Terneuzen

Terneuzen
Municipality
Terneuzen city hall

Flag
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Terneuzen in a municipal map of Zeeland
Location in Zeeland
Coordinates: 51°20′N 3°50′E / 51.333°N 3.833°E / 51.333; 3.833Coordinates: 51°20′N 3°50′E / 51.333°N 3.833°E / 51.333; 3.833
Country Netherlands
Province Zeeland
Government[1]
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Jan Lonink (PvdA)
Area[2]
 • Total 317.76 km2 (122.69 sq mi)
 • Land 250.65 km2 (96.78 sq mi)
 • Water 67.11 km2 (25.91 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 4 m (13 ft)
Population (August 2017)[4]
 • Total 54,473
 • Density 217/km2 (560/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Terneuzenaar
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode Part of 4500 range
Area code 0115
Website www.terneuzen.nl

Terneuzen (Dutch pronunciation: [tɛrˈnøːzə(n)] ( listen)) is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With over 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland[5].

History

Historical house (national site) in Terneuzen

First mentioned in 1325, Terneuzen was a strategically located port on the waterways to Ghent, in present-day Belgium.

It received city rights in 1584.

Tradition has it that Terneuzen was once the home of the legendary Flying Dutchman, Van der Decken, a captain who cursed God and was condemned to sail the seas forever, as described in the Frederick Marryat novel The Phantom Ship and the Richard Wagner opera The Flying Dutchman.

Before 1877, the city was often called Neuzen.

Geography

Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Terneuzen, June 2015

The city of Terneuzen is located on the southern shore of the Western Scheldt estuary.

The municipality of Terneuzen consists of the following population centres:

Economy

Nowadays the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal is still an important shipping route.[6] The port of Terneuzen is the third largest in the Netherlands, after those of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The largest plant of Dow Chemical Company outside of the United States is located at Terneuzen, on the west side of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal.

Transport

It can be reached from the rest of the Netherlands via the Western Scheldt Tunnel, which opened in March 2003. Terneuzen is not linked to the rest of the Netherlands by rail - although the Dow Chemical plant is served by a freight only line to Ghent in Belgium (Terneuzen's passenger rail service was withdrawn in 1951).

Notable residents

  • Sandra E. Roelofs, the former first lady of Georgia.
  • Lodewijk van den Berg, astronaut on a Challenger Space Shuttle mission, born in Sluiskil, Terneuzen.
  • Klaas de Vries, a composer and one of the founders of a music style that became known as the Rotterdam School.
  • Jacques Hamelink, a novelist, poet and literary critic, who is best known for his poetry and early short story collections such as Het plantaardig bewind ("The Vegetative Dominion", 1964).
  • Erik de Bruyn, film director
  • Eric van Damme, Dutch economist

References

  1. ↑ "Burgemeester en Wethouders" [Mayor and aldermen] (in Dutch). Gemeente Terneuzen. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten" [Key figures for neighbourhoods]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Postcodetool for 4531GZ". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Netherland Statistics". statline. 28 December 2017.
  6. ↑ www.binnenvaart.be Archived 2006-04-04 at the Wayback Machine.
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