  schoten () is a municipality located in the belgian province of antwerp. the municipality only comprises the town of schoten proper. on january 1, 2006 schoten had a total population of 33,160. the total area is  which gives a population density of 1,122 inhabitants per kmÂ². schoten abuts the antwerp districts merksem to the west and deurne to the south west. neighboring municipalities include brasschaat to the north, brecht to the north east, schilde to the east, and wijnegem to the south. ==history== ===early middle ages=== the history and usage of the name schoten may have come from the name given to the wooden dividing walls (schot in dutch) that were driven in the ground to separate private property. the christianization of the area dates from the end of the 7th century, under the influence of abbot ursmarus, of lobbes abbey, which owned property here. in the 12th century, the territory was under the political authority of the lords of breda, then of the lords of bergen-op-zoom. religiously, it was administered by the villers abbey. thumb|left|schoten castle|200px ===16th century until today=== already by the beginning of the 16th century, well-off burghers and merchants from neighboring antwerp built castles in schoten as secondary residences. the local community succeeded, however, in maintaining its rural campine character until well into the 19th century. industry first developed on the border with merksem, later along the albert canal. much of the rest of the townâs territory was kept green and was again used by neighboring antwerp residents for building extensive villas such as koningshof and schotenhof. today about 30% of schotenâs territory still consists of forested areas, a great achievement given its location only  away from the center of antwerp. ==main sights== *the water-encircled schoten castle started as a farm in the 13th century, and is now converted into a local cultural
Municipalities_of_Antwerp_(province) Populated_places_in_Belgium