Westland, Netherlands
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Westland_kassen.jpg
Westland (population: 97,270 in 2004) is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It covers an area of 90.59 km² (of which 10.69 km² is covered by water).
It was created on 1 January 2004 by a merger of the municipalities De Lier, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, Naaldwijk and Wateringen. These are also the names of five of the settlements. The others are Heenweg, Honselersdijk, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde. Westland itself is not the name of a settlement. The municipalityhouse will be settled in the middle of Westland, in Naaldwijk, the largest settlement in Westland.
Westland is also the name of an area, which is known for its flowers and vegetables, and in Honselersdijk is the worlds largest company that sales flowers by auction settled, FloraHolland, which has as well a location in Rijnsburg. This is a very important sector for the economy of Westland. Flowers produced in Westland go all over the world.
Beach resorts are Ter Heijde (near Monster), Monster itself and 's-Gravenzande. These resorts are pretty popular by Germans and people from Eastern-Netherlands. Generally every camping in Westland is full in the summer, because Westland is near Scheveningen, but still cheaper.
's-Gravenzande
Westland_s-gravenzande_2.jpg
's-Gravenzande ("des Graven Zande") is a town in the southwest corner of the Westland. It received city rights in 1246. Therefore it is the only city in Westland, however Naaldwijk is larger.
Wider area
In a wider sense the Westland is the area south-west of the line The Hague - Delft - Rotterdam , approximately consisting of the municipalities Westland and Midden-Delfland, as well as Hoek van Holland (mun. Rotterdam).
It is well known for its horticulture in greenhouses.
External link
- site of the municipality Westland in Dutch (http://www.gemeentewestland.nl/)
- Law on merger, in Dutch, with map (http://wetten.overheid.nl/cgi-bin/deeplink/law1/title=Wet%20tot%20gemeentelijke%20herindeling%20van%20het%20Westland)
- map of former municipality Wateringen, in Dutch (http://www.plattegronden.nl/gemeentewateringen/)
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