[5] First mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to Ghent, in present-day Belgium.

Tradition has it that Terneuzen was once the home of the legendary Flying Dutchman, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel The Phantom Ship and the Richard Wagner opera The Flying Dutchman.

The municipality of Terneuzen consists of the following population centres:[6] The Ghent–Terneuzen Canal is still an important shipping route connecting the Port of Ghent.

The largest plant of Dow Chemical Company outside of the United States is located at Terneuzen, on the west side of the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal.

Terneuzen can be reached from the rest of the Netherlands via the Western Scheldt Tunnel, which opened in March 2003.