Muntendam

Muntendam
Muntendam in 2011
Muntendam in 2011
Muntendam is located in Groningen (province)
Muntendam
Muntendam
Location of Muntendam in the province of Groningen
Muntendam is located in Netherlands
Muntendam
Muntendam
Muntendam (Netherlands)
Coordinates: 53°8′1″N 6°52′7″E / 53.13361°N 6.86861°E / 53.13361; 6.86861
CountryNetherlands
ProvinceGroningen
MunicipalityMidden-Groningen
Area
 • Total12.88 km2 (4.97 sq mi)
Elevation2.2 m (7.2 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
 • Total4,635
 • Density360/km2 (930/sq mi)
Postal code
9649[1]
Dialing code0598

Muntendam is a village in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the Dutch province of Groningen. The village has a population of 4,635 (2021). Muntendam had been an independent parish since the Middle Ages, but until 1840 it was ecclesiastically part of Zuidbroek.

From 1811 until 1990 it was a separate municipality, which boasted the title 'reddest (most socialist) municipality in the Netherlands', with a council of 11 containing 7 PvdA (Labour Party) members and 2 CPN (Communist Party) members. (However, nearby Reiderland had had a vast CPN majority since WWII, so the claim is rather too strong). When a new mayor had to be appointed in 1980 (at the time a municipality had no say in the matter), it was assumed that it would become a PvdA mayor as it had always been. However, the then minister of the interior, Hans Wiegel of the right-wing VVD, decided that this very left-wing part of the Netherlands needed a change and appointed a D66 (left of centre) mayor. This led to a cold reception and the first time a Dutch mayor was not officially inaugurated. Over time, however, people started to like him and when he moved to a bigger municipality there was even an action to keep him (to no avail). Not much later, the method of appointing a mayor in the Netherlands was changed, with the municipality putting up a request which is usually followed.

  1. ^ a b c "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 9 April 2022. four entries
  2. ^ "Postcodetool for 9649AA". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 9 April 2022.