Hook of Holland
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Hook of Holland Hoek van Holland |
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Hook of Holland town centre
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| Coordinates: 51°58′52″N 4°7′43″E / 51.98111°N 4.12861°E | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | South Holland |
| Municipality | Rotterdam |
| Population (1 July 2008) | 9,382 |
| Major roads | N211 N220 |
| Dialing code | 0174 |
The Hook of Holland (Dutch: de Hoek van Holland) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland (hence the name; hoek means "corner"), at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal into the North Sea. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city. Its district covers an area of 16.7 km2, of which 13.92 km2 is land. On 1 January 1999 it had an estimated population of 9,400.
Towns near the Hook include Monster, 's-Gravenzande, Naaldwijk and Delft to the northeast, and Maassluis to the southeast. On the other side of the river is the Europort and the Maasvlakte. The wide sandy beach, one section of which is designated for use by naturists, runs for approximately 18 kilometres to Scheveningen and for most of this distance is backed by extensive sand dunes through which there are foot and cycle paths.
On the north side of the New Waterway, to the west of the town, is a pier part of which is accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
The Berghaven is a small harbour on the New Waterway where the Rotterdam and Europort pilots are based. This small harbour is only for the use of the pilot service, government vessels and the Hook of Holland lifeboat.
During World War II this was one of the most important places for the Germans to hold because of the harbour.
There are two railway stations, Hook of Holland Strand, which is at the end of the line and closest to the beach and Hook of Holland Haven, which is close to the town centre, adjacent to the ferry terminal and the small harbour, the Berghaven. The railway line connects the Hook to Rotterdam via Maassluis, Vlaardingen and Schiedam, the trains running every half hour during the day.
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