{{Expand Dutch|Tessenderlo|date=September 2022|topic=geo}}
{{Infobox Belgium municipality
|name             = Tessenderlo
|picture          = Tessenderlo train factory.JPG
|picture-legend   = Chemical plant and rail yard in Tessenderlo
|map              = Tessenderlo Limburg Belgium Map.svg
|map-legend       = Location of Tessenderlo in Limburg
|arms             = Blason Tessenderlo.svg
|flag             = Tessenderlo vlag.svg
|region           = {{BE-REG-FLE}}
|community        = {{BE-NL}}
|province         = {{BE-PROV-LI}}
|arrondissement   = [[Arrondissement of Hasselt|Hasselt]]
|nis              = 71057
|pyramid-date=
|0-19=
|20-64=
|65=
|foreigners=
|foreigners-date=
|mayor            = Karolien Eens ([[Vooruit (political party)|Vooruit]]-SPiL)
|majority         = [[Vooruit (political party)|Vooruit]]-SPiL, [[Christian Democratic and Flemish|CD&V]]
|postal-codes     = 3980
|telephone-area   = 013
|web              = [http://www.tessenderlo.be/ www.tessenderlo.be]
|coordinates      = {{coord|51|04|N|05|05|E|region:BE|display=inline,title}}
}}
'''Tessenderlo''' ({{IPA-nl|təˈsɛndərˌloː}}; {{lang-li|Loei}}) is a [[Municipalities of Belgium|municipality]] in the [[Belgium|Belgian]] province of [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]]. It is where the three Belgian provinces of Limburg, [[Flemish Brabant]] and [[Antwerp (province)|Antwerp]] meet at the front gate of the [[Averbode Abbey]]. The municipality Tessenderlo encompasses the villages of Tessenderlo proper, [[Schoot (Tessenderlo)|Schoot]], [[Engsbergen]], [[Hulst, Belgium|Hulst]] and [[Berg (Tessenderlo)|Berg]]. On January 1, 2006, Tessenderlo had a total population of 16,811. The total area is 51.35&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> which gives a [[population density]] of 327 inhabitants per km<sup>2</sup>. The name ''Tessenderlo'' means "''(the open place in) the forest of the [[Toxandri|Taxandrians]]''".

It is along the [[Albert Canal]] and the [[European route E313]], the highway between [[Antwerp]] and [[Liège]], one of the reasons it was the place for the first Belgian "Industrial Zone of National Importance" in the 1960s.

Tessenderlo was the scene of an infamous industrial disaster during World War II, when a stock of 150 tonnes of [[ammonium nitrate]] at the chemical plant of ''Produits Chimiques de Tessenderloo'' (now [[Tessenderlo Group]]) - located near the centre of town - exploded on April 29, 1942, killing 189 people at the plant and in the town.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goeman |first=Thierry |url=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170428_02856646 |title=Vergeten ramp van Tessenderlo kostte 75 jaar geleden aan 190 mensen het leven |language=Dutch |trans-title=Forgotten Tessenderlo disaster 75 years ago killed 190 people |work=[[Het Nieuwsblad]] |publisher=[[Mediahuis]] |date=2017-04-29 |accessdate=2019-02-04 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170429160738/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170428_02856646 |archive-date=2017-04-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Tessenderlo is part of a small western zone of Limburg where the local dialect is not the [[Limburgian dialect]], but [[Brabantic]].

==Notable people==

* [[Kate Ryan]], Belgian singer
* [[Chantal Calin]], Belgian singer
* [[Tia Hellebaut]], Olympic Champion 2008 Highjump
* [[Minus van Looi]], writer

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.tessenderlo.be Official website] {{in lang|nl}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Tessenderlo
|NE = [[Ham, Belgium|Ham]]
|E  = [[Beringen, Belgium|Beringen]]
|S  = [[Diest]] ([[Flemish Brabant|VBR]])
|SW = [[Scherpenheuvel-Zichem]] ([[Flemish Brabant|VBR]])
|NW = [[Laakdal]] ([[Antwerp (province)|VAN]])
}}
{{Municipalities in Limburg}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Municipalities of Limburg (Belgium)]]


{{LimburgBE-geo-stub}}