Municipalities Of The Netherlands
All provinces of the Netherlands are divided into municipalities (gemeenten), together 415 (1 January 2012), excluding the 3 public bodies ("special municipalities") of the Caribbean Netherlands.
Among the municipalities we can distinguish:
- those comprising one main city, town or village with the same name as the municipality, and possibly some additional villages; for example
- Utrecht, comprising the city Utrecht and the former villages De Meern, Haarzuilens, Vleuten (Now part of the city of Utrecht, since 2001).
- those comprising several villages, none with the name of the municipality; in that case the name of the municipality may not be as well-known outside it as the villages; for example:
- Albrandswaard comprising the villages of Poortugaal and Rhoon.
- those with a double name, comprising (mainly) the two towns or villages in the name, for example:
- Pijnacker-Nootdorp, comprising the villages Pijnacker and Nootdorp.
- those comprising a main town and additional villages, yet the municipality is not named after this town; for example:
- Smallingerland with main town Drachten.
- Haarlemmermeer with main town Hoofddorp.
Recent politics have led to a great number of mergers between smaller municipalities or with cities. The most recent merger occurred on 2012-01-01, and further mergers are expected in 2013. The process is set to continue in the future. On 10 October 2010 Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius (the Caribbean Netherlands) became part of the Netherlands per se, each with a status similar to that of a municipality.
All current municipalities of the Netherlands have a different name, except that there are Bergen, North Holland and Bergen, Limburg. A few municipalities in Fryslân have a Frisian name, such as Súdwest Fryslân and Boarnsterhim.
All municipalities are listed in the province articles, see:
- Drenthe, Municipalities
- Flevoland, Municipalities
- Friesland, Municipalities
- Gelderland, Municipalities
- Groningen, Municipalities
- Limburg, Municipalities
- North Brabant, Municipalities
- North Holland, Municipalities
- Overijssel, Municipalities
- South Holland, Municipalities
- Utrecht, Municipalities
- Zeeland, Municipalities
Read more about Municipalities Of The Netherlands: Alphabetic List, Further Subdivisions
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