Editing Moerdijk (section)

=== The village of Moerdijk ===
The village of Moerdijk is one of the smaller villages of the municipality. Population as of 2002 is 1,205. ''Moerdijk'' is however a well-known name in the Netherlands, because of the large Moerdijk industrial area, with a large power plant, and because of the well-known [[Moerdijk bridges]] (highway and railway bridges) across the [[Hollands Diep]]. This was the last bridge available for the retreat from the vital Scheldt Estuary of the rapidly collapsing German defences near Antwerp in World War II. (Noteworthy as well, the Moerdijk bridges were one of the first targets of guided, or "smart bombs"- by American heavy bombers in late 1944.) 

Moerdijk made headlines on 5 January 2011 because of a large fire at Chemie-Pack (a firm processing numerous chemicals) causing a large cloud of toxic smoke to blow over the surrounding area, mostly to the north of Moerdijk.

''Above the Moerdijk'' (meaning "north of Moerdijk") is used as an expression in [[Belgium]] and the southern parts of the Netherlands to mean "in the Netherlands" or "in Holland".

''Below the Moerdijk'' (meaning "south of Moerdijk" or "below the major rivers") is also a Dutch expression for the Catholic provinces North Brabant and Limburg. This expression is used particularly around Mardi Gras in relation to the region's traditional carnival culture, which  (with a few local exceptions) does not exist north of the major rivers.

''Over de Moerdijk'' (meaning "across the Moerdijk") is used by either party to mean the other one.