The Antwerp COR*-database: A unique Flemish source for historical-demographic research Koen Matthijs ⁎ , Sarah Moreels Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Sociological Research, Parkstraat 45 / Post box 3601, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Abstract This note describes the origin, the history, structure and characteristics of a recently constructed Flemish (the Northern, Dutch- speaking part of Belgium) historical-demographic database. The so-called Antwerp COR*-database offers a unique combination of features: it spans nearly seven decades (1846 to 1920) and consists of information drawn from the population registers and the vital registration records (birth, marriage, and death) of the whole district of Antwerp. Every person whose family name starts with the letter combination COR* is selected in the database. The database covers three linked generations and contains micro-data on the individual level (life courses), intermediary data on family patterns, and macro-data on ecological characteristics. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Flemish database; Nineteenth century; Population register; Vital registration records; Intergenerational; Longitudinal; COR*-database 1. Introduction The international community of social historians, historical-demographers and -sociologists is well aware of the many benefits of the high-quality population registration and vital registration data available in the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). Studies in Wallonia by Alter (1988) and Oris (1988) have pioneered a successful synergy between historical and social-scientific research questions and methods. In Flanders, the available sources remained very underused until recently. Since the mid-1990s, the Research Group of the Family and Population (Centre for Sociological Research) of the K.U.Leuven (Belgium) has been building up expertise with respect to the collection and analysis of vital registration data (Matthijs, 2001; Van de Putte, 2005) and data from the population registers (Van Bavel, 2002). This project has been funded by K.U. Leuven and Flanders Research Foundation (FWO- Vlaanderen). 2. Research area and research period The database contains longitudinal and intergenera- tional data at the individual level for the whole district of Antwerp. From a demographical point of view, Antwerp was the logical first choice because it was the fastest growing Belgian city in the 19th century. By 1900, more than 273,000 inhabitants were living in the port city (1800: 56,000; 1846: 88,000), mainly as a result of massive immigration (Kruithof, 1964; Winter, 2009). This demographic dynamic generates our sociological research questions. The process of migration was indeed heterogeneous: some migrants came from the neigh- bouring rural areas, others from just over the Belgium- Available online at www.sciencedirect.com History of the Family 15 (2010) 109 – 115 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: Koen.Matthijs@soc.kuleuven.be (K. Matthijs). 1081-602X/$ - see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.hisfam.2010.01.002