Coevorden

Coevorden
City and municipality
Castle and city hall of Coevorden in 2007
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Drenthe
Coordinates: 52°40′N 6°45′E / 52.667°N 6.750°E / 52.667; 6.750Coordinates: 52°40′N 6°45′E / 52.667°N 6.750°E / 52.667; 6.750
Country	Netherlands
Province	Drenthe
Government
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Bert Bouwmeester (D66)
Area
• Total	299.69 km2 (115.71 sq mi)
• Land	296.54 km2 (114.49 sq mi)
• Water	3.15 km2 (1.22 sq mi)
Elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population (May 2014)
• Total	35,639
• Density	120/km2 (300/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Coevordenaar
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode	7740–7759, 7840–7869
Area code	0524, 0528, 0591
Website	www.coevorden.nl

Coevorden (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkuvɔrdən]; Dutch Low Saxon: Koevern) is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. During the municipal reorganisation in the province in 1998, Coevorden merged with Dalen, Sleen, Oosterhesselen and Zweeloo.

The name Coevorden means "cow ford(s)" or "cow crossing", similar to Bosporus or Oxford.

Coevorden received city rights in 1408.

The city was captured from the Spanish in 1592 by a Dutch and English force under the command of Maurice, Prince of Orange. Coevorden was then reconstructed in the early seventeenth century to an ideal city design, similar to Palmanova. The streets were laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks.

The city of Coevorden may have indirectly given its name to the city of Vancouver, which is named after the 18th-century British explorer George Vancouver. The explorer's ancestors (and family name) may have originally come to England "from Coevorden" (van Coevorden > Vancoevorden > Vancouver). There is also a family of nobility with the surname van Coeverden, sometimes spelled with a K (as with Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden).

Coervorden is located at 52°40′N 6°45′E / 52.667°N 6.750°E / 52.667; 6.750 in the south of the province of Drenthe in the east of the Netherlands.