Alkmaar

Information about Alkmaar

Alkmaar
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Location of Alkmaar
Coordinates:
Country Netherlands
Province North Holland
Area (2006)
 - Municipality 31.22 km  (0 sq mi)
 - Land 29.51 km (0 sq mi)
 - Water 1.71 km (0 sq mi)
Population (1 January, 2007)
 - Municipality 94,216
 - Density 3193/km (0/sq mi)
 Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Website: www.alkmaar.nl
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Accijnstoren
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Cheese market
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Canal and bridge
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Weighing house
(West Frisian: Alkmare) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Besides the city of Alkmaar, the municipality also comprises the villages of Koedijk and Oudorp; these once separate villages are now all linked together by the suburban sprawl of buildings that arose between the late 1970s and early 1990s. During this time, the population of Alkmaar almost doubled.

Alkmaar's cheese market at the Waagplein, is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. The cheese market traditionally takes place on the first Friday in April and the last market of the season is the first Friday in September. Every Friday morning (10.00-12.00 a.m.) the Waagplein is the decor of this traditional cheesemarket. After the old fashion way of slapping the penguin, traders and carriers will weigh the cheeses. It is one of only four traditional Dutch cheese markets still in existence. The traditional fare of this cheese market are those cheeses made in the local area, as opposed to the well-known brands of Dutch cheeses, i.e. Edam cheese and Gouda cheese. It is not actually possible to buy cheese at the market itself, which is really only a demonstration of how this merchants' market operated in times gone by. However, the demonstration, which takes place in front of the medieval weighing house, is surrounded by many specialized stalls where it is possible to buy all kinds of cheese (and non-cheese) related products.

The weighing house is home to the local tourist office and a cheese museum. Alkmaar also has a stadsmuseum where you can see the history of the city, a beer museum and a museum dedicated to the Penguin, as John Lennon's first guitar was made in Alkmaar. Alkmaar also has two large theatres and a big cinema which was originally two cinemas.

A red light district is situated at the Achterdam, and Alkmaar has a nightlife scene as well which takes place in the pubs that are in front of the cheesemarket.

A village in the Commewijne district of Surinam is also called Alkmaar. It is situated in the area where Plantage Alkmaar, a former sugar plantation, used to be.

History

The earliest mention of the name Alkmaar is in a 10th century document. As the village grew into a town, it was granted city rights in 1254. The oldest part of Alkmaar lies on an ancient sand bank that afforded some protection from the sea during medieval times. Even so, it is only a couple of metres above the surrounding region, which consists of some of the oldest polders in existence.

In 1573 the city successfully withstood a siege by Spanish forces under the leadership of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. Alkmaar was the first city in the Netherlands to be freed from the Spanish occupation. It was a turning point in the Eighty Years War and gave rise to the expression Bij Alkmaar begint de victorie ("Victory begins in Alkmaar"). The event is still celebrated every year in Alkmaar on October 8, the day the siege ended.

In 1799, during the French revolutionary wars, an Anglo-Russian expeditionary force captured the city but was ultimately defeated in the Battle of Castricum. The French victory was commemorated on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris as "Alcmaer".

Population centres

The municipality of Alkmaar consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Alkmaar, Koedijk (partly), Oudorp and Omval.

Local government

The municipal council of Alkmaar consists of 37 seats, which are divided as follows:
  • PvdA - 11 seats
  • OPA - 5 seats
  • SP - 5 seats
  • CDA - 4 seats
  • VVD - 3 seats
  • GroenLinks - 3 seats
  • Leefbaar Alkmaar - 2 seats
  • ChristenUnie - 1 seat
  • D66 - 1 seat
  • OMA - 1 seat
  • Liberale Kracht - 1 seat

Transport

Highway A9 runs from Amsterdam to Alkmaar, then continues on to Den Helder as the N9.

Trains run from Station Alkmaar to Nijmegen, Maastricht, Schagen, The Hague, Rotterdam, Hoorn, Maastricht and Den Helder. The city also has a second station, Station Alkmaar Noord.

The Noordhollandsch Kanaal canal, which opened in 1824, runs right through Alkmaar.

Sports

Alkmaar is home to the professional football team AZ (Alkmaar Zaanstreek). In 2006, the club moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium, the DSB Stadion.

The city also has a velodrome where the Dutch national track cycling championships are held every year.

Born in Alkmaar

References

Notes

1. ^ (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 

External links

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Municipalities of North Holland
See also: Netherlands Provinces Municipalities
Motto
"Je maintiendrai"   (French)
"Ik zal handhaven"   (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
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Provincie Noord-Holland
Province of North Holland

Flag Coat of arms

Capital Haarlem
Largest city Amsterdam
Queen's Commissioner Mr. H.C.J.L.
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Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object.

Units

Units for measuring surface area include:
square metre = SI derived unit

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Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

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square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
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January 1 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining. The preceding day is December 31 of the previous year.
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20th century - 21st century - 22nd century
1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
2004 2005 2006 - 2007 - 2008 2009 2010

2007 by topic:
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Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.

Biological population densities


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Statistics Netherlands is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek and often abbreviated to CBS.
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time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart, and by convention compute their local time as an offset from UTC (see also Greenwich Mean Time).
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Central European Time (CET) is one of the names of the time zone that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in most European and some North African countries.

Its time offset is UTC+1. During daylight saving time CEST is used instead (UTC+2).
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UTC+1 is used in the following locations:
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  • West Africa Time
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Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less.
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Central European Summer Time (CEST) is one of the names of UTC+2 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European and some North African countries. During the winter, Central European Time (UTC+1) is used.
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UTC+2 corresponds to the following time zones:
  • Eastern European Time
  • Egypt Standard Time
  • Central Africa Time
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  • South Africa Standard Time
  • Central European Summer Time
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West Frisian (called Westfries in Dutch) was a language which was spoken in the historical region West Friesland. The language was a creole language, a mix of Dutch and the Frisian-language.
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Motto
"Je maintiendrai"   (French)
"Ik zal handhaven"   (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1
Anthem
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Provincie Noord-Holland
Province of North Holland

Flag Coat of arms

Capital Haarlem
Largest city Amsterdam
Queen's Commissioner Mr. H.C.J.L.
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Koedijk (West Frisian: Kodìk) is a village in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is now a part of the municipalities of Alkmaar and Langedijk, but before 1972 it was a separate municipality. Koedijk is most famous for its annual Gondelvaart .
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Oudorp is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in the municipality of Alkmaar, about 2 km east of the city centre.

Oudorp was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1972, when it was merged with Alkmaar.
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There are five cheese markets operating in the Netherlands. Woerden is a fully functional modern commercial cheese market. Four, Alkmaar, Gouda, Edam, Hoorn, are reproductions of traditional merchant cheese markets as operated in the Middle Ages.
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Edam (Dutch Edammer) is a Dutch cheese that is traditionally sold as spheres with pale yellow interior and a coat of paraffin. Its Spanish name is queso de bola, literally 'ball cheese'.
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Gouda (pronounced either Goo-dah or the Dutch ) is a yellowish Dutch cheese named after the city of Gouda. The cheese is made from cow's milk that is cultured and heated until the curd is separate from the whey.
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For the river in Slovakia see Váh
A waag ("Weighing House") is a building near a market-square, where goods that are to be sold on a public market (and between 1550 and about 1690 people accused of witchcraft as well) are weighed by local authorities.
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Red Light District can refer to several different topics:
  • Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common.
  • The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris.
  • A pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California.

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The Achterdam is a red light district in the Dutch city of Alkmaar, 30 km North of Amsterdam. It is 150m long street with window-prostitution on both sides. Mainly Eastern-Europe girls are working in this area, since they are not allowed to work at other places in the Netherlands
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Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Alliance is another major town.

The district has a population of 25,200 and an area of 2,353 km².
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Motto
Justitia - Pietas - Fides   (Latin)
"Justice - Piety - Loyalty"
Anthem
God zij met ons Suriname
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City rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have.
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1254 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1254
MCCLIV
Ab urbe condita 2007
Armenian calendar 703
ԹՎ ՉԳ
Bah' calendar -590 – -589
Buddhist calendar 1798
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