Municipalities of the Netherlands
Second-level administrative divisions in the Netherlands / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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As of 1 January 2023, there are 342 municipalities[1] (Dutch: gemeenten) and three special municipalities (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 (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]
| Municipalities of the Netherlands Nederlandse gemeenten (Dutch) | |
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 Map of municipalities of the Netherlands after the merger of 1 January 2023 | |
| Category | Municipality |
| Location | Netherlands |
| Found in | Provinces |
| Number | 342 (as of 1 January 2023) |
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| 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".)](/en/File:State_coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.svg) |
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Local government |
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These municipalities come in a wide range of sizes, Westervoort is the smallest with a land area of 7.03 km2 (2.71 sq mi) and Súdwest-Fryslân the largest with a land area of 523.01 km2 (201.94 sq mi). Schiermonnikoog is both the least populated, with 936 people, and the least densely populated municipality at 23/km2 (60/sq mi). Amsterdam has the highest population with 893,783 residents, whereas The Hague is the most densely populated with a density of 6,650/km2 (17,200/sq mi).