| Municipalities of the Netherlands Nederlandse gemeenten (Dutch) | |
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 Map of regular municipalities of the Netherlands, as of 1 January 2024 | |
| Category | Municipality |
| Location | Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| Found in | Provinces |
| Number | 342 + 3 (as of 1 January 2024) |
| Possible types | |
| Government | |
| Part of the Politics series |
![Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)](view_image.php?q=Municipalities_of_the_Netherlands&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:State_coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.svg) |
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 Politics portal |
Since 1 January 2023, there have been 342 regular municipalities[1] (Dutch: gemeenten) and three special municipalities (Dutch: bijzondere gemeenten) in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division, or public bodies (Dutch: openbare lichamen), in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective provinces. Their duties are delegated to them by the central government and they are ruled by a municipal council that is elected every four years. Municipal mergers have reduced the total number of municipalities by two-thirds since the first official boundaries were created in the mid 19th century. Municipalities themselves are informally subdivided into districts and neighbourhoods for administrative and statistical purposes.[2]
These municipalities come in a wide range of sizes, Westervoort is the smallest with a land area of 7.01 km2 (2.71 sq mi) and Súdwest-Fryslân the largest with a land area of 522.7 km2 (201.8 sq mi). Schiermonnikoog is both the least populated, with 972 people, and the least densely populated municipality at 23/km2 (60/sq mi). Amsterdam has the highest population with 931,298 residents as of January 2024, whereas The Hague is the most densely populated with a density of 6,868/km2 (17,790/sq mi).
- ^ "Gemeentelijke herindeling" [Municipal reorganisation] (in Dutch). Government of the Netherlands. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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