at Tongerlo in Westerlo near Antwerp, Belgium.-History:It was founded in 1128 in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Giselbert of Kasterlee, who not only gave the land, but also himself became a lay brother in the new community. The first monks were...

 contains a very old and fine copy of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

's The Last Supper. It is also known as home of the Tongerlo Abbey beer, but this is no longer brewed at the abbey.