Amstelveen

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Amstelveen
—  Municipality  —
Stadshart (Center of Amstelveen).
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52°18′N 4°52′E / 52.30°N 4.87°E / 52.30; 4.87
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Area (2009)
- Total	44.05 km2 (17 sq mi)
- Land	41.56 km2 (16 sq mi)
- Water	2.49 km2 (1 sq mi)
Population (26 January, 2009)
- Total	78,980
- Density	1,903/km2 (4,928.7/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	http://www.amstelveen.nl

Satellite photograph of Amstelveen

KLM head office

Amstelveen (help·info) is an urban village municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the following villages and/or districts: Amstelveen, Bovenkerk, Westwijk, Nes aan de Amstel, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel (partly). The name Amstelveen comes from 'Amstel', a local river, and 'veen', meaning peat or moor.

KLM has its headquarters in Amstelveen.^[1][2]52°18′22″N 4°50′35″E / 52.306117°N 4.842954°E / 52.306117; 4.842954, as are the international headquarters of one of the Big Four auditors, KPMG.

History

During the French occupation between 1810 and 1814, it was the capital of a canton in the French department Zuiderzee and until 1964, the municipality of Amstelveen was called Nieuwer-Amstel. It is 'technically a large dorp (village), due to the fact that it is not and was not walled. The symbol adopted for Amstelveen was based on the Amsterdam symbol of three crosses, with one additional cross for distinction. The Thijssepark (in full the Dr Jac. P. Thijssepark), was the first heempark in the Netherlands and is one of sixteen heemparks or heemgroen in Amstelveen. Designed by landscape architect C.P.Broerse; following the ideas of the great Dutch naturalist and conservationist Jac. P. Thijsse, it was developed between 1940 and 1972 and covers an area of 5 hectares, and is situated just south of the Amsterdamse Bos. Amstelveen was chosen as an unlikely host of a match in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, for which the Netherlands had not qualified. South Africa played Kenya in the match. Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende started his political career as member of the council for Amstelveen. The Nihon Ki-in established its European Go and Cultural Centre in Amstelveen. As a result of the vicinity of Schiphol (Amsterdam Airport), and it's links to Amsterdam, Amstelveen has grown and become a cosmopolitan mix of many cultures dwelling in Amstelveen.

Local government

The municipal council of Amstelveen consists of 35 seats, which are divided as follows:

• VVD - 9 seats
• PvdA - 8 seats
• GroenLinks - 5 seats
• Burger Belangen - 5 seats
• CDA - 4 seats
• D66 - 2 seats
• Christen Unie - 1 seat
• OCA/VSP - 1 seat

Twined with

• Woking in United Kingdom
• Villa El Salvador in Peru
• Tempelhof in Germany
• Óbuda-Békásmegyer in Hungary

Transportation

Amstelveen has a metro and tram connection with Amsterdam. The Metro is a larger version of the tram in which some bicycles may be taken. It has a good 'point to point' bus connection to other villages, Schipol, Amsterdam as well as a local network.

Tourism and attractions

• Cobra Museum is located in the center (Stadshart) of Amstelveen.
• Museum Jan van der Togt, housing a glass collection
• Birthplace of the artist Jan Cornelis Hofman.
• A statue of Rembrandt is situated by the side of the river Amstel, south east from the Amstelpark, where a windmill open to visitors is also situated
• An Electrische Museumtramlijn still connects to Amsterdam in the summer, passing by the Amsterdamse Bos and Olympic rowing lake
• Further places of interest: Amsterdam,

Secondary Education

• The Hermann Wesselink College: offers Bilingual education, VWO (Gymnasium and Atheneum), HAVO and VMBO-T.
• The Keizer Karel College: offers VWO (Gymnasium and Atheneum) and HAVO.
• The Amstelveen College: offers VWO (Gymnasium and Atheneum), HAVO and VMBO-T.
• The Panta Rhei: offers VMBO and LWOO.

Other Education

• The International School Amsterdam is located in Amstelveen.

References

1. ^ "Contact." KLM Corporate. Retrieved on 28 September 2009.
2. ^ "Fact Sheet." SkyTeam. Retrieved on 27 December 2008.

• Statistics are taken from the Sdu.nl (Dutch)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amstelveen

• A map of the municipality Amstelveen
• Amselveenweb.com (Dutch)
• Official website Amstelveen
• Part of Amstelveen in the near future
• Website of Scouts group in Amstelveen
• Live weather in Amstelveen, follow live updates on Twitter and Facebook (meteoamstelveen)

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