Veenendaal

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Veenendaal
Municipality
Church in Veenendaal
Church in Veenendaal
Flag of Veenendaal
Flag		 Coat of arms of Veenendaal
Coat of arms
Location in Utrecht
Location in Utrecht
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Country Netherlands
Province Utrecht
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Wouter Kolff (VVD)
Area[2]
 • Total 19.72 km2 (7.61 sq mi)
 • Land 19.51 km2 (7.53 sq mi)
 • Water 0.21 km2 (0.08 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 6 m (20 ft)
Population (May 2014)[4]
 • Total 63,322
 • Density 3,246/km2 (8,410/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Veenendaler
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 3900–3907
Area code 0318
Website www.veenendaal.nl
File:Veenendaal-plaats-OpenTopo.jpg
Topographic map of Veenendaal (town), as of March 2014

Veenendaal (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈveːnə(n)ˌdaːl]) is a municipality and a city in central Netherlands, it is part of the province of Utrecht. Veenendaal is the only population centre within its administrative borders. The municipality had a population of 63,322 in 2014 and covers an area of 19.72 km2 (7.61 sq mi).

History

The original village was founded in the 16th century as a peat colony from which it got its name. Veen is the Dutch word for peat and daal for valley, so literally the name means "peat valley". In 1855 Veenendaal was hit by a flood. After that wool and tobacco industry became Veenendaal's largest source of income, roughly until World War II. Until just after World War II, Veenendaal remained a small community with only a few thousand residents. In the last fifty years the town grew rapidly to the city with 63,000+ inhabitants of today.

Until the second half of the 20th century, Veenendaal was divided into two parts, a 'Gelders' and an 'Utrechts' part ('Gelders' comes from Gelderland and 'Utrechts' from Utrecht, both Dutch provinces). This is because in the first few centuries of the town's existence it was too small to be its own municipality. The southern half eventually became independent from Rhenen and Renswoude in 1795. The northern half separated from Ede in 1960.

In 1997 it was elected the greenest city of Europe and in 2004 of the Netherlands.

Like most Dutch cities, Veenendaal is well adapted to the high number of cyclists. A large network of bike paths make it convenient to cycle to various destinations and within the town the bike is the most popular mean of transportation. In 2000, Veenendaal was chosen as Fietsstad 2000 — the top Bike City of the Netherlands for 2000.

Religion

The city is known for being one of the bigger cities within the Dutch Bible Belt (together with Ede and Kampen), as it is inhabited by a considerable number (though not a majority) of conservative Protestants.

Gallery

  • Veenendaal, christelijk gereformeerde kerk foto5 2012-05-27 11.05.JPG

    Veenendaal, reformed church

  • Veenendaal, straatzicht met toren foto3 2012-05-27 11.11.JPG

    Veenendaal, tower in the street

  • Veenendaal, stellingmolen de Vriendschap RM511611 foto2 2012-05-27 10.51.JPG

    Veenendaal, windmill: stellingmolen de Vriendschap

  • Veenendaal, de Bernard van Kreelpoort foto3 2012-05-27 11.16.JPG

    Veenendaal, towngate: de Bernard van Kreelpoort

Notable residents

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

 Renswoude
Utrechtse Heuvelrug Ede (GE)
  Veenendaal  
Rhenen
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