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SOAS University of London

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area of central London.

SOAS is one of the world's leading institutions for the study of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Its library is one of the five national research libraries in England. SOAS also houses the Brunei Gallery, which hosts a programme of changing contemporary and historical exhibitions from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East with the aim of presenting and promoting cultures from these regions. The annual income of the institution for 2022–23 was £103.0 million of which £7.3 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £89.7 million.

SOAS is divided into three colleges: the College of Development, Economics and Finance; the College of Humanities; and the College of Law, Anthropology and Politics, which includes the SOAS School of Law. The university offers around 350 bachelor's degree combinations, more than 100 one-year master's degrees, and PhD programmes in nearly every department. The university has educated several heads of states, government ministers, diplomats, central bankers, Supreme Court judges, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and many other notable leaders around the world. SOAS is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Origins
The School of Oriental Studies was founded in 1916 at 2 Finsbury Circus, London, the then premises of the London Institution. The school received its royal charter on 5 June 1916 and admitted its first students on 18 January 1917. The school was formally inaugurated a month later on 23 February 1917 by George V. Among those in attendance were Earl Curzon of Kedleston, formerly Viceroy of India, and other cabinet officials.

The School of Oriental Studies was founded by the British state as an instrument to strengthen Britain's political, commercial, and military presence in Asia and Africa. It would do so by providing instruction to colonial administrators (Colonial Service and Imperial Civil Service), commercial managers, and military officers, as well as to missionaries, doctors, and teachers, in the language of the part of Asia or Africa to which each was being posted, together with an authoritative introduction to the customs, religions, laws, and history of the people whom they were to govern or among whom they would be working.

The school's founding mission was to advance British scholarship, science, and commerce in Africa and Asia, and to provide London University with a rival to the Oriental schools of Berlin, Petrograd, and Paris. The school immediately became integral to training British administrators, colonial officials, and spies for overseas postings across the British Empire. Africa was added to the school's name in 1938.

Second World War
For a period in the mid-1930s, prior to moving to its current location at Thornhaugh Street, Bloomsbury, the school was located at Vandon House, Vandon Street, London SW1, with the library located at Clarence House. Its move to new premises in Bloomsbury was held up by delays in construction and the half-completed building took a hit during the Blitz in September 1940. With the onset of the Second World War, many University of London colleges were evacuated from London in 1939 and billeted on universities in the rest of the country. The School was, on the Government's advice, transferred to Christ's College, Cambridge.

In 1940, when it became apparent that a return to London was possible, the school returned to the city and was housed for some months in eleven rooms at Broadway Court, 8 Broadway, London SW1. In 1942, the War Office joined with the School to create a scheme for State Scholarships to be offered to select grammar and public school boys with linguistic ability to train as military translators and interpreters in Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Turkish. Lodged at Dulwich College in south London, the students became affectionately known as the Dulwich boys. One of these students was Charles Dunn, who became a prominent Japanologist on the faculty of the SOAS and a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun. Others included Sir Peter Parker and Ronald Dore. Subsequently, the School ran a series of courses in Japanese, both for translators and for interpreters.

1945–present
In recognition of SOAS's role during the war, the 1946 Scarborough Commission (officially the "Commission of Enquiry into the Facilities for Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African Studies") report recommended a major expansion in provision for the study of Asia and the school benefited greatly from the subsequent largesse. The SOAS School of Law was established in 1947 with Seymour Gonne Vesey-FitzGerald as its first head. Growth however was curtailed by following years of economic austerity, and upon Sir Cyril Philips assuming the directorship in 1956, the school was in a vulnerable state. Over his 20-year stewardship, Phillips transformed the school, raising funds and broadening the school's remit.

A college of the University of London, the School's fields include Law, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Languages with special reference to Asia and Africa. The SOAS Library, located in the Philips Building, is the UK's national resource for materials relating to Asia and Africa and is the largest of its kind in the world. The school has grown considerably over the past 30 years, from fewer than 1,000 students in the 1970s to more than 6,000 students today, nearly half of them postgraduates. SOAS is partnered with the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris which is often considered the French equivalent of SOAS.

In 2011, the Privy Council approved changes to the school's charter allowing it to award degrees in its own name, following the trend set by fellow colleges the London School of Economics, University College London and King's College London. All new students registered from September 2013 will qualify for a SOAS, University of London, award.

In 2012, a new visual identity for SOAS was launched to be used in print, digital media and around the campus. The SOAS tree symbol, first implemented in 1989, was redrawn and recoloured in gold, with the new symbol incorporating the leaves of ten trees, including the English Oak representing England; the Bodhi, Coral Bark Maple, Teak representing Asia; the Mountain Acacia, African Pear, Lasiodiscus representing Africa; and the Date Palm, Pomegranate and Ghaf representing the Middle East.

Anti-Zionism
Dating back to at least 2005, SOAS has faced a number of accusations of systemic anti-Zionism and anti-Israel rhetoric by its Student Union and members of its faculty. A report in the Jewish Tribune, a Jewish newspaper, titled SOAS as "the School Of Anti-Semitism." In 2015, the SOAS Student Union held a referendum in which its members voted to adopt the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions agenda and boycott Israel. In a motion for a "Jewish Equality Act" passed in 2017, the Student Union voted to remove a line stating, "Jewish students should be given the right to self-determination and be able to define what constitutes hatred against their group like all other minority groups." Jewish students at SOAS have reported feeling unable to express themselves in a Jewish way, and fear hate and retribution if they wear Jewish symbols or speak Hebrew on campus.

In December 2020 The Guardian reported that SOAS refunded a student £15,000 in fees after he chose to abandon his studies as a result of the "toxic antisemitic environment" he felt had been allowed to develop on campus.

Campus
The campus is located in the Bloomsbury area of central London, close to Russell Square. It includes College Buildings (the Philips Building and the Old Building), Brunei Gallery building, 53 Gordon Square (which houses the Doctoral School) and, since 2016, the Paul Webley Wing (the North Block of Senate House). The SOAS library designed by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1973 is located in the Philips Building. The nearest Underground station is Russell Square.

The school houses the Brunei Gallery, built from an endowment from the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, the leader of a country whose human rights abuses are ongoing, and inaugurated by the Princess Royal, as Chancellor of the University of London, on 22 November 1995. Its facilities include exhibition space on three floors, a book shop, a lecture theatre, and conference and teaching facilities. The Brunei Gallery hosts a programme of changing contemporary and historical exhibitions from Asia, Africa and the Middle East with the aim to present and promote cultures from these regions.

The Japanese-style roof garden on top of the Brunei Gallery was built during the Japan 2001 celebrations and was opened by the sponsor, Haruhisa Handa, an Honorary Fellow of the School, on 13 November 2001.

The school hosted the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, one of the foremost collections of Chinese ceramics in Europe. The collection has been loaned to the British Museum, where it is now on permanent display in Room 95.

The SOAS Centenary Masterplan conceived the development of two new buildings and a substantial remodelling of existing space to realign and develop the entrance and two areas within the Old Building. The cost estimates for the Centenary Masterplan settle at around £73m for the total project. The full implementation of the School's Centenary Masterplan would deliver approximately 30% additional space, approximately 1,000 sq metres.

Directors/Vice-Chancellors
Since its foundation, the school has had ten directors. The inaugural director was the celebrated linguist Edward Denison Ross. Under the stewardship of Cyril Philips, the school saw considerable growth and modernisation. Under Colin Bundy in the 2000s, the school became one of the top ranked universities both domestically and internationally. In January 2021 Adam Habib became director of SOAS in place of Valerie Amos, who had taken up the position of Master at University College, Oxford. In 2024, the position of director was renamed vice-chancellor.

Colleges and departments
SOAS, University of London is divided into three colleges. These are further divided into academic departments. SOAS has many Centres and Institutes, each of which is affiliated to a particular faculty.

College of Humanities
The College of Humanities houses the School of Art, the School of History, Religions and Philosophies, and the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. It offers courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with an emphasis on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. A gift from the Alphawood Foundation in 2013 created the Hiram W. Woodward Chair in Southeast Asian art, the David Snellgrove Senior Lectureship in Tibetan and Buddhist art, and a Senior Lectureship in Curating and Museology of Asian Art, as well as a number of scholarships for students, making the Department of Art & Archaeology a key institution at a global level in the study of Southeast Asia. The university is also a member of the Screen Studies Group, London.

Department of Linguistics
The SOAS Department of Linguistics was the first ever linguistics department in the United Kingdom, founded in 1932 as a centre for research and study in Oriental and African languages. J. R. Firth, known internationally for his work in phonology and semantics, was a Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor of General Linguistics at the school between 1938 and 1956.

College of Development, Economics and Finance
The College of Development, Economics and Finance houses the departments of Development Studies, Economics, and Finance and Management.

College of Law, Anthropology and Politics
The College of Law, Anthropology and Politics houses the School of Law, the departments of Anthropology and Politics and International Studies, and the centres for Gender Studies, Media Studies, the London Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Science, the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, the Centre of Taiwan Studies and a number of department-specific centres. It offers courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, many with an emphasis on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

SOAS School of Law
One of the largest individual departments, the SOAS School of Law is one of Britain's leading law schools and the sole law school in the world focusing on the study of Asian, African and Middle Eastern legal systems. The School of Law has more than 400 students. It offers programmes at the LL.B., LL.M. and MPhil/PhD levels. International students have been a majority at all levels for many years.

The SOAS School of Law has an unrivaled concentration of expertise in the laws of Asian and African countries, human rights, transnational commercial law, environmental law, and comparative law. The SOAS School of Law was ranked 15th out of all 98 British law schools by The Guardian League Table in 2016.

Although many modules at SOAS embody a substantial element of English common law, all modules are taught (as much as possible) in a comparative or international manner with an emphasis on the way in which law functions in society. Thus, law studies at SOAS are broad and comparative in their orientation. All students study a significant amount of non-English law, starting in the first year of the LL.B. course, where "Legal Systems of Asia and Africa" is compulsory. Specialised modules in the laws and legal systems of particular countries and regions are also encouraged, and faculty experts conduct modules in these subjects every year.

Institutes and regional centres
SOAS has a number of region-specific institutions, drawing on expertise across the various colleges:
 * SOAS China Institute
 * SOAS Middle East Institute
 * SOAS South Asia Institute

It also has a number of regional centres and other, non-regional institutes:
 * SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
 * Centre of African Studies
 * Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
 * Centre for Iranian Studies
 * Centre of Korean Studies
 * Centre for the Study of Pakistan
 * Centre for Palestine Studies
 * Centre of South East Asian Studies
 * Japan Research Centre

Academic profile
SOAS is a centre for the study of subjects concerned with Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It trains government officials on secondment from around the world in Asian, African and Middle Eastern languages and area studies, particularly in Arabic & Islamic Studies – which combined with Hebrew formed the major bulk of classical Oriental Studies in Europe – and Mandarin Chinese. It also acts as a consultant to government departments and to companies such as Accenture and Deloitte – when they seek to gain specialist knowledge of the matters concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The school has a student-staff ratio of 15:1, which in the Complete University Guide 2025 ranked 44th in the UK.

Library
The SOAS library is a library for Asian, African and Middle Eastern studies. It houses more than 1.2 million volumes and electronic resources for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and attracts scholars from all over the world. The library was designated by HEFCE in 2011 as one of the UK's five National Research Libraries.

The library is housed in the Philips Building on the Russell Square campus and was built in 1973. It was designed by architect Sir Denys Lasdun, who also designed some of Britain's most famous brutalist buildings such as the National Theatre and the Institute of Education.

In 2010/11 the library underwent a £12 million modernisation programme, known as "the Library Transformation Project". The work refurbished the ground floor of the library and created new reception and entrance areas, new music practice rooms, group study rooms and a gallery exhibition space.

SOAS being a constituent college of the University of London, its students also have access to Senate House Library, shared by other colleges such as London School of Economics and University College London, which is located just a short walk from the Russell Square campus.

The library was used as a filming location for some scenes in the 2016 film Criminal.

Rankings
The 2022 QS World University Rankings placed SOAS 2nd in the world for Development Studies, 10th for Anthropology and 15th for Politics. For Arts & Humanities overall, it was placed 67th in the world by the same rankings. As an institution, it placed 508th overall in the QS World University Rankings 2025, having fallen from a high of 252nd in 2017. SOAS ranked 33rd globally for International Students and 49th for International Faculty in the 2023 QS World University Rankings.

SOAS's Department of Financial and Management Studies (DeFiMS) is ranked within the top-60 for Business Studies in the 2023 Complete University Guide's League Table. The research strength of the department has been previously recognised by the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) where 81 per cent was rated as world-leading and internationally excellent, placing it 41st in the country by GPA.

The results of the 2021 REF took the form of profiles spread across four grade levels. Hence, there are different ways to present them and to rank the departments. According to published tables by Times Higher Education, SOAS is ranked 4th by GPA in the UK for Anthropology (an improvement from 16th in the previous exercise in 2014) and 25th in the UK for Development Studies.

Scholarships, bursaries, and awards
A range of scholarships and awards support SOAS degree programmes, with an application process based either on academic merit or with a focus on supporting students from specific countries or connected with particular areas of study, as well as some bursaries addressing students' financial needs.

Publications
SOAS publishes academic journals such as The China Quarterly, Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies, Journal of African Law, South East Asia Research and SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research.

Student life
In, there were undergraduate students In 2012, 41% of students were over 21 and 60% were female. According to the QS World University Rankings, SOAS hosts international students from 140 countries.

SOAS is renowned for its political scene and radical socialist politics, and was voted the most politically active university in the UK in the Which?University 2012. Recent campaigns include students for social change, women's liberty and justice for cleaners. The SOAS Student Union was established in 1927, and has a long history of activism: campaigning against the introduction of both student loans and later student fees; raising funds for the Algerian victims of the Algerian War of Independence against France in 1959; and successfully campaigning for the school to divest from fossil fuels. The SU bar became an established live music venue by the 1970s, and was where Nirvana played their first UK gig in 1989. The SOAS Marxist Society holds frequent events and encourages student voter registration.

Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, many University of London schools and institutes are close by, including Birkbeck, the Institute of Education, London Business School, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal Veterinary College, the School of Advanced Study, Senate House Library and University College London.

Sports
SOAS has multiple smaller sports teams competing in a variety of local and national leagues, as well as occasional international tournaments. SOAS clubs compete in inter-university fixtures in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition in a range of sports, including basketball, football, hockey, netball, rugby union and tennis. SOAS also participates in an annual North London Varsity tournament against London Metropolitan University.

On-campus jobs
Some programs help students to work part-time on campus alongside their full-time study.
 * Education Co-Creator Internship: This is a 64-hour scheme for SOAS undergraduates interested in the education sector. Students work on an innovative project in collaboration with SOAS staff to improve services at their own university.
 * Santander Micro-internship: This is a remote 60-hour Santander Universities initiative, targeted towards SOAS students looking to develop an entrepreneurial career. As part of this program, students are typically assigned to a start-up or NGO.
 * Student Ambassador: In this job, SOAS students promote their university to high school students.
 * Campus Brand Ambassador roles: Depending on availability, students may also take up a job to represent employers such as CMS, Clyde & Co, BDO, Vantage, Dentons, PwC, Barbri, Linklaters, Freshfields, and BCLP on campus. SOAS is not responsible for recruiting for this role – it is the respective external employer or a recruitment agency.

Student housing
SOAS operates two halls of residence in central London, both owned by Sanctuary Student Housing. The primary accommodation for undergraduates is Dinwiddy House, which is located on Pentonville Road. This contains 510 single en-suite rooms arranged in small cluster flats of around six rooms each. The halls are located within minutes of King's Cross St Pancras tube station and the Vernon Square campus.

A few minutes walk from Dinwiddy House and also on the Pentonville Road is Paul Robeson House, the second hall of residence. This was opened in 1998, and is named after the African-American musician Paul Robeson who studied at SOAS in the 1930s. This accommodation is occupied by postgraduate students, and those attending the international SOAS Summer schools.

SOAS students are eligible to apply for places in the University of London intercollegiate halls of residence. The majority of these are based in Bloomsbury such as Canterbury Hall, Commonwealth Hall, College Hall, Connaught Hall, Hughes Parry Hall, International Hall and International Students House, while further afield are Nutford House in Marble Arch and Lillian Penson Hall in Paddington. A number of SOAS postgraduate students also apply for student accommodation at Goodenough College. Wood Green Hall is another accommodation in North London that reserves places for SOAS students annually.

Notable alumni
SOAS alumni have made significant contributions in the fields of government and politics. These include Sultan Salahuddin, King of Malaysia (1999–2001), Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway, Princess Ayşe Gülnev Sultan, descendant of Mehmed V Reşâd, 35th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, John Atta Mills, former President of Ghana, Luisa Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique, Bülent Ecevit, former Prime Minister of Turkey.

Around the world, several national leaders and political figures are alumni: Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and First and incumbent State Counsellor of Myanmar, Zairil Khir Johari, Member of the Malaysian Parliament, Amal Pepple, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Nigeria, Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament and former Minister of Communication in Ghana, Hüseyin Çelik, Turkish Minister of Education, Femi Fani-Kayode, former Nigerian Minister of Culture and Tourism and former Minister of Aviation, Kraisak Choonhavan, Former Senator in Thailand, Samia Nkrumah, Hammad Azhar, Former Pakistan Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister for Industries and Production, Ghanaian Member of Parliament and Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, 4th Vice President of the Maldives. In British politics, several current and former Members of Parliament are alumni: David Lammy, Catherine West, Tim Yeo, Ivor Stanbrook, Sir Ray Whitney, Enoch Powell.

 * In government, alumni include Dharma Vira, who served as 8th Cabinet Secretary of India, Johnnie Carson, former US Ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda, Hassan Taqizadeh, Iranian Ambassador to the UK, Sir Shridath Ramphal, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Sir Leslie Fielding, British diplomat and former European Commission Ambassador to Tokyo, Sir David Warren, former UK Ambassador to Japan, Quinton Quayle, UK Ambassador to Thailand and Lao, Sir Robin McLaren, UK Ambassador to China and the Philippines, Sir Michael Weir, UK Ambassador to Egypt, Jemima Khan, UK Ambassador to UNICEF, Hugh Carless, UK Ambassador to Venezuela, Francis K. Butagira, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Mission of the Republic of Uganda to the United Nations, Gunapala Malalasekera, Sri Lankan Ambassador to UK, Canada and Soviet Union, Michael C Williams, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Guillaume Long, former Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Haifa al-Mogrin - Saudi Arabia's delegate to UNESCO.
 * In justice, Idris Kutigi, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Sylvester Umaru Onu, Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Herbert Chitepo, first Black Rhodesian Barrister, John Vinelott, lawyer and judge.
 * Prominent journalists and broadcasters such as, Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper in London, Zeinab Badawi, presenter of BBC World News Today, Peter Barakan, longtime radio DJ and TV presenter for NHK FM and NHK World, Martin Bright, political editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Jung Chang, who is best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, Hossein Derakhshan, Iranian blogger credited with starting the blogging revolution in Iran, Jamal Elshayyal, news producer at Al Jazeera English, Ghida Fakhry, news anchor at Al Jazeera English, James Harding, head of BBC News and former editor of The Times, Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News correspondent and columnist for the New Statesman, Swapan Dasgupta, Indian journalist and public intellectual, Dom Joly, television comedian and journalist, Elan Journo, Fellow and Director of Policy Research at the Ayn Rand Institute, Clive King, author of Stig of the Dump, Freya Stark, travel writer, James Longman, former BBC journalist, now ABC News foreign correspondent and Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC's Tokyo correspondent.
 * In academia, SOAS alumni include: Edith Penrose, economics scholar, Simon Digby, oriental scholar, Kusuma Karunaratne, Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, Professor and scholar of Sinhalese language and literature, Wang Gungwu, Australian historian of Asia, Sir Martin Harris, educationalist, Gregory B. Lee, sinologist, Bernard Lewis, Orientalist, Duncan McCargo, political scientist, Robert L. McKenzie, scholar-cum-public commentator on forced migration and refugees, Than Tun, historian of Burma, Ivan van Sertima, historian and anthropologist, Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera, contemporary Muslim jurist and scholar, William Montgomery Watt, Islamic scholar, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, a contemporary Muslim philosopher, A. K. Narain, Professor and scholar of Indo-Greeks studies, Archeology, Ancient Indian History, and Walter Rodney, Guyanese theorist of underdevelopment, academic, and activist.
 * Noted writers include M. K. Asante author of Buck, filmmaker and professor, Raman Mundair, British poet and playwright. Olu Oguibe, a conceptual artist and academic, Derwin Panda, an electronic musician and producer, Paul Robeson, an American singer who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Himanshu Suri aka "Heems", rapper and member of Das Racist, and Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, a Bhutanese lama and filmmaker are all alumni of the school.
 * In business, alumni include: Fred Eychaner, American businessman and philanthropist, Abdulsalam Haykal, Syrian media entrepreneur, Sir Peter Parker, chairman of the British Railways Board, Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Atiur Rahman, Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Sir Dermot de Trafford, British banker and baronet.

title: SOAS University of London


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Hengelo, Gelderland

Hengelo is a town in the eastern part of The Netherlands, province of Gelderland (not to be confused with the much larger city of Hengelo, Overijssel). The predominantly rural area it is situated in is known as the Achterhoek. Hengelo (Gelderland) is famous for various horse-related activities (markets, horse-jumping, etc.). Once a year a motorbike race takes place just outside the town on a streetcircuit. It used to be a separate municipality and is now part of the municipality of Bronckhorst.

Population centres
Prior to 2005, Hengelo (Gld) was a municipality with approx. 8500 residents, living in the following villages:
 * Hengelo: 4'700 residents
 * Keijenborg: 1'200
 * Noordink: 580
 * Dunsborg: 500
 * Bekveld en Gooi: 420
 * Varssel: 390
 * Veldhoek: 110

This information relates to CBS statistical information in 2002.

Born in Hengelo (Gld.)

 * Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (1 June 1950), Dutch politician (VVD), former Mayor of the city Almere and member of the Senate.
 * René Notten (20 November 1949 - 22 August 1995), former soccer player who played at Pax, FC Twente, Ajax and Feyenoord.

Raised in Hengelo

 * Hendrik Jan Lovink singer and guitarist of the band Jovink en de Voederbietels

Bronckhorst
Hengelo (Gld) has merged with the following neighbouring municipalities:
 * Zelhem
 * Steenderen
 * Vorden
 * Hummelo en Keppel

Founded in Hengelo

 * Quick Sportswear
 * The Grolschbusters Punk-Rock music band
 * Pax Hengelo Soccerclub

This new municipality is referred to as Bronckhorst. It was formed in January 2005 as part of a large-scale administrative reorganisation in the Netherlands (gemeentelijke herindeling). The Dutch Wikipedia pages contain more information on this topic.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hengelo, Gelderland


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Tabun (nerve agent)

Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic synthetic organophosphorus compound. It is classified as a nerve agent because it can fatally interfere with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system. Its production is strictly controlled and stockpiling outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. Tabun is the first of the G-series nerve agents along with GB (sarin), GD (soman) and GF (cyclosarin).

Physical Properties
Tabun is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor, though less pure samples may appear brown. It is a volatile chemical, although less so than either sarin or soman.

Reactions
Tabun can be deactivated chemically using common oxidizing agents such as sodium hypochlorite.

Historic synthesis
Tabun was made on an industrial scale by Germany during World War II, based on a process developed by Gerhard Schrader. In the chemical agent factory in Dyhernfurth an der Oder, codenamed "Hochwerk", at least 12,000 metric tons of this agent were manufactured between 1942 and 1945. The manufacturing process consisted of two steps (see below); after the reactions, the mixture (consisting of ~75% solvent, ~25% desired product, plus insoluble salts and reactants) was filtered and vacuum-distilled. This yielded a technical product consisting either of 95% or 80% tabun (then known as Tabun A or B, respectively, the second a product later in the war).

Effects of exposure
The symptoms of exposure include:  nervousness/restlessness, miosis (contraction of the pupil), rhinorrhea (runny nose), excessive salivation, dyspnea (difficulty in breathing due to bronchoconstriction/secretions), sweating, bradycardia (slow heartbeat), loss of consciousness, convulsions, flaccid paralysis, loss of bladder and bowel control, apnea (breathing stopped) and lung blisters. The symptoms of exposure are similar to those created by all nerve agents. Tabun is toxic even in minute doses. The number and severity of symptoms which appear vary according to the amount of the agent absorbed and rate of entry of it into the body. Very small skin dosages sometimes cause local sweating and tremors accompanied with characteristically constricted pupils with few other effects. Tabun is about half as toxic as sarin by inhalation, but in very low concentrations it is more irritating to the eyes than sarin. Tabun also breaks down slowly, which after repeated exposure can lead to build up in the body.

The effects of tabun appear slowly when tabun is absorbed through the skin rather than inhaled. A victim may absorb a lethal dose quickly, although death may be delayed for one to two hours. A person's clothing can release the toxic chemical for up to 30 minutes after exposure. Inhaled lethal dosages kill in one to ten minutes, and liquid absorbed through the eyes kills almost as quickly. However, people who experience mild to moderate exposure to tabun can recover completely, if treated almost as soon as exposure occurs. The median lethal dose (LD50) for tabun is about 400 mg-min/m3.

The lethal dose for a man is about .01 mg/kg. The median lethal dose for respiration is 400 mg-minute/m3 for humans. Respiratory lethal doses can kill anytime from 1-10 minutes. When the liquid enters the eye, it also can kill just as quickly. When absorbed via the skin, death may occur in 1-2 minutes, or it can take up to 2 hours.

Treatment for suspected tabun poisoning is often three injections of a nerve agent antidote, such as atropine. Pralidoxime chloride (2-PAM Cl) also works as an antidote; however, it must be administered within minutes to a few hours following exposure to be effective.

History
Research into ethyl dialkylaminocyanophosphonate began in the late 19th century, In 1898, Adolph Schall, a graduate student at the University of Rostock under professor August Michaelis, synthesised the diethylamino analog of tabun, as part of his PhD thesis Über die Einwirkung von Phosphoroxybromid auf secundäre aliphatische Amine. However, Schall incorrectly identified the structure of the substance as an imidoether, and Michaelis corrected him in a 1903 article in Liebigs Annalen, Über die organischen Verbindungen des Phosphors mit dem Stickstoff. The high toxicity of the substance (as well as the high toxicity of its precursors, diethylamidophosphoric dichloride and dimethylamidophosphoric dichloride) wasn't noticed at the time, most likely due to the low yield of the synthetic reactions used.

Tabun became the first nerve agent known after a property of this chemical was discovered by pure accident in late December 1936  by German researcher Gerhard Schrader. Schrader was experimenting with a class of compounds called organophosphates, which kill insects by interrupting their nervous systems, to create a more effective insecticide for IG Farben, a German chemical and pharmaceutical industry conglomerate, at Elberfeld. The substance he discovered, as well as being a potent insecticide, was enormously toxic to humans; hence, it was named tabun, a tongue-in-cheek codename to indicate that the substance was 'taboo' (German: tabu) for its intended purpose.

During World War II, as part of the Grün 3 program, a plant for the manufacture of tabun was established at Dyhernfurth (now Brzeg Dolny, Poland), in 1939. Run by Anorgana GmbH, the plant began production of the substance in 1942. The reason for the delay was the extreme precautions used by the plant. Intermediate products of tabun were corrosive, and had to be contained in quartz or silver-lined vessels. Tabun itself was also highly toxic, and final reactions were conducted behind double glass walls. Large scale manufacturing of the agent resulted in problems with tabun's degradation over time, and only around 12,500 tons of material were manufactured before the plant was seized by the Soviet Army. The plant initially produced shells and aerial bombs using a 95:5 mix of tabun and chlorobenzene, designated "Variant A". In the latter half of the war, the plant switched to "Variant B", an 80:20 mix of tabun and chlorobenzene designed for easier dispersion. The Soviets dismantled the plant and shipped it to Russia.

During the Nuremberg Trials, Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich, testified that he had planned to kill Adolf Hitler in early 1945 by introducing tabun into the Führerbunker ventilation shaft. He said his efforts were frustrated by the impracticality of tabun and his lack of ready access to a replacement nerve agent, and also by the unexpected construction of a tall chimney that put the air intake out of reach.

The US once considered repurposing captured German stocks of tabun (GA) prior to production of Sarin (GB). Like the other Allied governments, the Soviets soon abandoned tabun (GA) for Sarin (GB) and Soman (GD). Large quantities of the German-manufactured agent were dumped into the sea to neutralize the substance.

Since GA is much easier to produce than the other G-series weapons and the process is comparatively widely understood, countries that develop a nerve agent capability but lack advanced industrial facilities often start by producing GA.

During the Iran–Iraq War of 1980 to 1988, Iraq employed quantities of chemical weapons against Iranian ground forces. Although the most commonly used agents were mustard gas and sarin, tabun and cyclosarin were also used.

Tabun was also used in the 1988 Halabja chemical attack.

Producing or stockpiling tabun was banned by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. The worldwide stockpiles declared under the convention were 2 tonnes, and as of December 2015 these stockpiles had been destroyed.

title: Tabun (nerve agent)


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Wikipedia talk:Lists of common misspellings

bot
Hi, I've made a list of articles with common misspellings as of the last time Google updated its index database dump. Perhaps checking these articles by hand isn't as easy as using an automated spelling bot, but I think this could be useful finding articles that need attention. If you agree, feel free to help. Any other suggestions are welcome. Wmahan 00:16, 2004 Apr 5 (UTC)
 * Update: I updated the list so that articles are sorted by the misspelled word; perhaps the new format will be more compatible with the work of people who go through this list when correcting articles. Wmahan. 01:17, 2004 Apr 20 (UTC)

androgenous/androgynous
Listing androgenous as an incorrect spelling of androgynous is risky. Both are valid words, and though closely related, have different meanings.
 * Thanks for pointing out the distinction; I have commented out androgenous. Wmahan. 18:36, 2004 May 6 (UTC)

Wired-in searches
I tried to wire in a search for a word, but only got the external link to work (clumsy). Is there some concern or evidence that if the whole list was wired, it actually slow Wiki down as hundreds of editors rush to search for thousands of misspellings? Am I treading a well-worn path? Hu 07:26, 2004 Nov 23 (UTC)

Realease-based words
I found least two hundred of these errors, and it's noteworthy typo, intentional or not. So I have added. (whatever, UTC)

Spelling correction by hand

 * 1) Spelling correction needs to be done one word at a time, because there are so many special cases, deliberate errors, exceptions, ambiguities, proper names, different languages and new usages.  A bot is unlikely to understand all this, as has been mentioned elsewhere on this talk page
 * 2) There are too many possible errors to create a list with them all
 * 3) If you come across what appears to be a misspelled word, it makes sense to search for other occurrences, and if there are only a few other occurrences, eliminate them then and there
 * 4) [ developmet] (development) (000013 matches)
 * 5) [ developement] (development) (245274 matches)
 * 6) [ development] (development) (247033 matches)
 * 7) [ sic] (sic) (2522 matches) As mentioned elsewhere, sic is not a good searchable word to mark deliberate errors, since it has too many false matches.
 * 8) [ sicsic] (sicsic) (0006 matches) sicsic is a better search word than sic as it is not a real word in its own right.
 * 9) [ ssiicc] (ssiicc) (0001 matches) ssiicc is also a better search word than sic as it is not a real word in its own right.
 * 10) [ (sic)] "(sic)" (2522 matches) The wikipedia search function does not appear to understand parentheses or brackets.

 * —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tabletop (talk • contribs) 01:17, 17 August 2007

Shall we remove "Accidently" as I found out is is correct.
"Accidently" is something I have been focussing on here for years. A few weeks ago I started to notice that the red squiggly line no longer comes up for it and when I looked it up I found out that it is because it is a correct spelling: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accidently Eugene-elgato (talk) 14:36, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

 * I'd support this. I wonder if articles like these have a guideline on what to do when an error becomes so commonplace it stops being an error. Slamforeman (talk) 19:47, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Obviously these things vary from one English speaking country to another. In this case I have a brand new laptop, have just installed Chrome, and set its language version to Australian English (my native "tongue"). While I'm not, my spellchecker is perfectly happy with "accidently". HiLo48 (talk) 22:18, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

 * It's still a good entry, because an editor may well consider "accidentally" to be superior, as it is much more common and many people still believe "accidently" is wrong. The list is not a declaration that a spelling is wrong, but rather a tool for editors who want to make certain corrections. Dictionaries, by the way, don't arbitrate what is correct; they just tell you what is in common use.  And Wikipedia's standard isn't "many people are fine with it" -- it's "this is the best possible wording."
 * Wikipedia doesn't have any guideline on how to recognize when the best possible English usage has changed. It's just one of those things editors have to fight over.  Bryan Henderson (giraffedata) (talk) 03:34, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Very interesting to hear your thoughts on the matter, I think that is most likely the best answer. I'd be remiss if I didn’t say I’m a fan of your work. :) Slamforeman (talk) 15:09, 30 March 2024 (UTC)


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Creature Double Feature

Creature Double Feature is a television show, syndicated in the Boston and Philadelphia area during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. It sometimes also aired under names like Sci-Fi Flix and Creature Feature. The show aired classic monster movies, with the name "Creature Double Feature" based on its airing two movies during its three-hour time slot. The movies broadcast were taken from the classic Universal Horror movies of the 1930s to 1950s, the Hammer Studios and American International Pictures films of the 1950s, Roger Corman's horror films of the 1960s, and Toho Studio's "giant monster" (known in Japanese as either kaiju or tokusatsu) movies of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Air times
Creature Double Feature usually aired on Saturday afternoons. Because it aired after the traditional Saturday morning cartoon time block, it introduced many younger viewers to classic (and not-so-classic) monster movies. In other cities it aired either on Friday night or Saturday night.

Boston
Beginning in 1972 a station in the Kaiser Broadcasting (later Field Communications) chain, WKBG (Channel 56; WLVI after The Boston Globe sold their share back to Kaiser in 1975) aired its collection of Godzilla movies—one per week at 4 p.m. on Saturday under the title, The 4 O'Clock Movie. They cycled through their collection twice, noticing that the broadcasts were especially popular with youngsters. Then, they started showing the films at midnight, calling it Creature Feature. The ratings became so popular that the show was moved to noon to increase its ratings. However, it was in direct competition with WCVB-TV's Candlepin Bowling and was moved to the 2 p.m. time slot. Its popularity grew and they tweaked the title to Creature Double Feature and changed its start time to 1 p.m. The show quickly became a staple of the station's Saturday programming schedule during the 1970s and early-1980s. Although the exact date of the final show is currently unknown, it seems to have petered out sometime in 1983 and was replaced with WLVI-TV's Martial Arts Theater, showing cheap English-dubbed Hong Kong martial arts movies, as a replacement.

To this day WLVI staffers report that they still receive more e-mail and phone calls about Creature Double Feature than anything else. In 2006, Channel 56's Steve Ratner was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying "I'm amazed at the following the show continues to have. It's just insane how many people come up to us and ask after the Creature Double Feature. Every day we get e-mails from people all over the country." However, the station is unlikely to revive the show on their own since that timeslot is usually used now for infomercials, from which the station makes a considerable amount of income. The main announcer on Creature Double Feature was a Channel 56 long-time booth announcer, Neil MacNevin. His radio/TV name was Tom Evans. He and an engineer named Press Campbell would create sound effects, echoes, wind etc. off the cuff during the weekly recording sessions for the movie and promos for CDF during the week. MacNevin says he still gets comments from some of the listeners from those days and really enjoys telling them about the sessions. MacNevin and Campbell retired from broadcasting in the early nineties.

In June 2006, the Boston Herald reported that Boston-area car dealership owner Ernie Boch Jr. would be bringing the show back to WLVI—in its original timeslot—on an occasional basis. The first program of the new series aired on June 24, 2006. The two films shown on this occasion were Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster and The Giant Gila Monster. Boch himself hosted the show in full makeup as The Ghoul, though the original show almost never had a host—only announcers (other than for a brief time when Rich Koz, the Son of Svengoolie out of Chicago, hosted the CDF in the early '80s). A second episode aired on October 28, 2006, featuring 1973's Horror Express followed by the original 1968 Night of the Living Dead. It was brought back again on October 27, 2007 with the American International Pictures' (A.I.P.) movies Gammera the Invincible (a.k.a. Gamera) and Attack of the Monsters. The broadcast contained no pop-up ads during the films and no interruptions from any on-air talent personnel during commercial breaks. The Boston Globe's Sunday Edition of their TV guide printed the schedule of the two Gamera movie titles reversed in their time slots.

The show's original announcers were reportedly Ron Dwyer and Tom Evans. During most of its run in its later years, the show's announcer was Dale Dorman aka "Uncle Dale", a Boston radio personality at WRKO and at WXKS-FM who also frequently did voice work for 56's children's programming.

The intro/outro music used for Creature Double Feature throughout its run was Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Toccata" from Brain Salad Surgery. WLVI has kept the song as the theme of the 2006 and 2007 revival. It is not yet known if current WLVI owners Sunbeam Television will continue to air the revival.

Philadelphia
In the Philadelphia area, another Kaiser/Field station, WKBS Channel 48, aired this program between 1976 and 1979 after the success the show had in Boston. Two of the most popular films included Attack of the Mushroom People and Tourist Trap.

title: Creature Double Feature


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Abcoude

Abcoude is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Since 2011 it has been part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen.

Population centres
The former municipality of Abcoude consisted of the villages of Abcoude and Baambrugge and the hamlet of Stokkelaarsbrug.

Geography
Abcoude lies in the Province Utrecht, about 13 km southeast of (the centre of) Amsterdam, on the confluence of the Angstel, Gein and Holendrecht rivers.

In 2001 it had 6,431 inhabitants, growing to 8,295 in 2023.

History

Abcoude was first mentioned in a report from 1085 by the bishop of Utrecht. In this document the residents of Abcoude were named ’habitatores de Abecenwalde’. In 1672 most of the town was burned down by the French. In 1820 Abcoude had 1,100 inhabitants.

The municipality of Abcoude was formed in 1941, from the former municipalities of Abcoude-Proosdij (containing the village of Abcoude) and Abcoude-Baambrugge (containing the village of Baambrugge).

Transport
The town is served by Abcoude railway station. It is in the northern part of Abcoude. There are direct services to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Gouda and Rotterdam.

Local government
Until 2011 the municipal council of Abcoude consisted of 13 seats, which at the last election held in 2006 were divided as follows:
 * CDA - 3 seats
 * SVAB (local party) - 3 seats
 * VVD - 3 seats
 * PvdA - 2 seats
 * D66 - 1 seat
 * GroenLinks - 1 seat

An election was held in November 2010 for a council for the new merged De Ronde Venen municipality that commenced work in January 2011, replacing Abcoude council.

Other
Abcoude is known as the only town whose name starts with the letters A, B, and C in that order and ends with D and E in that order.

title: Abcoude


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Amerongen

Amerongen is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, on the border of the Utrecht Hill Ridge. It lies about 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of Veenendaal (10.5 km or 6.5 mi by road).

The landscape rises from the flat water meadows of the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine) to the Utrecht Hill Ridge ("Utrechtse Heuvelrug"). The highest point in the western Netherlands is located 2 km east of the village. The Amerongense Berg (Amerongen Mountain) has a height of 69 metres above sea level.

History
The history of Amerongen is closely related to that of Amerongen Castle. This castle was first established in 1286 as a wooden donjon but was rebuilt in stone. It was damaged or destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times during the following centuries. In 1672 the Netherlands were invaded by the French army and in early 1673, the castle was deliberately burned down as a punishment for non-payment of taxes levied by the French. Shortly afterwards the castle was rebuilt, under the capable supervision of Margaretha Turnor, wife of Van Reede, owner of the castle and special envoy to the court of Brandenburg at this time. The newly built and extended castle arose in the Dutch Classicist style. Although the grounds and gardens were remodelled at various times and the interior brought up to date by Pierre Cuypers in the early 20th century, it remains a prime example of this style.

The former Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II, sought refuge in the Netherlands in November 1918 after the First World War. He lived in the castle until May 1920, when he moved to nearby Doorn, where he spent the rest of his life. It was in the Castle of Amerongen that he signed the Act of Abdication.

Until January 1, 2006, Amerongen was a separate municipality, which covered the village of Amerongen itself, Overberg, and the western part of the village of Elst. Elst was transferred to the municipality of Rhenen; the largest part of the municipality has merged with four other municipalities to form the new municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

In 2021, the village of Amerongen had 6.985 inhabitants. In 2001, the built-up area of the village was 1.21 km2, and contained 2072 residences.

"Amerongen", "Van Amerongen" and "Van Nieuw Amerongen" are surnames that indicate that their ancestors originated from this area.

Economics
Amerongen had a tobacco industry until the 19th century. The downfall of the tobacco industry was caused by the rise of cigar consumption, to which the tobacco from Amerongen was not suited. The foreign tobacco market also contributed to the downfall of the local tobacco industry. In 1879 the local Earl of Amerongen, Aldenburgh Bentinck, tried to revive the local economy by opening a cream factory in 1890. However, the factory had to close in 1912 and he then insisted the village on growing tulips. However, the domestic Dutch market proved too strong for the village and the production was stopped. In a last effort the Earl insisted on building hop-yards to grow hops, however this plan failed too. The majority of the villagers therefore became dependent on jobs in neighboring villages.

The factory of Technivorm, the producer of the Moccamaster coffee machine, is situated in Amerongen.

Transportation
The village of Amerongen is served by one bus line, namely line 50 to Utrecht and back to Veenendaal and Wageningen. The village was served by a tram from 9 November 1884 until 1949, which went from Zeist to Arnhem. The tram itself was electrified in 1922, before it was electrified the tramline was used by steamtrams. The increase of the amount of autobusses contributed to the downfall of the tram in Amerongen, on which operations with the tram ceased in 1949. There are no tram tracks left in the village.

title: Amerongen


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Baarn

Baarn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht.

The municipality of Baarn
The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche.

The town of Baarn
Baarn, the main town of the municipality, received city rights in 1391. The town lies about 8 km east of Hilversum.

In 2001, the town of Baarn had a population of 22,871. The urban area of the town was 4.66 km2, and consisted of 10,076 residences.

The royal family owns several houses around Baarn. The Soestdijk Palace in Baarn was the home of Queen Emma, Queen Juliana and Juliana's husband prince Bernard. Crown prince Willem Alexander and his brothers attended school (Nieuwe Baarnse School and Het Baarnsch Lyceum) in Baarn when Queen Beatrix (then princess) and her family lived at Castle Drakesteijn in the village of Lage Vuursche, before they moved to The Hague in 1980. A piece of forest, the Baarnse Bos, is adjacent to the palace and historically belonged to it.

Baarn's shopping facilities are mainly located in the Laanstraat. Other visitor destinations include 'het Cantonspark' (a botanical garden) and Groeneveld Castle. In the north and east there are polders, and the river Eem. Recreation resources include the woodlands south-west of Baarn, connecting Baarn to Soestdijk, and called 'Het Baarnsche Bos'.

The Scout Centre Buitenzorg (Scouting Nederland) is located in Baarn.

To the south lay the connecting road towards the city of Amersfoort, called 'Breemeentje'. This, approx. 10 km long straight of polder road, connects the town of Baarn to various roads in Soest and the industrial area of Amersfoort.

Due to good communications with Amsterdam, the town is home to a number of boutique international firms such as SEI Investments Company, Bain & Co and Cerberus Capital Management. Unilever's Conimex and software company Seyoda Games are located in Baarn.

Transport
Baarn has a railway station - Baarn railway station, with trains going every half-hour to Utrecht (Utrecht Centraal, 35 minutes), Amersfoort (Amersfoort Centraal, 10 minutes) and Amsterdam (Amsterdam Centraal, about 40 minutes).

The A1 motorway runs just north of Baarn.

Vessels
Freighter SS 'Baarn' (1927) of the KNSM, assigned to the allied invasion fleet for Sicily and sailing in convoy KWS 16, loaded from Alexandria with tanks, trucks, ammunition and petrol (in cans) and 4 LCMs, under captain LH Mager, 11 July 1943, anchored off the coast of Sicily, on the roadstead of Avola, attacked by 12 German bombers. The 'Baarn' is hit and catches fire. All those on board manage to save themselves and are on the landing beach within an hour. The 'Baarn' will later be sunk as a wreck by British warships.

Royalty

 * Prince Ernest Casimir of the Netherlands (1822 in Baarn – 1822) the fourth son of the Prince of Orange, later King William II of the Netherlands
 * Beatrix of the Netherlands (born 1938 in Baarn) Queen of the Netherlands 1980-2013
 * Princess Irene of the Netherlands (born 1939 in Baarn) the second child of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
 * Princess Christina of the Netherlands (born 1947 in Baarn – 2019) the youngest of four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

Intellectual and public service

 * Michiel Horn FRSC (born 1939 in Baarn) a Canadian professor and historian
 * Bauke Roolvink (1912 – 1979 in Baarn) a Dutch politician and a trade union leader
 * Edith Schippers (born 1964) a former politician, was Minister of Healthcare, lives in Baarn
 * John D. Stamford (1939-1994) paedophilia advocate and founder of Spartacus International Gay Guide, lived in Baarn

Arts

 * Betty Callish (1886 – after 1941), actress, singer and violinist
 * M. C. Escher (1898–1972), graphic artist, lived and worked in Baarn 1941/1970
 * Piet Esser (1914–2004), sculptor
 * Lia Dorana (1918 2010 in Lage Vuursche), comedian and actress
 * Albert Muis (born 1941), artist
 * Tineke de Nooij (born 1941), radio and TV presenter
 * Joop van den Ende (born 1942) a Dutch theatrical producer and media tycoon, lives in Baarn
 * Yorick van Wageningen (born 1964), actor
 * Martin Majoor (born 1960), type designer and graphic designer
 * Marlayne (born 1971), singer

Sport

 * Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918 in Lage Vuursche – 2004) a Dutch track and field athlete, won four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics
 * Jan van Gooswilligen (born 1935 in Baarn - 2008) a former Dutch field hockey player, participated in two Olympic Games 1960 Summer Olympics 1964 Summer Olympics
 * André Hoekstra (born 1962 in Baarn) a retired Dutch footballer with over 300 club caps
 * Maryse Abendanon (born 1966) a former Dutch field hockey player, lives in Baarn
 * Diederik van Weel (born 1973 in Baarn) field hockey player, team gold medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
 * Dustley Mulder (born 1985 in Baarn) a Curaçaoan footballer with over 300 club caps
 * Ilse van der Meijden (born 1988 in Baarn) a water polo player, team gold medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics
 * Sharon van Rouwendaal (born 1993 in Baarn) a Dutch distance swimmer and a gold medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics

title: Baarn


text:
Breukelen

Breukelen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the northwest of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and tourist interest. It is located in an area called the Vechtstreek. It is the namesake of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, New York.

History
Breukelen's history dates back to the 7th century, when it was a village named Attingahem. Around the year 720, the first wooden church was built in the village by Saint Boniface. In the 8th century, a Frisian nobleman named Atte established a settlement there, constructing a fortified farm named the Breukelerhof.

During the 17th century, many wealthy Amsterdam merchant families built their mansions along the river Vecht. In the Disaster Year (1672) the village and its vicinity were severely damaged by warfare, if not looted and burned by the French.

On 1 January 2011, Breukelen merged with Loenen and Maarssen to form Stichtse Vecht.

The New York City borough of Brooklyn in the United States is named after Breukelen (see History of Brooklyn).

Nyenrode Business University
The town is most well known for the being where Nyenrode Business University is located. Founded in 1946, Nyenrode is a university that offers business and finance-related higher education.

Transportation

 * Breukelen railway station
 * Bus services 120, 130, 143, 524 and 526

Villages
The former municipality of Breukelen consisted of the following villages: Breukelen, Kockengen, and Nieuwer-Ter-Aa.

title: Breukelen


text:
Bunnik

Bunnik is a municipality and village in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The recorded history of the village dates back nearly 2000 years, when the Romans constructed a fort at Fectio (now Vechten) with a harbour facing the river Rhine, which marked the border of the Roman Empire. The fort developed into a thriving trading centre, which continued to exist after the Romans abandoned the fort in the fourth century. Subsequently, the area was occupied by the Frisians and the Franks. In the 8th and 9th century, the villages of Bunninchem (Bunnik), Lodichem (Odijk) and Wercundia (Werkhoven) developed.

Chief interests of Bunnik are its surrounding nature, consisting mainly of forests and farmlands. Additionally, Bunnik, hosts the oldest Youth Hostel in the Netherlands. The major European construction and services company Royal BAM Group has its headquarters in Bunnik.

Population centres
The municipality of Bunnik consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Bunnik, Odijk, Werkhoven.

Topography

Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Bunnik, June 2015.

Transportation

 * Bunnik railway station

Notable people

 * Jacob Pieter van Braam (1737 in Werkhoven – 1803) a Dutch admiral
 * Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1739 in Werkhoven – 1801) a Dutch-American merchant in China
 * John Oostrom (born 1930 in Werkhoven) the first Dutch-born Canadian parliamentarian
 * Coby van Baalen (born 1957 in Werkhoven) an equestrian, team silver medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
 * Katja Schuurman (born 1975 in Bunnik) a Dutch actress, singer and TV personality
 * Birgit Schuurman (born 1977) a Dutch singer and actress, brought up in Bunnik
 * Jaap Stockmann (born 1984 in Bunnik) a retired Dutch field hockey goalkeeper who played for the Dutch national team

title: Bunnik


text:
Bunschoten

Bunschoten is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It lies about 7 km north of Amersfoort. Its territory comprises the original municipality of Bunschoten (created in 1204 by the bishop of Utrecht) and the former municipality of Duyst, De Haar and Zevenhuizen, which was a part of Hoogland from 1854 until 1971.

History
Bunschoten was first named in 1294. It was located on the border between Utrecht and Guelders, and it suffered a number of times from invasions from Guelders. In 1383, the bishop of Utrecht gave Bunschoten city rights, which allowed the citizens to build an earthen wall around the town. The fortifications and a part of the town were destroyed at Christmas 1427 in a war between two rival bishops, and were never rebuilt.

Population centres
The municipality of Bunschoten consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: • Bunschoten

• Eemdijk

• Spakenburg

• Zevenhuizen

Notable people

 * Bert Groen (born 1945) a Dutch politician, former Mayor of Bunschoten
 * Melis van de Groep (born 1958 in Bunschoten) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Bunschoten since 2006
 * Job Koelewijn (born 1962 in Spakenburg) a Dutch conceptual artist, sculptor, installation artist, performance artist and photographer
 * Gijsbert Van Bismarck (born 1973 in Spakenburg) a retired footballer with over 150 club caps
 * Kevin van Diermen (born 1989 in Spakenburg) a Dutch professional footballer with over 200 club caps
 * Aileen de Graaf (born 1990 in Spakenburg) a Dutch darts player playing in the British Darts Organisation.

title: Bunschoten


text:
De Bilt

De Bilt is a municipality and town in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. It had a population of 0 in. De Bilt houses the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).

It is the ancestral home and namesake for the prominent Vanderbilt family of the United States.

Population centres
The municipality of De Bilt consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Bilthoven, De Bilt, Groenekan, Hollandsche Rading, Maartensdijk, Westbroek.

Topography

Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of De Bilt, June 2015

Notable people

 * Nicolaas van Nieuwland (1510 in Maartensdijk – 1580) Bishop of Haarlem and abbot of Egmond Abbey 1562 to 1569.
 * Joan Gideon Loten (1710 in Groenekan – 1789) worked in the Dutch East India Company, the 29th Governor of Zeylan
 * The Vanderbilt family, prominent in the USA during the Gilded Age, has its name from the town, meaning 'from De Bilt'.
 * Johan Beyen (1897 in Bilthoven – 1976) a politician, helped create the European Economic Community
 * Auke Bloembergen (1927 in De Bilt – 2016) a jurist, justice at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands 1979 to 1993
 * Els Borst (1932 – 2014 in Bilthoven) a Dutch politician, academic and physician
 * Ad Donker (1933 in Bilthoven – 2002) a pioneering publisher of social critical works in South Africa
 * Anne Sjerp Troelstra (1939 in Maartensdijk – 2019) a maths professor the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation at the University of Amsterdam.
 * Madelon Hooykaas (born 1942 in Maartensdijk) a video artist, photographer and film maker
 * Madelon Vriesendorp (born 1945 in Bilthoven) an artist, co-founded of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture
 * Erik van der Wurff (1945 in De Bilt – 2014) a pianist, composer, arranger, producer and conductor
 * Frederik de Groot (born 1946 in Bilthoven) a Dutch actor and TV spokesman for ING Direct Canada
 * Thomas von der Dunk (born 1961) a cultural historian, writer and columnist; raised in Bilthoven
 * Albert Schram (born 1964 in De Bilt) the Vice Chancellor of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology
 * Bas Haring (born 1968 in De Bilt) a writer of popular science and children's literature and TV presenter
 * Jetske van den Elsen (born 1972 in De Bilt) a Dutch female television presenter

Sport

 * John Blankenstein (1949 in De Bilt – 2006) a football referee and gay rights activist
 * Ingrid van der Elst (born 1955 in Bilthoven) a former sportswoman in cricket and field hockey
 * Hans van Breukelen (born 1956) a former football goalkeeper with 511 club caps, grew up in De Bilt
 * Martijntje Quik (born 1973 in De Bilt) a former coxswain, silver medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
 * Joost Broerse (born 1979 in De Bilt) a Dutch former footballer with 448 club caps
 * Lisa Westerhof (born 1981 in De Bilt) a sailor, competed at the 2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics
 * Thierry Brinkman (born 1995 in Bilthoven) a Dutch field hockey player

title: De Bilt


text:
De Ronde Venen

De Ronde Venen (lit. 'the round peat bogs') is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. On 1 January 2011, the municipality of Abcoude was amalgamated into De Ronde Venen.

Population centres
The municipality of De Ronde Venen consists of the villages Abcoude, Amstelhoek, De Hoef, Baambrugge, Mijdrecht, Vinkeveen, Waverveen, and Wilnis, and a number of hamlets, such as Aan de Zuwe, Achterbos, and Stokkelaarsbrug.

Topography

Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of De Ronde Venen, June 2015

Notable people

 * Jan van Almeloveen (1656 in Mijdrecht – 1684) a Dutch painter, engraver and draughtsman
 * Theodorus Janssonius van Almeloveen (1657 in Mijdrecht – 1712) a Dutch physician and medical editor
 * Jan Willem Pieneman (1779 in Abcoude – 1853) a painter
 * Werenfried van Straaten (1913 in Mijdrecht – 2003) a Dutch Roman Catholic priest and social activist
 * Hans van Vliet (born 1949 in Mijdrecht) a Dutch computer scientist and academic
 * Michaël Dudok de Wit (born 1953 in Abcoude) a Dutch animator, director and illustrator
 * Saskia Rao-de Haas (born 1971 in Abcoude) a virtuoso cellist and composer

Sport

 * Jan Grijseels (1890 in Abcoude-Proosdij – 1961) a Dutch track and field athlete, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics
 * Gerard Maarse (1929 in Wilnis – 1989) a Dutch speed skater, competed in the 1952 & 1956 Winter Olympics
 * Christine Aaftink (born 1966 in Abcoude) a retired speed skater, competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics
 * Tom Cordes (born 1966 in Wilnis) a retired Dutch cyclist, competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics
 * Nicolien Sauerbreij (born 1979 in De Hoef) a Dutch professional snowboarder, competed in the 2002 & 2006 Winter Olympic Games and was a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics
 * Ivo Snijders (born 1980 in Mijdrecht) a rower, competed in the 2004 & 2008 Summer Olympics

title: De Ronde Venen


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Doorn

Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.

History
In a document from 885 to 896, the settlement is called "Thorhem", dwelling of Thor, the God of Thunder. Vikings quartered at Dorestad (now Wijk bij Duurstede) called the place Thorhem because, reputedly, the god of thunder was worshipped there. Indeed, archeological diggings in a moor on the estate of Hoog Moersbergen, north of Doorn, prove that there was a pagan sacrificial site.

At the time, the settlement of Thorhem belonged to the homestead of Villa Thorhem. Around 1200, this homestead was in the possession of a provost of the Bishopric of Utrecht. He, or one of his successors, had a castle built in the 14th century, now Huis Doorn, and a church called the Maartenskerk ("St. Martin's Church") around 1200. The church was extended in the 15th century. It fell into Protestant hands around 1585 and is still in use as a Protestant church. Another castle, Kasteel Moersbergen, was first mentioned in 1435 and has been altered several times since the 17th century.

The estate around Huis Doorn was so large that there was little room for extension of the town. Only after 1874, when the estate was parcelled out, was there room for growth. After World War II, the town has grown considerably.

Doorn is also a major base for the Royal Dutch Marines. Von Gimborn Arboretum, one of the sites of the botanical gardens of Utrecht University, is near the town.

Doorn was an independent municipality until 1 January 2006. Since then, it has been the principal town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug. There is also a football club, Dev Doorn.

Famous inhabitants
The last German Emperor, Wilhelm II, lived at castle Doorn (Huis Doorn), in the center of the village, after he was deposed in 1918. He died in Doorn in 1941.

The Dutch novelist Simon Vestdijk lived in Doorn for a great part of his life (between 1939 and 1971, a few short intervals excepted). The environs of Doorn are clearly recognisable in the landscape descriptions in many of his novels.

Maarten Maartens, a Dutch writer who wrote in English, had a small castle built in Doorn: Zonheuvel ("Sun Hill", finished in 1903). At present, the castle is called Maarten Maartenshuis and is a part of the hotel and conference centre Zonheuvel.

title: Doorn


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Driebergen-Rijsenburg

Driebergen-Rijsenburg is a town in the municipality Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.

It is the home of Michelin starred restaurant La Provence.

Forests

 * Driebergen forest
 * Rijsenburg Forest

Transportation

 * Driebergen-Zeist railway station

title: Driebergen-Rijsenburg


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Eemnes

Eemnes is a municipality and a village in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.

The town of Eemnes
Eemnes formerly consisted of two villages, Eemnes-Binnen ("Inner Eemnes") and Eemnes-Buiten ("Outer Eemnes"). These names referred to the location of the villages with respect to the dyke of the river Eem.

Eemnes-Buiten received city rights in 1345; Eemnes-Binnen was granted city rights in 1439.

Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Eemnes, June 2015

Pools
Until 1932, when the Afsluitdijk sealed off the Zuiderzee from the North Sea, the weak dykes in this part of the country would occasionally break during storms. This resulted in the formation of pools, which in Dutch are called "waaien" or "wielen". Because they could be tens of meters in diameter and several metres deep, landowners often did not make the effort of filling them up. Because they symbolize man's battle against the sea and are relatively rare, provincial authorities designated them "geological monuments" in June 2005.

Notable people

 * Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis (1916 in Eemnes – 2002) was a Dutch orientalist and Indologist
 * Roland van Benthem (born 1968 in Emmeloord) a Dutch politician and former mayor of Eemnes (2005-2022).

Notable events

 * 14 December 1917: Coastal class airship C.26 crash

title: Eemnes


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Houten

Houten is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.

Population centres
The municipality consists of the following towns:
 * 't Goy
 * Houten
 * Schalkwijk
 * Tull en 't Waal

Houten (town)
The main town in the municipality is Houten, a commuter town about 9 km southeast of Utrecht. On 1 January 2020, the town had 50,177 inhabitants (municipality). The built-up area was 5.08 km2 in area, and contained 20,010 residences in 2018. The slightly larger statistical district of Houten had a population of about 39,100 in 2004.

History of Houten

Remains of a Roman villa have been found in the old centre of Houten, made visible in a street pattern. These remains were discovered in the 1950s.

In the Dark Ages, Houten took shape as a rural centre. The area of the municipality of Houten was divided in the so-called gerechten ("districts"), the names of which are still in use: Schonauwen, Wulven, Waijen, Heemstede.

Many elements of present-day Houten are remnants of its history. Prominent in the old centre (Het Oude Dorp, "The Old Town") are the Roman Catholic Church (1884) and the Protestant Church (1563). The first accounts of the older church date from the ninth century; the oldest parts of the present church building are probably from the eleventh century. Another prominent building is the restaurant-cafe De Engel ("The Angel"), already mentioned in the 16th century as a tavern.

Former access roads to the old centre are still recognisable by their names, such as the Odijkseweg and Loerikseweg. Houten had many orchards, but few have survived.

The expanding city 1966–1998
Modern Houten started to take shape late in the 20th century (1966–1998). It was first designated by the office of Wissing-Derks as a Groeikern -– a centre of growth –- to meet the needs of the growing city of Utrecht. From the beginning, urban planner-designer Robert Derks was involved with the development of New Town Houten. Construction of 10,000 new dwellings began in 1979, and the population grew from 4,000 to more than 30,000 by the end of the century.

Second designation as a centre of urban growth 1992–2015
By 2015, some 7,000 new houses had been built in Houten-Zuid, following the same urban design principles as in the existing northern part of Houten, with some differences. The body of water to the east is large in comparison with water bodies in the old parts of Houten. The pentagonal green zone in Houten-Zuid embracing the centre is different from the green zone in Houten-Noord, which runs through the whole city in a linear structure, crossing the new city centre and with larger parks at either end. Another difference is that in some places cars share the road with bicycle paths (this concept was later applied in the northern part as well). The southern part was also designed by Robert Derks and his office for urban design Stedebouw BV.

Rail
Houten has two railway stations, Houten (opened in 1868, closed in 1934, re-opened on a different location in 1982 and restructured in 2010) and Houten Castellum (opened in 2010). These stations are served by local commuter trains to Utrecht (northbound) and Geldermalsen (southbound, with subsequent connections to Tiel and 's-Hertogenbosch/Breda). The railway has been doubled from two tracks to four, to accommodate for an extra stop at Castellum with a frequency of four trains per hour in each direction.

Bus
Busses travel to regional destinations, such as Nieuwegein and Utrecht.

Bike
Like most Dutch cities, Houten is well adapted to the high number of cyclists. Unlike other cities Houten is built around a system of car-free public space combined with the infrastructure for slow traffic. The design principle of separating cycling and walking from car traffic has been pushed to the limit. Houten is unique in this. Cycling comfort and safety are extremely high (optimal), even by Dutch standards. A large network of bike paths makes it convenient to cycle to various destinations and within the town the bike is the most popular means of transport.

On 29 October 2008 Houten was chosen as Fietsstad 2008 — the top BikeCity of the Netherlands for 2008. The same happened on 16 January 2018, when Houten was praised for its best all round cycling characteristics and again voted the best Fietsstad 2018 — the nations top BikeCity for 2018. Since the first bicycle city election (held every two years) in 2002 Houten is the only one that managed to win the title twice. The city of Houten is known as, nationally and internationally, and in growing interest from home and abroad, as the worlds best practical example for bicycle friendliness. A growing number of groups with politicians, developers, designers and students visit cycling city Houten for study purposes and inspiration.

Car
To the west, Houten has its own exit from the A27 motorway, and the N409 (single carriageway with bus lane) runs from Houten to Nieuwegein. To the east and south, there are only local roads, not designed for through traffic. A connection to the A12 motorway to the north is the N421 (single carriageway).

The only way to get from one district to another is via the ring road which circles around Houten, thus preventing through traffic in residential areas. Maximum speed on most of the ring road is 70 km/h.

Sustainable urban design
Houten is internationally known for its urban design. Because of the city structure, people are encouraged to travel by bike and train. Distinctive qualities of Houten include the accessibility of the railway station, green and water zones throughout the whole city, numerous soccer and basketball fields, high standard of accommodation for different groups and the child-friendly bicycle paths. It is one of the safest cities in the Netherlands. Cyclists and cars are able to avoid each other: an extensive network of bicycle tracks connects the different districts of the town, while cars have to go to the city ring road before they can go to another part of the city.

Thomas House is a small-scale housing complex in Houten for adults with intellectual disabilities, opened in 2013.

Remarkable buildings in Houten

 * Aluminiumcentre Aluminium wood (Micha de Haas)
 * Pyramid-shaped apartment complex Het Domein (Das brothers, Alberts & Van Huut))
 * Total petrol station (Samyn and Partners)
 * Fire department (Samyn and Partners)
 * De Kniphoek - Rietplas (Hans Been Architecten)
 * The Golden House (Micha de Haas)
 * railway station bicycle transferium (Movares\StudioSK, Henk Woltjer)
 * JOINN! (De Wit architecten)

Famous people from Houten

 * Bart de Ligt (1883 in Schalkwijk – 1938) a Dutch anarcho-pacifist and antimilitarist; supported conscientious objectors
 * Chriet Titulaer (1943-2017) a Dutch astronomer, TV presenter and popular science writer; lived in Houten
 * Branimir Štulić (born 1953), singer-songwriter, musician, author and former frontman of rock group Azra; lives in Houten
 * Peter van Dalen (born 1958) a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament
 * Ruud Kuijer (born 1959 in Schalkwijk) a Dutch sculptor, known for his Water works
 * Bram Snepvangers (born 1976) plays the card game Magic: The Gathering; lives in Houten
 * Rutger Bregman (born 1988) a Dutch historian and author, best known for Utopia for Realists; lives in Houten
 * Noël van 't End (born 1991) a Dutch judoka, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics

authors: Light at the end of the tip of the iceberg

title: Houten


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IJsselstein

IJsselstein is a municipality and city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. IJsselstein received city rights in 1331. IJsselstein owes its name to the river Hollandse IJssel which flows through the city. It is a major commuting suburb for the Utrecht area, along with the neighbouringing towns Houten and Nieuwegein (in part due to the Sneltram light rail line serving the area). It's surrounded by the municipalities of Utrecht, Montfoort, Lopik, Vijfheerenlanden and Nieuwegein.

Sights
The city has an old town, surrounded by a small canal. A castle stood in IJsselstein from 1300 to 1888; the tower survived. The city has two large churches, both named after St. Nicholas: the Dutch Reformed Nicolaas church, founded in 1310, and a Roman Catholic church. Inside the Protestant church there are two mausoleums; one of the family of Gijsbrecht van Amstel (1350) and another of (1475). The catholic basilica of St. Nicolaas dates from 1887 and is neo-gothic. It was given the title of 'Basilica Minor' by Pope Paul VI in 1972.

A 366.8 metres high television mast, called the Gerbrandy Tower, is located in IJsselstein. The tower is commonly, and erroneously, referred to as Zendmast Lopik, after the nearby village of Lopik.

Notable people

 * Arnold, Lord of IJsselstein (1304–1363), the second Lord of IJsselstein and Stoutenburg
 * Maximiliaan of Egmont (1509–1548), Count of Buren and Leerdam, and the Stadtholder of Friesland 1540 to 1548
 * Patrick van den Brink (born 1967), a former mayor of IJsselstein
 * Marijke van Beukering-Huijbregts (born 1971), a former alderwoman of IJsselstein
 * Michel Vorm (born 1983), a retired football goalkeeper
 * Nicki Pouw-Verweij (born 1991), a physician and politician
 * Lieke van Lexmond (born 1982), an actress, model and TV host

title: IJsselstein


text:
Leersum

Leersum is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It lies about 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Doorn and 9 km (5.5 mi) west of Veenendaal.

In 2001, the town of Leersum had 6013 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 1.44 km2; it contained 2465 residences. Until 2006, Leersum was its own municipality, covering both the town of Leersum and neighbouring Darthuizen.

In June 2021, Leersum was hit by a downburst. Many cars and homes were heavily damaged by falling trees. As a result, the forests around Leersum have been closed. Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch state forest administration, estimates that damaged sections of forest will not be reopened to the general public before the end of the year 2021.

title: Leersum


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Leusden

Leusden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort.

The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Ridge and is largely covered by forest and heathlands. The eastern parts lie in the and are mostly agricultural.

Former Amersfoort concentration camp lies just within the northern municipal border with Amersfoort.

Population centres
The municipality of Leusden contains four villages:

 * Leusden, originally named "Hamersveld" and later "Leusden-Centrum";
 * Leusden-Zuid, formerly "Leusbroek"
 * Achterveld
 * Stoutenburg

There are also a number of hamlets in the municipality: • Asschat

• Den Treek

• De Ruif

• Jannendorp

• Musschendorp

• Oud-Leusden

• Snorrenhoef

The town of Leusden
The place that is now called Leusden was first mentioned as Villa Lisiduna in a charter in 777. The exact location of that settlement, which is considered to have been a rather extensive farm complex with defenses, is unknown to us. It is possible that the old village of Oud-Leusden once was the location of Villa Lisiduna but excavations in the 1980s have not provided any evidence. However, the church tower of Oud-Leusden is one of the oldest towers in the Netherlands, dating back at least to the 11th century A.D. Close to Leusden is the site of the former monastery Heiligenberg, founded around the year 1000 by bishop Ansfridus of Utrecht, who died here in 1010.

In the 1970s, the agricultural villages of Leusbroek and Hamersveld grew together into a larger, mainly residential town. What once was Hamersveld is now called Leusden-Centrum, now commonly Leusden, and Leusbroek was to become Leusden-Zuid. In the original plans, Leusden was to grow into a town of around 46,000 inhabitants. After the initial expansion there was a growing resistance from the population, so some of the later phases of expansion have been abandoned.

Shopping areas
In Leusden there are 3 shopping centres:

1.) The Hamershof, this is the biggest mall with about 80 stores in the centre of Leusden. The oldest part opened in 1980 together with the Town Hall nearby the Hamershof.

2.) The Biezenkamp, this is the second shopping centre in the centre of town, there are not more than 20 shops.

3.) The Zuidhoek in the new neighborhood the Tabaksteeg, there are just 5 shops located around the square.

Notable residents

 * Gerrit Achterberg (1905-1962 in Leusden) a poet
 * Arleen Auger (1939-1993 in Leusden) an American soprano
 * Robby Valentine (born 1968 in Leusden) singer and multi-instrumentalist
 * Marieke Wijsman (born 1975 in Leusden) former speed-skater, competed at the 1988 and 2002 Winter Olympics
 * Marike Jager (born 1979) a Dutch singer-songwriter, guitarist and TV presenter, grew up in Leusden
 * Haike van Stralen (born 1983 in Leusden) a Dutch former freestyle swimmer, who competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics

title: Leusden


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Loenen

Loenen is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was in the Vechtstreek area. On January 1, 2011, Loenen merged with Breukelen and Maarssen to form Stichtse Vecht.

Population centres
The former municipality of Loenen consisted of the following cities, towns, villages and districts:
 * Loenen (aan de Vecht) (main town)
 * Loenersloot
 * Mijnden
 * Nieuwerhoek
 * Nieuwersluis
 * Nigtevecht
 * Vreeland

History
The earliest traceable mention of the game of golf refers to a game played in Loenen aan de Vecht. In his book Early Golf, Steven van Hengel describes how the game of "Colf" or "Kolf" was played in 1297 near the castle of Kronenburg. The players had to hit the castle door in as few strikes as possible from the Court House by hitting a ball with a stick.

title: Loenen


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Lopik

Lopik is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, close to the Lek river.

History
Lopik lies within the Lopikerwaard region, which used to be occupied by swamps and forests until the area was cultivated in the eleventh century. Lopik was first mentioned as "Lobeke" in 1155 CE. Most of the population settled along the canals that were used for transport and drainage (and which are still used for the latter purpose). It was not until after World War II that villages in the area were expanded beyond the original ribbons of buildings, and Lopik remains a well-known example of a linear settlement within the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, "Lopik" is often used as a reference to the broadcasting facilities located in the eastern part of the municipality and in neighbouring IJsselstein. These include the Gerbrandy Tower, a structure that is the tallest structure in the Netherlands, and the world's largest Christmas tree during the period around Christmas.

Geography
The entire municipality lies within the Dutch Green Heart and has a rural character. The two main access roads are the N210 and N204 provincial roads, which connect the area with major cities that include Rotterdam and Utrecht. The river Lek lies behind a high dike, which is visible from most of the south of the Lopik municipality. In the end of the eighties and early nineties the dike was strengthened and extra height was added in preparation for increasingly high water levels. Ambitious planning for continued improvement to the dikes continues.

Population centres
The municipality of Lopik consists of the following towns, villages and/or districts: • Benschop

• Cabauw

• Jaarsveld

• Lopik

• Lopikerkapel

• Polsbroek

• Polsbroekerdam

• Uitweg

• Willige Langerak

• Zevender

Topography

Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Lopik, June 2015

Transport
Public transport in the region primarily consists of bus connections, which are mainly carried out by Syntus. The nearest railway stations are in Gouda and Woerden.

Notable residents

 * Paul Theodor van Brussel (1754 in Zuid-Polsbroek – 1795) a Dutch flower painter
 * Herman de Man (1898–1946) a Dutch novelist, grew up in Lopikerwaard
 * Mineke Schipper (born 1938 in Polsbroek) a Dutch author of non-fiction and fiction and scholar
 * Kees van Ieperen (born 1956 in Lopikerkapel) a retired skeet shooter, competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics
 * Ton Strien (born 1958 in Lopik) a Dutch politician
 * Tjaarke Maas (1974 in Lopik – 2004) a Dutch painter, partic. of Russian sacred art
 * Peter Schep (born 1977 in Lopik) a Dutch racing track endurance cyclist
 * Kees van Buuren (born 1986 in Lopik) a retired Dutch footballer with 230 club caps
 * Ellen Visee (born 1980 in Lopik) winner of the Greenberry Pubquiz 2021

title: Lopik


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Maarn

Maarn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Zeist.

In 2001, the town of Maarn had 4,071 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 1.26 km2; it contained 1,793 residences. Until 2006, Maarn was its own municipality, covering both Maarn and neighbouring Maarsbergen.

Maarn is a small town in the heart of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a protected nature reserve in the Netherlands. The town and its surroundings have approximately 8,000 inhabitants, a small centre and are probably best known for tourism to the numerous camp-sites that surround the town.

History
Maarn was built in 1921 for the workers who worked in the sand excavation of the Dutch Railways. In 2003 municipality was renovated according to current standards and regulations.

Transportation
Railway station: Maarn

title: Maarn


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Maarssen

Maarssen is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-Broek whereas the east is called Maarssen-Dorp. Both put together and joined by other small towns around provide the area of Maarssen.

On 1 January 2011 Maarssen merged with the councils of Breukelen and Loenen to become Stichtse Vecht.

Population centres
The former municipality of Maarssen consisted of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts:
 * Maarssen (colloquially "Maarssen-dorp") and Maarssen-Broek
 * Maarssenbroek
 * Maarsseveen
 * Molenpolder
 * Oud-Maarsseveen
 * Oud-Zuilen
 * Tienhoven

Transportation

 * Maarssen railway station

title: Maarssen


text:
Montfoort

Montfoort is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Montfoort received city rights in 1329.

Population centres
The municipality of Montfoort consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: • Achthoven

• Achthoven-Oost

• Blokland

• Cattenbroek

• Heeswijk

• Knollemanshoek

• Linschoten

• Mastwijk

• Montfoort

• Willeskop

Topography

Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Montfoort, June 2015

Notable people

 * Jan III van Montfoort (ca.1448 – 1522) a leader of the Hook Party in the Bishopric of Utrecht
 * Anthonie Blocklandt van Montfoort (1533 or 1534 - 1583) a Dutch painter
 * Isbrand van Diemerbroeck (1609–1674) a Dutch physician, anatomist and professor
 * Matthew Maty (1718–1776) a physician and writer, secretary of the Royal Society and librarian of the British Museum
 * Mark van Eldik (born 1967) a Dutch rally driver

title: Montfoort


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Nieuwegein

Nieuwegein is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the southwest and Houten in the east. Nieuwegein has 64,606 inhabitants as of 1 December 2021.

Several national sports federations are housed in Nieuwegein, including the NeVoBo (volleyball), KNZB (swimming), NBb (basketball) and KNCB (cricket).

There are three main secondary schools in the city, including the Anna van Rijn College, Oosterlicht College and the Cals College.

History
Nieuwegein was founded on 1 July 1971 as a planned city, following the merger of the former municipalities of Jutphaas and Vreeswijk. The new town was built for the expanding population of the city of Utrecht, and grew rapidly during the decades following its foundation.

In the area between Jutphaas and Vreeswijk there used to be a settlement called Geyne (Gein). This settlement received city rights in 1295 but was destroyed in 1333, in a war between the Bishop of Utrecht and the Count of Holland. Today only Oudegein House remains from that time. After the boards of Vreeswijk and Jutphaas had debated for some time about the name of the new municipality, they decided to name it after this old settlement - Nieuwegein meaning 'New Gein'.

Demographics
As of 2016, 50.7% of the population consider themselves religious. The largest denomination are Catholics, which are 27.5% of the population, followed by various Protestant denominations (23.8%), and Islam (5.3%). 14.3% of the Nieuwegein population attends religious service regularly.

Social characteristics & issues
As of 2017, Nieuwegein has a poverty rate of 4.7% compared to the 5.7% national average.

Transportation
Nieuwegein is surrounded by three motorways (Dutch: autosnelweg), the A2 to the west, the A12 to the north and the A27 to the east.

Nieuwegein is connected to Utrecht and IJsselstein by the Sneltram (light rail) line. There is a pedestrian ferry across the river Lek to Vianen. Three canals flow through Nieuwegein: the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, the Lek River and the Merwede Canal. There are also a few sports clubs in Nieuwegein, such as: KV Koveni, SV Geinoord, VSV Vreeswijk and JSV Nieuwegein.

Buildings
In Nieuwegein, there is a mandi (Mandaean temple) called Vereniging Mandi van de Mandeeërs Gemeenschap in Nederland.

Twin towns

 * 🇵🇱 Puławy, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, was a twin town of Nieuwegein from 1994 to 2020. In July 2020, after Puławy installed a gay-free zone, Nieuwegein ended the partnership.
 * 🇳🇦 Rundu, Kavango East Region, Namibia, is a twin town of Nieuwegein since 1994. Because of the current state of gay rights in Namibia, the city council is debating on continuing the partnership.

Notable people

 * Piet Schrijvers (born 1946 in Jutphaas) a Dutch football manager and former goalkeeper with 563 club caps
 * Veronique Renard (born 1965 in Jutphaas) a Dutch author and visual artist
 * Jasper van Dijk (born 1971 in Jutphaas) a Dutch politician
 * Mark Snoeren (born 1974) a Dutch politician
 * Nine Kooiman (born 1980) a Dutch politician and former social worker
 * Finne Jager (born 1984) stage name Phynn, a Dutch trance and techno DJ and producer
 * Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen (born 1986) a Dutch professional eSports player
 * Sari van Veenendaal (born 1990) a Dutch football goalkeeper with Atlético Madrid Femenino, captains the Dutch national team
 * Robin de Kruijf (born 1991) a Dutch volleyball player, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics

title: Nieuwegein