1.
Coat of arms of Zaanstad
–
The coat of arms of Zaanstad is as such acknowledged since 27 February 1974. The coat of arms was previously that of the area of Westsane en Crommenie. These two areas were on the areas as the municipalities who fused in 1974 to become the municipality of Zaanstad. Only the municipality of Assendelft used a coat of arms who didn’t look like those of the other municipalities, the other municipalities and places did use a coat of arms with four lions in it. In the 17th and 18th century the surrounding the Zaan was very important in the whaling business. For this reason the municipality of Zaanstad uses a coat of arms with two whales as supporters, the blazon is not clear about the species of whales. Therefore, the colors are not clear, the blazon only says and this led to another version of the coat of arms with two black whales as supporters, which is not incorrect in Dutch heraldry since both colours whales exist in real life. This version was published in 1989, in a coat of arms guide for Dutch municipalities issued by the Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten, the municipality has used 3 versions of the coat of arms, between 1974 and 2009 they have uses a stylized version of the official coat of arms. The arabesque was blue, just like the whales, because the coat of arms was not like the official coat of arms more and more resistance came to its use. Since 2009 the municipality uses a coat of arms according to the description as is known at the High Council of Nobility, schildhouders, twee walvissen van natuurlijke kleur, de staarten omhoog. Het geheel geplaatst op een arabesk van sinopel, in English, Quartered, I gules a sinister lion of silver, II in silver a lion of gules, III in silver a sinister lion of gules, IV in gules a lion of silver. Supporters, two whales of natural color, the tails up, all placed on an arabesque of vert. Meaning, the shield is divided in four parts, in the first is standing lion of silver in a red field, the second has a standing red lion in a field of silver, the third is the same as the first, but mirrored. As is the fourth towards the second, all lions on the same levels face on another. The whales are the supporters and hold the shield with their tails
2.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
4.
Provinces of the Netherlands
–
The most populous province is South Holland, with over 3.5 million inhabitants in 2009. With approximately 381,000 inhabitants, Zeeland has the smallest population, in terms of area, Friesland is the largest province with a total area of 5,749 km2. If water is excluded, Gelderland is the largest province in terms of area at 4,972 km2, Utrecht is the smallest at 1,449 km2. In total about 13,000 people were employed by the administrations in 2009. The provinces of the Netherlands are joined in the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands and this organisation promotes the common interests of the provinces in the national government of the Netherlands in The Hague and within the EU in Brussels. The government of each province consists of three parts, The States-Provincial is the provincial parliament elected every four years. The number of members varies between 39 and 55, depending on the number of inhabitants of the province, being a member is a part-time job. The main task of the States-Provincial is to scrutinise the work of the provincial government, the Provincial Executive is a college elected from among the members of the States-Provincial and charged with most executive tasks. Each province has three and seven deputies, each having their own portfolio. The task of the Provincial Executive is the management of the province. The Kings Commissioner is a person appointed by the Crown who presides over the States-Provincial as well as over the Provincial Executive. The Commissioner is appointed for a term of six years, after which reappointment for another term is possible, the members of the States-Provincial are elected every four years in direct elections. To a large extent, the political parties are enlisted in these elections in the national elections. The chosen provincial legislators elect the members of the national Senate within three months after the provincial elections, the elections for the water boards take place on the same date as the provincial elections. The last three elections were held in 2007,2011 and in 2015. The provinces of the Netherlands have 7 core tasks, Sustainable spatial development, also, provinces have income from a part of the Vehicle Excise Duty. Several provinces have made a profit in the past from privatising utility companies originally owned or partly owned by the provinces. An example is Essent, which was owned by six provinces
5.
North Holland
–
North Holland is a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. It is situated on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, in 2015, it had a population of 2,762,163 and a total area of 2,670 km2. From the 9th to the 16th century, the area was a part of the County of Holland. During this period West Friesland was incorporated, in the 17th and 18th century, the area was part of the province of Holland. At that time, the distinction between the Noorderkwartier and the Zuiderkwartier became common, in 1840, the province of Holland was split into the two provinces of North Holland and South Holland. In 1855, the Haarlemmermeer was drained and turned into land, the capital and seat of the provincial government is Haarlem, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands capital city, is the provinces largest city. The Kings Commissioner of North Holland is Johan Remkes, there are 51 municipalities and three water boards in the province. For most of its history, the province of North Holland was an integral part of Holland. From the 9th century to the 16th century, Holland was a county ruled by the counts of Holland, during this period an area known as West Friesland was conquered and integrated into Holland. For centuries afterwards Holland would be officially called Holland and West Friesland, the people of West Friesland had a strong sense of identity as a region within Holland. From the 16th century to 1795, Holland was the wealthiest and most important province in the United Provinces in the Dutch Republic, as the richest and most powerful province, Holland dominated the union. During this period a distinction was made between the North Quarter and the South Quarter, areas that roughly correspond to the two modern provinces. The province of North Holland as it is today has its origins in the period of French rule from 1795 to 1813 and this was a time of bewildering changes to the Dutch system of provinces. In 1795 the old order was swept away and the Batavian Republic was established, in the Constitution enacted on 23 April 1798, the old borders were radically changed. The republic was reorganised into eight departments with roughly equal populations, Holland was split up into five departments named Texel, Amstel, Delf, Schelde en Maas, and Rijn. The first three of these lay within the borders of the old Holland, the two were made up of parts of different provinces. In 1801 the old borders were restored when the department of Holland was created and this reorganisation had been short-lived, but it gave birth to the concept of breaking up Holland and making it a less powerful province. This time the two departments were called Amstelland and Maasland and this also did not last long
6.
Municipal council (Netherlands)
–
In the Netherlands the municipal council is the elected assembly of the municipality. Its main role is laying down the guidelines for the policy of the council of mayor and aldermen and exercising control over its execution by the council of mayor and aldermen. The municipal councils range in size from nine to 45 seats, depending on the municipalitys population, in many municipalities all major political parties contest in the election in addition to local parties. All citizens and foreigners who live in the Netherlands for at least four years in a municipality have the right to vote, ministers and state secretaries in the national government are barred from standing in elections as well as mayors and civil servants employed by the municipality. After the elections the parties in the elect the aldermen. The municipal council is supported by its own civil service headed by the raadsgriffier, members of the council are not paid as full-time politicians, instead, most of them have day job. As in most legislatures, the members of municipal council work in political groups and policy area related committees. The mayor chairs the meetings of the council, some municipalities allow parties to have dual councillors, politicians who are not elected into the city council but are allowed to speak in committees
7.
Burgemeester
–
In the Netherlands and Belgium, the mayor is an appointed government position, whose main responsibility is chairing the executive and legislative councils of a municipality. The title is translated in English as burgomaster. In the Netherlands, mayors chair both the council of mayor and aldermen and the municipal council and they are members of the council of mayor and aldermen and have their own portfolios, always including safety and public order. They also have a role for the municipal government, both to its civilians and to other authorities on the local, regional and national level. A large majority of mayors are members of a political party and this can be the majority party in the municipal council, but there are many exceptions on this. However, the mayors are expected to exercise their office in a non-partisan way, the mayor is appointed by the national government for a renewable six-year term. In the past, mayors for important cities were chosen after negotiations between the national parties. This appointment procedure has been criticised because it was seen by some as undemocratic, especially the party D66 had a direct election of the mayor as one of the main objectives in its platform. In the early 2000s, proposals for change were discussed in the national parliament, however, opponents of the status quo were divided between two alternatives, direct election of the mayor by the people or appointment by the municipal council. A constitutional change to direct election gained a majority in both chambers but failed to pass the vote in the Senate in March 2005. In the meantime, although the law remained the same, the practice changed, nowadays, when a vacancy occurs, a special committee of the municipal council interviews candidates, which are pre-selected by the provincial governor. After advice by the committee, the council express its preferences to the Minister of the Interior, who almost always follows this recommendation
8.
Labour Party (Netherlands)
–
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League, Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees, Joop den Uyl, and Wim Kok. Since 2012, the PvdA is the partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the Peoples Party for Freedom. Since 2016, Lodewijk Asscher has been Leader of the Labour Party, the party won 9 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2017 general election. The Labour Party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists, in the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has 3 seats, it is part of the parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. They were joined by individuals from Catholic resistance group Christofoor and the Protestant parties Christian Historical Union, the founders of the PvdA wanted to create a broad party, breaking with the historic tradition of Pillarisation. This desire to come to a new system was called the Doorbraak. The party combined socialists with liberal democrats and progressive Christians, however, the party was unable to break Pillarisation. Instead the new party renewed the ties that SDAP had with other socialist organisations. In 1948 some conservative members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud, together with the Freedom Party, they formed the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, a conservative-liberal party. Between 1946 and 1958, the PvdA formed coalition governments with the Catholic Peoples Party, the KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Since 1948, these cabinets were led by PvdA Prime Minister Willem Drees, under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war, began to build its welfare state and Indonesia became independent. After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD, the PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline, in 1965 a conflict in the KVP-ARP-CHU-VVD cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three confessional, Christian-influenced parties turned towards the PvdA, together they formed the Cals cabinet. This cabinet was also lived and conflict ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over economic policy, meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves the New Left, prominent New Left members were Jan Nagel, André van der Louw and Bram Peper
9.
Daylight saving time
–
Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
10.
Central European Summer Time
–
It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
11.
Amsterdam
–
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
12.
Zaandam
–
Zaandam is a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the city of the municipality of Zaanstad. It is located on the Zaan, nearby the North Sea Canal, the statistical district Zaandam, which covers the city and the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 72,597. Zaandam was a municipality until 1974, when it became a part of the new municipality of Zaanstad. Zaandam and the surrounding Zaan River region, called the Zaanstreek, in the Dutch Golden Age, Zaandam served as a large milling centre. Thousands of windmills powered saws that were processing Scandinavian wood for the shipbuilding, a statue was commissioned from the Bosnian Serb sculptor Slavomir Miletić in honour of this era, and the statue, “The Woodworker”, was installed on 20 June 2004. Zaandam was a city in the first Industrial Revolution. Into the second half of the 20th century, Zaandam was still an important lumber port, Zaandam is also historically linked with the whaling industry. In 1697, the czar Peter I of Russia spent some time in Zaandam, the house he stayed in has been preserved as a small museum, the Czar Peter House. In 1871, the impressionist painter Claude Monet lived in Zaandam for approximately half a year, during that time, he made 25 paintings of the area, including Bateaux en Hollande pres de Zaandam and A windmill at Zaandam. The first European McDonalds restaurant opened in Zaandam in 1971, football club AZ was founded in Zaandam on May 10,1967. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Zaandam, map of the former municipality, around 1868
13.
Conurbation
–
In most cases, a conurbation is a polycentric urbanised area, in which transportation has developed to link areas to create a single urban labour market or travel to work area. The term conurbation was coined in 1915 by Patrick Geddes in his book Cities In Evolution, the term as described is used in Britain, whereas the term in the United States is most closely equivalent to metropolitan area as used by the Census Bureau. It may consist of a city and its suburbs. A conurbation should also be contrasted with a megalopolis, where the areas are close but not physically contiguous. The cities and towns of Port Louis, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Curepipe, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix and other urbanized villages form a large, a large part of this conurbation is located in the district of Plaines Wilhems. This network of urban areas has a population of 530,920 as of 2011. Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane are currently merging to form a region that comprises a population of 14.6 million people, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region consists of Mumbai and its satellite towns. Developing over a period of about 20 years, it consists of seven municipal corporations, the region has an area of 4,355 km² and with a population of 20,998,395, and is among the top ten most populated urban agglomerations in the world. It is linked together through the Mumbai Suburban Railway system and a network of roads. The population of the NCR region is 21.7 million, Dhaka has recently been linked with Narayanganj and Gazipur city such that there are no gaps between Dhaka and those two cities. The Klang Valley conurbation in the state of Selangor is composed of, Kuala Lumpur, the second largest conurbation by population in Malaysia is Greater Penang. Centred in George Town, the city of the state of Penang, the conurbation also includes the following towns in Penang. Lahore–Raiwind–Kala Shah Kaku, the second largest city in Pakistan with its towns of Kala Shah Kaku. Metro Manila, Philippines Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Region, comprising Ho Chi Minh City, Bình Dương, Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Tây Ninh, and Tân An. Hanoi Metropolitan Region, comprising Hanoi, Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên, Vĩnh Phúc, and Việt Trì. Qui Nhơn-Nha Trang-Da Lat Conurbation Belt, comprising Qui Nhơn, An Nhơn, Sông Cầu, Tuy Hòa, Vân Phong Bay, Ninh Hòa, Nha Trang, Dien Khánh, Cam Lâm, Cam Ranh, Trường Sa, Phan Rang, and Da Lat. Huế-Da Nang-Quảng Ngãi Conurbation Belt, comprising Huế, Hương Tra, Hương Thủy, Lăng Cô, Da Nang, Hòa Vang, Hoàng Sa, Hội An, Tam Kỳ, Chu Lai, Dung Quất, Sơn Tịnh and this area is colloquially known as the Area Metropolitana. The Flemish Diamond is the Flemish reference to a network of four areas in Belgium
14.
Metropolitan area
–
As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
15.
Assendelft
–
Assendelft is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, Assendelft was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was formed. It is part of the Amsterdam Agglomeration, the North Sea Canal connects Assendelft with Amsterdam and Velsen, and it lies about 13 km northeast of Haarlem and about 15 km south of Alkmaar. The statistical district Assendelft, which covers the village and the countryside, has a population of around 22,500. Assendelft is one of the oldest settlements in Noord-Holland, with signs of settlement dating from as early as 500BC, the earliest written form of the name appears as Ascmannedilf in 1063. The name is derived from the old Germanic word for Norsemen, dilf most likely meaning dug by. The town is served by Krommenie-Assendelft railway station, from here, there are four trains an hour to Amsterdam, with a journey time of 25 minutes. Known is the chicken breed, called Assendelfter. It is an ancient pencilled breed, related to the pencilled Hamburg chicken, J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Assendelft. Map of the municipality, around 1868
16.
Koog aan de Zaan
–
Koog aan de Zaan is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 11 km northwest of Amsterdam, Koog aan de Zaan was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was created. Koog aan de Zaan has a population of around 11770, a8ernA, an urban renewal project for the space under the A8 motorway as it passes through Koog aan de Zaan, was a joint winner of the 2006 European Prize for Urban Public Space. There are two stations within the borders of Koog aan de Zaan. These are, Koog aan de Zaan railway station, which serves Koog aan de Zaan itself, Zaandijk Zaanse Schans railway station, which mainly serves Zaandijk and the Zaanse Schans, an open-air museum nearby in Zaandijk. Zaandam railway station is the nearest main station, for Purmerend, Hoorn and Enkhuizen use Zaandam Kogerveld railway station. J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Koog aan de Zaan, map of the former municipality, around 1868
17.
Krommenie
–
Krommenie is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 15 km northeast of Haarlem, Krommenie was a separate municipality until 1974, when the new municipality of Zaanstad was created. The statistical district Krommenie, which covers the village and the countryside, has a population of around 17,410. Krommenie is the first city in the world to have a solar bikepath, the path, over 70 meters long, is to test engineering feasibility. The town is served by Krommenie-Assendelft railway station, from here there are 4 trains an hour to Amsterdam in one direction and Uitgeest – Alkmaar in the other, with a journey time of 25 minutes. SolaRoad Smart highways J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, map of the former municipality, around 1868
18.
Westzaan
–
Westzaan is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 13 km northeast of Haarlem, Westzaan was a separate municipality until 1974, when it became a part of Zaanstad. In 2001, the town of Westzaan had 2130 inhabitants, the built-up area of the town was 0.34 km², and contained 834 residences. The statistical district Westzaan, which covers the village and the countryside, has a population of around 4580. Westzaan has the wind powered paper mill in the world. J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Westzaan, map of the former municipality, around 1868
19.
Wormerveer
–
Wormerveer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 13 km northwest of Amsterdam, Wormerveer has a population of around 11,225. Wormerveer was a municipality until 1974, when it became a part of the new municipality of Zaanstad. Railway station Wormerveer There are 4 trains per hour from Monday to Friday to Amsterdam,2 trains per hour operate on Saturdays and Sundays. Herman Gorter Gerrit Mannoury Hamlet Oddsocks prominent LTO member Piet-Hein Out Dutch circus photographer J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, map of the former municipality, around 1868
20.
Zaandijk
–
Zaandijk is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 11 km northwest of Amsterdam, Zaandijk has a population of around 9040. The first citizens of Zaandijk were members of the family of Hendrik Pietersz who moved into de Lage dijk in the year 1494, de Lagedijk still exists in Zaandijk. In 1570 the town consisted of 19 houses and these dwellings were burned by the Spaniards in 1572, during the Eighty Years War. The town began to prosper and grow following the return of the populace, Zaandijk was a separate municipality until 1974, when it became a part of the new municipality Zaanstad. J. Kuyper, Gemeente Atlas van Nederland, 1865-1870, Zaandijk, map of the former municipality, around 1868
21.
Zaan
–
The Zaan is a small river in the province of North Holland in the northwestern Netherlands and the name of a district through which it runs. The municipality of Zaanstad and several towns along the Zaan are named for the river, Koog aan de Zaan, Westzaan, Oostzaan, Zaandijk, the river also runs past the Zaanse Schans, a village with historic windmills and houses. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands, the region through which the river runs is called the Zaan district. It comprises the current municipalities of Zaanstad, Oostzaan, and most of Wormerland, during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, the Zaan district was dotted with windmills with a variety of functions and it is often considered to be one of the worlds first industrialized areas. By the mid-17th century, approximately 900 windmills could be found along the river, some of them still preserved, the Zaan district continues to be a heavily industrialized area with many factories, particularly around the city of Zaandam. A number of major Dutch companies, like Ahold and Verkade, were founded in the Zaan district, the dialect spoken in the Zaan area is known as Zaans. It has some similarities with the West Frisian dialect, monet returned to the Zaan district to paint during visits to the Netherlands in following years. The name of the Alkmaar-based football club AZ is short for Alkmaar Zaanstreek
22.
Krommenie-Assendelft railway station
–
Krommenie-Assendelft is a railway station in Krommenie and also for Assendelft in the Netherlands. The station lies on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway, and was opened on 1 November 1869, the station had a goods yard, but no longer does. The station had remained unchanged since 1975 until 2006, the station began being moved in 2006, further west, closer to the Saendelft estate. This new station opened on 14 December 2008,6369414 Buurtbus service N61 Niteliner service N63 Niteliner service NS website Dutch Public Transport journey planner Connexxion website
23.
Wormerveer railway station
–
Wormerveer is a railway station in Wormerveer, Netherlands. The station was opened on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway on 1 November 1869, the station is on the southern edge of the town, approx. 200m south of the river Zaan, behind the station are many fields of marshes and reeds, As well as a local Football club and Paintball area. The train services are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen
24.
Zaandam railway station
–
Zaandam is the main railway station of Zaandam, near Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is at the junction of the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway and the Zaandam–Enkhuizen railway, the first station was opened in Zaandam on 1 November 1869. This was a station of the type SS Hoogezand and this building had a large middle section, with a ticket office, with the passageways to the platforms. At this middle piece were the 2 lower portions of the building, the facade had a big clock, there was also a freestanding building next to the station. In 1983 the Hemtunnel opened, this closing the Hembrug, the station was completely rebuilt, with the distinctive red roof. The station has 2 island platforms at ground level, in 1996 a south entrance was also opened. There were also a few shops and a tunnel to a shopping centre in the town centre. In 2007 the shops and tunnel were demolished, the restaurant closed, however the florist remains open. At the end of 2007 a Kiosk shop was opened, where snacks, in 2008 the station received a ticket hall for national and international tickets. The bus station closed in 2007, and moved about 500m west of the main entrance. A new City Hall is currently being built on the bus station. In December 2008, plans for opening an AH to Go were terminated
25.
Zaandam Kogerveld railway station
–
Zaandam Kogerveld is a railway station located in Zaandam, Netherlands. The station opened in 1989 on the Zaandam–Enkhuizen railway, the station is 2 km north of Zaandam railway station, and is in the Kogerveld estate. This station is a station of Zaandam. Other estates nearby are Hoornseveld and t Kalf, residents from Koog aan de Zaan also use this station for Purmerend and Hoorn. The following services call at Zaandam Kogerveld. 2x per hour local service Hoofddorp - Zaandam - Hoorn Kersenboogerd 6364391395 N62
26.
Zaandijk Zaanse Schans railway station
–
Zaandijk Zaanse Schans is a railway station in Koog aan de Zaan and Zaandijk, Netherlands. This is the closest railway station to Zaanse Schans, the station opened on 1 November 1869 and is on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway between Zaandam and Uitgeest. In 1976, when the old platform was demolished, the station gained partial roof with a tickets. From 1980, automated ticket machines made their rise on stations, following the closure of the stations kiosk, it was left with minimal care and no facilities and was in need of modernisation and renovation. The station finished renovations in 2016, making it accessible for people with disabilities. Three elevators have been installed, as well as toilets and special slopes to get in. The waiting room has been redone, is heated and contains a minor food, train tickets are only available from ticket machines on the platform. Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station, being on the border of the two towns Zaandijk and Koog aan de Zaan and bordering 4 neighbourhoods has shared the name since opening. Following renovations, local councilman Addy Verschuren stated the station should be renamed from Koog Zaandijk to fit the local tourist-attraction Zaanse Schans, suggesting the name Zaandijk Zaanse Schans, to give visitors a better understanding on where to get off. The name change has been approved, and on 11 December 2016 the name was changed, the following train services call at Zaandijk Zaanse Schans, 4x per hour local service Uitgeest - Amsterdam - Woerden - Rotterdam. 4x per hour local service Uitgeest - Amsterdam, the station also has a Bus-stop,3 Services make their stop here. During rail-disruptions, NS may run buses from these stops, NS website Dutch Public Transport journey planner Timetable train services Zaandijk Zaanse Schans
27.
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
–
The Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, supports private enterprise, Mark Rutte has been the partys leader since 31 May 2006 and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010. Therefore, an election was held in September 2012. The VVD remained the largest party, with 41 seats, from November 2012 until March 2017, the VVD was the senior partner in the Second Rutte cabinet, a purple coalition government with the Labour Party. The VVD was founded in 1948 as a continuation of the Freedom Party, which was a continuation of the interbellum Liberal State Party and they were joined by the Comité-Oud, a group of liberal members of the Labour Party, led by Pieter Oud. The liberals within the Labour Party were primarily members of the pre-war social-liberal Free-thinking Democratic League and they were unhappy with the social-democratic orientation of the Labour Party. Between 1948 and 1952 the VVD took part in the cabinets led by the Labour Party Prime Minister Willem Drees. The party was a partner with only eight seats to the Catholic Peoples Party and Labour Party. The partys leadership was in the hands of the respected former Labour Party member Oud, the Drees cabinet laid the foundation for the welfare state and decolonization of the Dutch East Indies. In the Dutch general election of 1952 the VVD gained one seat and this time they gained nineteen seats and the party entered government alongside the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party, Christian Historical Union CHU and the Roman Catholic KVP. In 1963, Oud left politics, and was succeeded by the minister of Home Affairs Edzo Toxopeus, with the lead of Toxopeus VVD lost three seats in the 1963 elections, but remained in government. In 1966, frustrated with their hopeless efforts, LDC-members departed the VVD altogether, in 1965, there also occurred a conflict between VVD-ministers and their counterparts from KVP and ARP in Cabinet Marijnen. The cabinet fell and without elections it was replaced by the KVP-ARP-Labour Party cabinet under Cals, in the following 1967 elections the VVD remained relatively stable and entered yet again the cabinet under Prime Minister Piet de Jong. During this period the VVD had loose ties with other liberal organisations and this included the liberal papers Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and the Algemeen Handelsblad, the broadcaster AVRO and the employers organisation VNO. In the Dutch general election of 1971 the VVD lost one seat, a cabinet was formed by the Christian-democratic parties, the VVD and the Labour Party offshoot Democratic Socialists 70. This cabinet fell after a few months, meanwhile, the charismatic young MP Hans Wiegel had attracted considerable attention. He became the new leader of the VVD, in 1971 he became the new Parliamentary group leader, with Wiegel the VVD oriented towards a new political course, reforming the welfare state, cutting taxes etc. Wiegel did not shrink from conflict with the Labour Party and the trade unions, with this new course came a new electorate, working class and middle-class voters, who because of individualization and depillarization were more easy to attract
28.
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
–
The Socialist Party is a left-wing, social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150. In the 2010 general election the party obtained 15 seats, in the 2012 general election they maintained those 15 seats. The party is in opposition since it was formed, the Socialist Party was founded in October 1971 as a Maoist party named the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist. This KPN/ML was formed following a split from the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands, the issue that provoked the split from KEN was an intense debate on the role of intellectuals in the class struggle. The founders of KPN/ML, with Daan Monjé in a prominent role, belonged to the Proletarian wing of the KEN, in 1972 KPN/ML changed its name to Socialistiese Partij. The SP started to build a network of local parties, with local roots. The SP had its own General Practitioners offices, provided advice to citizens and this developed within front organisations, for instance separate trade unions, environmental organizations and tenant associations. This work resulted in a representation in several municipal legislatures. Also in some States-Provincial the SP gained a foothhold, especially in the province of North Brabant, since 1977 SP attempted to enter the House of Representatives. The party failed in 1977,1981,1982,1986 and 1989, in 1991, the party officially scrapped the term Marxism–Leninism, because the party had evolved to the point that the term was no longer considered appropriate. In 1994 general election the partys first members of parliament, Remi Poppe, in the 1990s, the major party of the Dutch left, the Labour Party, moved to the centre, thus making the SP and GreenLeft viable alternatives for some left-wing voters. In the 1998 general election, the party was rewarded for its opposition to the Purple government of the first Kok cabinet, in the 1999 European elections, Erik Meijer was elected into the European Parliament for the SP. In the 2002 general election the SP ran with the slogan was Vote in Favor, the party nearly doubled to nine seats. This result was kept in the 2003 general election, leading up to the 2003 elections, the SP was predicted to win as many as 24 seats in the polls. These gains failed to materialise however, as many potential SP voters chose to cast strategic votes for the Labour Party, in the 2004 European elections its one seat was doubled to two. In the 2005 referendum on the European Constitution, the SP was the only left-wing party in parliament to oppose it, support for the party grew in opinion polls but fell slightly after the referendum. The municipal elections of 2006 were a success for the SP, in a reaction to these results, Marijnissen declared on election night that the SP has grown up
29.
GroenLinks
–
GroenLinks is a Dutch political party of green progressive bent. After disappointing results in the 1989 and 1994 general elections, the nascent party fared well in the elections that took place between 1994 and 2002. GroenLinks describes itself as green, social and tolerant, the party is represented by 14 seats in the House, five in the Senate and two in the European Parliament. The last party leader, and chair of the party in the House of Representatives, was Jolande Sap. The party is in opposition against the governing Rutte cabinet, the party has over 100 local councillors and it participates in the government of sixteen of the twenty largest municipalities in the Netherlands. The partys voters are concentrated in cities, especially those with a university. The party has 21,901 members which are organised in over 250 municipal branches, the party congress is open to all members. It is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party, the partys number of seats fell from 10 to 4 seats in the 2012 election, before increasing to 14 in the 2017 election. GreenLeft was founded in 1989 as merger of four parties that were to the left of the Labour Party and these four parties were frequently classified as small left, to indicate their marginal existence. In the 1972 general election these parties won sixteen seats, in the 1977 general election won only six. From that moment on, members and voters began to argue for close cooperation, from the 1980s onwards the four parties started to cooperate in municipal and provincial elections. As fewer seats are available in these representations a higher percentage of votes is required to gain a seat, in 1984 European election the PPR, CPN and PSP formed the Green Progressive Accord that entered as one into the European elections. They gained one seat, which rotated between the PSP and PPR, party-members of the four parties also encountered each other in grassroots extraparliamentary protest against nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. During its period in parliament 1982–1986 it had trouble positioning itself between the left parties, the PvdA and the CDA. The increasingly close cooperation between PPR, PSP, CPN and EVP, and the change that accompanied it was not without internal dissent within the parties. The ideological change that CPN made from official communism to reformism led to a split in the CPN, in 1983, a group of deep Greens split from the PPR, to found The Greens. The CPN and the PPR wanted to form an alliance with the PSP for the 1986 elections. This led to a crisis within the PSP, in which chair of the parliamentary party Fred van der Spek, who opposed cooperation, was replaced by Andrée van Es, Van der Spek left the PSP to found his own Party for Socialism and Disarmament
30.
Democrats 66
–
Democrats 66 is a social-liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned young intellectuals, the partys main objective was to democratise the political system, it proposed to create an American-style presidential system. In the 1967 general election, the party won 7 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the electoral history of the party is characterised by large fluctuations. At one point they had 24 seats, currently they have 19, the party was in government from 1973 to 1977,1981 to 1982,1994 to 2002 and 2003 to 2006. Over time the party began to other issues in addition to democratic reform. In addition to its nineteen seats in the House of Representatives, it holds ten in the Senate, the party leader and Parliamentary leader is Alexander Pechtold. The party has a number of elected local and provincial politicians and supplies a relatively large proportion of mayors. The partys voters are concentrated in cities, especially among people who hold a university degree. The organisation of D66 is based on principles of direct democracy, important decisions are made per referendum. D66 is a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals, Democrats 66 was founded on 14 October 1966 by 44 people. Its founders were described as homines novi, although 25 of the 44 had previously been members of a political party, the initiators were Hans van Mierlo, a journalist for the Algemeen Handelsblad and Hans Gruijters, a municipal councillor in Amsterdam. Van Mierlo became the political leader and Gruijters the partys chair. The foundation of the party was preceded by the Appeal 1966 on October 10, the party renounced the 19th-century political ideologies, which dominated the political system and wanted to end pillarisation. It called for democratisation of the Dutch society and its political system. The party entered in the 1967 general election with Hans van Mierlo as their top candidate, the party won an unprecedented seven seats in parliament. In the 1971 general election the party won an additional four seats and it formed a Shadow Cabinet with the Labour Party, in the 1972 general election, the three parties formed a political alliance called the Progressive Accord and presented a common electoral program. In the elections D66 lost nearly half its seats, leaving only six, the alliance became the largest political force in the country, but it did not gain a majority. After long cabinet formation talks the three PAK-parties formed an extra-parliamentary cabinet joined by members of the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party
31.
Christian Democratic Appeal
–
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Sybrand van Haersma Buma has been the party leader since 18 May 2012, the party suffered severe losses in the 2010 general election, losing half of its seats and falling to fourth place in the House of Representatives. Subsequently, the CDA again lost a number of seats in the 2012 general election. Since 1880 the sizeable Catholic and Protestant parties had worked together in the so-called Coalitie and they shared a common interest in public funding of religious schools. In 1888 they formed the first Christian-democratic government, led by the Anti-Revolutionary Æneas Baron Mackay, the cooperation was not without problems and in 1894 the more anti-papist and aristocratic conservatives left the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party, to found the Christian Historical Union. The main issues dividing Protestants and Catholics was the position of the Dutch Representation at the Holy See, the General League evolved into the Roman Catholic State Party by 1926, and the Catholic Peoples Party in 1945. From 1918 to 1967, the three Christian Democratic parties had a majority in both houses of the States General, and at least two of them were included in every cabinet, the KVP and its antecedents had been in government without interruption since 1918. In the sixties, the Dutch society became more secularized and the pillars faded, in 1963 general election the three parties held 51% of the vote, whilst in 1972 general election they held only 32%. This decline forced the three parties to work closer together, in 1967 the Group of Eighteen was formed, it was a think-tank of six prominent politicians per party that planned the future cooperation of the three parties. In 1968 the three leaders of the parties (Norbert Schmelzer, Barend Biesheuvel and Jur Mellema made a public appearance. This caused progressive forces within the three parties, especially the ARP and KVP, to regret their political affiliation, in 1968 they founded the Political Party of Radicals, a left-wing party that sought cooperation with the Labour Party. Locally and provincially however the three parties had long cooperated well, in areas they formed one Christian-democratic parliamentary party. In the 1971 general election, the three presented a common political program, which lay the foundation for the first Biesheuvel cabinet. After the disastrous elections of 1972 the cooperation was given new momentum, in 1973 this federation was officially formed, with Steenkamp as chairperson. The cooperation was frustrated by the formation of the Den Uyl cabinet, established by the leader of the social-democratic PvdA, Den Uyl refused to allow members of the CHU in the cabinet that he would lead. This led to a situation where the CHU, ARP and KVP sat as a faction in both houses of parliament, but only the KVP and ARP supplied ministers and junior ministers. The cabinet Den Uyl was riddled with political and personal conflicts, another issue that split the three parties was the place that the Bible would take in the new party. In 1976, the three announced that they would field a single list at the 1977 general election under the name Christian Democratic Appeal
32.
Christian Union (Netherlands)
–
The Christian Union, abbreviated to CU, is a Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party self-describes itself as social Christian, founded in 2000 as a merger of the Reformed Political Alliance and Reformatory Political Federation, the Christian Union has five seats in the House of Representatives and four in the Senate. After doubling its seats in the 2006 elections it became the smallest member of the fourth Balkenende cabinet, in some elections, it forms an alliance with the Calvinist Reformed Political Party, which, unlike the CU, is a testimonial party. The party seeks for government to uphold Christian morality, but supports freedom of religion under the doctrine of sphere sovereignty, the party is moderately Eurosceptic, it sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament. It is a member of the European Christian Political Movement, the Netherlands has a long tradition of small orthodox or conservative Protestant parties in parliament. The SGP did survive the war years, but the HGS was unable to obtain seats in the 1946 elections, in the 1981 election, the Reformatory Political Federation entered parliament. It had split from the ARP six years earlier over the formation of the Christian Democratic Appeal, the RPF explicitly stated in its manifesto of principles that it sought to unite all reformed parties in the Netherlands. However, the GPV and SGP were somewhat less receptive, the SGP had rejected cooperation with these parties because they had female members, the SGP consistently rejected female suffrage until 2006. The RPF, GPV and SGP were testimonial parties, which chose to voice their concerns about government policy, in 1984 however the three parties cooperated in the European elections and presented a common list in order to enter the European Parliament. In the 1989 general election they formed an alliance in order to enhance their chances of obtaining seats. In 1995 informal talks were opened between the three parties, the GPV had opened itself to non-liberated members, but the SGP not to women. The discussions with the SGP were broken off and the GPV, from 1998 the two parliamentary parties cooperated with each other, held common meetings and appointed common spokespersons. In 1999 a group called Transformatie was set up by people from both parties in reaction to the slow cooperation process, they tried to intensify the debate about cooperation. In the same year the cooperation talks were formalized and intensified, the Christian Union was founded in January 2000 as an alliance between the RPF and GPV. In 2000 their youth organizations, GPJC and RPFJ, fused completely, in 2001 they formed a common parliamentary party in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In 2002 the alliance entered the elections for the first time, the party got four seats - one seat less than the 1998 election when they campaigned separately. It had polled better, with some polling stations predicting seven or eight seats. The partys leader Kars Veling stepped down and he had been good at keeping the peace internally in a party still somewhat divided along the old GPV and RPF blood lines, but had not appealed well enough to the population at large
33.
Zaanse Schans
–
Zaanse Schans is a neighbourhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk in the Netherlands. It has a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses, from 1961 to 1974 old buildings from all over the Zaanstreek were relocated using lowboy trailers to the area. The Zaans Museum, established in 1994, is located in the Zaanse Schans, the Zaanse Schans is one of the popular tourist attractions of the Netherlands and an anchor point of ERIH, the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The neighbourhood attracted approximately 1.6 million visitors in 2014, the Zaans Museum locates next to the Zaanse Schans. The Zaanse Schans houses seven museums, The Weavers House, the Cooperage, the Zaanse Schans derived its name of the river Zaan and its original function as sconce against the Spanish troops during the Eighty Years War of Dutch independence. The windmills were built after 1574, official website Zaanse Schans Cycle Route
34.
Czar Peter House (Netherlands)
–
The Czar Peter House is a historical building in Zaandam, the Netherlands. It is best known as the place where Czar Peter I of Russia resided in 1697 during his Grand Embassy, the building was constructed in 1632. Peter had met the Zaandam blacksmith and craftsman Gerrit Kist when Kist had worked for the czar in Moscow. Upon visiting the Zaanstreek, Peter insisted on staying with Kist in his home, despite Kists protests that his house was a mere hovel, the widow was paid to move out, and Peter spent a week as Kists houseguest. The czar was traveling incognito under the name Peter Michaeloff and while Kist did not reveal his guests identity it did not take long for Peter to be recognized, making his observations difficult. Peter wanted to more about the Dutch shipbuilding industry, and with this knowledge begin a period of modernization. At this time, the Dutch Republic was one of the most developed countries in the world, although he remained at the house only a short time, he would return a number of times, the last in 1717. In 1895, a new cover was built over the house to protect it. The cover was added to the list of monuments in 2001, meaning that the Czar Peter House is actually on the list twice, once for the original building. The house is part of the Zaans Museum and can be visited, Czar Peter House on the website of the Zaans Museum Media related to Tsaar Peterhuisje at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Ali B
–
Ali Bouali, stage name Ali B, is a Dutch rapper of Moroccan descent. He is one of the most well known rappers in the Netherlands and he has performed together with Akon, in 2007 he made an Arab Remix of Akons song Ghetto. In 2011, he became host of a Dutch television series Ali B op volle toeren, three seasons of the show have been broadcast on TROS television station. The show invites artists of various genres and tries to offer crossover hits of known songs through remakes and cover versions. Since 2013, Ali B has served as a coach on The Voice of Holland, replacing Roel van Velzen and served as a coach on The Voice Kids and he is seen as a prominent figure in Dutch inter-ethnic relations. He is married to Breghje Kommers, the half-sister of professional footballer Abel Tamata, official website Ali B on 3voor12. vpro. nl biography on popinstituut. nl Ali B discography at MusicBrainz
36.
Han Bennink
–
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing clarinet, violin, banjo, han is a brother of saxophonist Peter Bennink. Bennink was born in Zaandam, the son of a classical percussionist and he played the drums and the clarinet during his teens. Through the 1960s he drummed with a number of American musicians visiting the Netherlands, including Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Rollins and he subsequently became a central figure in the emerging European free improvisation scene. From the late 1960s he played in a trio with saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, through much of the 1990s he played in Clusone 3, a trio with saxophonist/clarinetist Michael Moore and cellist Ernst Reijseger. He has often played duos with Mengelberg and collaborated with him alongside other musicians, in 1983 he collaborated with boogie-woogie pianist and vocalist Little Willie Littlefield for his album Im in the Mood. He makes frequent use of birdcalls and whatever else strikes his fancy
37.
Hanneke Ippisch
–
Hanneke Eikema was a Dutch woman who, during World War II, helped ferry Jewish children to safety and assisted in the financial logistics of the Dutch resistance. Eikema was born in Benningbroek and grew up in Zaandam, the daughter of a Protestant minister who was involved with the resistance. After she saw one of her classmates and her family get arrested and deported, she began ferrying Jewish children to safety in Friesland and she was interrogated in the prison on the Amstelveenseweg, by Emil Rühl. Van Hall was executed a few later, but Eikema survived the war. Eikema moved to Sweden, and married Fiddi Rappe, a member of the nobility, with whom she emigrated to America. Her husband, a biochemist, got a job at the University of California, Berkeley, and they settled in the San Francisco Bay area, later the family moved to Montana, and Eikema divorced her Swedish husband and married an American, Les Ippisch. She began a bed and breakfast, and gave lectures and wrote about her war experiences. She wrote a number of books for children, including Sky, a True Story of Courage during World War II and she died at age 87 of Alzheimers disease, in Missoula, Montana
38.
Floris Takens
–
Floris Takens was a Dutch mathematician known for contributions to the theory of chaotic dynamical systems. Together with David Ruelle, he predicted that fluid turbulence could develop through a strange attractor, the prediction was later confirmed by experiment. Takens also established the now known as the Takens theorem. Takens was born in Zaandam in the Netherlands and he attended schools in The Hague and in Zaandam before serving in the Dutch army for one year. At the University of Amsterdam he concluded his undergraduate and graduate studies, after his graduate work, Takens spent a year at the IHES, in Bures-sur-Yvette, near Paris, where he worked with David Ruelle, René Thom, and Jacob Palis. His friendship with Palis has taken him many times to the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada, IMPA, in Rio de Janeiro and their collaboration produced several joint publications. Takens was a professor at the University of Groningen, in Groningen, Takens was member of, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and The editorial board for the Springer-Verlags Lecture Notes in Mathematics. Sheldon E. Newhouse, Jacob Palis, Jr. Floris Takens, bifurcations and stability of families of diffeomorphisms. Bogdanov–Takens bifurcation Henk W. Broer, Bernd Krauskopf, and Gert Vegter, global Analysis of Dynamical Systems festschrift dedicated to Floris Takens for his 60th birthday. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Floris Takens - Academia Brasileira de Ciências, Floris Takens at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
39.
Piet Zwart
–
Piet Zwart was a Dutch photographer, typographer, and industrial designer. Piet Zwart was a Dutch designer born on May 28,1885 in Zaandijk and he trained as an architect, and began graphic design projects at age thirty-six. His training as an architect included designing furniture and interiors and he was influenced by the De Stijl movement, which focused on the essentials of form, colour and line, but later moved to a more functional design aesthetic. In the early 1920s Zwart received his first typographic commissions from Laga, Zwart had no formal training in typography or printing, so he was uninhibited by the rules and methods of traditional professional practices. Zwart regarded typography as an important cultural force of the 20th-century, Zwart attended the Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid Amsterdam, which later merged into the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, from 1902 to 1907. He studied a range of art related subjects including painting and architecture. From 1908 he taught drawing and art lessons at the Industrie- en Huishoudschool voor Meisjes. In 1913 he moved to Voorburg and returned to study, attending the Technische Universiteit Delft from 1913 to 1914, from 1919, while continuing to work as an independent designer, he began teaching at the Rotterdam Academy of Visual Arts, now the Willem de Kooning Academy. He was dismissed in 1933 because of what were considered his ideas on education. Zwarts ideas were similar to those of the Bauhaus art school in Germany, in 1930, Piet Zwart was asked to design the The Book of PTT. The book was aimed at teaching children how to use the Dutch postal service. Zwart looked at this as a way to tickle their curiosity, the book was full of bright colors and it was meant to be exciting. He created two characters for the book, The Post and J Self. They were paper doll cut-outs that he photographed and then touched up with chalk, ink, additionally, he used many different fonts of varying sizes and thicknesses. He was assisted in illustrating the book by Dick Elffers, the book was finally published in 1938. In 1942, during World War II, Zwarts design career came to a halt when he was arrested by the occupying German forces and he was held prisoner, along with 800 other prominent people, in an internment camp. He was released in 1945 when the war ended and he resumed his career, mainly focusing on industrial design from this point onward. Piet Zwart died in 1977, aged 92, the Piet Zwart Institute of the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam is named after him
40.
Sister city
–
In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities. In the United Kingdom, the twin towns is most commonly used. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are twin towns, partnership towns, partner towns, the European Commission uses the term twinned towns and refers to the process as town twinning. Spain uses the term ciudades hermanadas that means sister cities, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt / Miasto Partnerskie / Partnerské město, which translate as Partner Town or City. France uses Ville Jumelée, and Italy has Gemellaggio and Comune gemellato, in the Netherlands, the term is Stedenband. In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση has been adopted, in Iceland, the terms vinabæir and vinaborgir are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, twin towns and twin cities are used, the Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term sister cities or twin cities. In China, the term is 友好城市, sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea. The Douzelage is a twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. In recent years, the term city diplomacy has gained increased usage and acceptance, particularly as a strand of paradiplomacy and public diplomacy. It is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments, the importance of cities developing their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent has also been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836, starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War and this was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town, formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding, for example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Similarly, in 1947, Bristol Corporation sent five leading citizens on a mission to Hanover. Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with an enemy city – Düsseldorf. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with other, following the motto, Only Paris is worthy of Rome. Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union, the support scheme was established in 1989
41.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
.svg)
listen) is a Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and metropolitan area of Amsterdam. It had a population of 154,442 in 2017
Media related to Zaanstad at Wikimedia Commons
Zaanstad
