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Concept
Entrepôt
Summary
An entrepôt (ˈɑːntrəpoʊ; ɑ̃tʁəpo) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into commercial cities due to the growth and expansion of long-distance trade. These places played a critical role in trade during the days of wind-powered shipping. In modern times customs areas have largely made entrepôts obsolete, but the term is still used to refer to duty-free ports with a high volume of re-export trade. Entrepôt also means 'warehouse' in modern French, and is derived from the Latin roots inter 'between' + positum 'position', literally 'that which is placed between'.
Entrepôts had an important role in the early modern period, when mercantile shipping flourished between Europe and its colonial empires in the Americas and Asia. For example, the spice trade to Europe, which necessitated long trade routes, led to a much higher market price than the original buying price. Traders often did not want to travel the whole route, and thus used the entrepôts on the way to sell their goods. This could conceivably lead to more attractive profits for those who were suited to traveling the entire route. The 17th-century Amsterdam Entrepôt is an excellent early modern example.
Examples of specific entrepôts at various periods include:
Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt
Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cap-Vert, Senegal
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
Djibouti City, Djibouti
Port Said, Egypt
Suez, Egypt
Tangier, Morocco
Tin Can Island Port, Nigeria
Zanzibar
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Castries, St. Lucia
Colón, Panama
Fort Orange, (New Netherland), Albany, New York, US
New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Aden, Yemen
Balikpapan, Indonesia
Basra, Iraq
Batavia, Dutch East Indies / Jakarta, modern-day Indonesia
Beirut, Ottoman Empire, modern-day Lebanon
Busan, So
Official source
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