Almere
| Almere | |||
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| Municipality | |||
Skyline of Almere
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.svg) Location in Flevoland |
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| Coordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°ECoordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°E | |||
| Country | Netherlands | ||
| Province | Flevoland | ||
| Government | |||
| • Body | Municipal council | ||
| • Mayor | Franc Weerwind (D66) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 248.77 km2 (96.05 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 129.60 km2 (50.04 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 119.17 km2 (46.01 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | −3 m (−10 ft) | ||
| Population (May 2014) | |||
| • Total | 196,290 | ||
| • Density | 1,515/km2 (3,920/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Almeerder | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postcode | 1300–1379 | ||
| Area code | 036 | ||
| Website | www |
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Almere (Dutch pronunciation: [ɑlˈmeːrə]) is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere compromises 6 official districts and boroughs. These are the districts Almere Stad (which is further split up into Almere Stad Oost, Almere Stad West and Almere Centrum), Almere Buiten and Almere Pampus (which is currently being designed), and the boroughs of Almere Haven, Almere Hout and Almere Poort. 4 of them also feature official district/borough offices. Furthermore, it also compromises of the unofficial historic district and neighborhood Oostvaardersdiep, which has an active semi-self-governing community, and the planned district of Almere Oosterwold.
Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands: the land on which Almere sits, the Southern Flevoland Polder, was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer in 1959-68. The first house was finished in 1976, and Almere became a municipality in 1984. It has the largest population of the municipalities in Flevoland with 196,290 citizens in 2014 and the 7th largest in the Netherlands. In October 2007, the city council of Almere made agreements with the government to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by 2030.
The original plans for the IJsselmeerpolders saw the land being used for agriculture. However, after World War II housing was needed for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam and two towns were planned in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland. The town in Oostelijk Flevoland became Lelystad. The town in Zuidelijk Flevoland was still called Zuidweststad (English: South West City) on the first sketches, but in the 1970s it became called Almere, named after the lake Almere, the early medieval name of the Zuiderzee. The first house in Almere was finished in 1976. At that time the town was still controlled by the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Z.IJ.P.), with a Landdrost. In 1984 Almere became an official municipality. Originally, Almere was envisioned as a town with multiple centres. This idea was later abandoned in favor of allowing neighbourhoods like Tussen de Vaarten to be built. There is also a difference between the way houses are built in the oldest and the newest parts of the city. The housing plan in Almere in the 1970s was basic functionality and a levelling of social status. However, starting in the 1990s more exclusive homes with striking designs were built (e.g., in the Regenboogbuurt).
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Wikipedia