Reiderland
| Reiderland | |||
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| Former Municipality | |||
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| Coordinates: 53°10′N 7°05′E / 53.167°N 7.083°E | |||
| Country | Netherlands | ||
| Province | Groningen | ||
| Area(2006) | |||
| • Total | 156.72 km2 (60.51 sq mi) | ||
| • Land | 98.55 km2 (38.05 sq mi) | ||
| • Water | 58.16 km2 (22.46 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1 January, 2007) | |||
| • Total | 7,004 | ||
| • Density | 71/km2 (180/sq mi) | ||
| Source: CBS, Statline. | |||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Reiderland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɛidərˌlɑnt]) is a former municipality in the province Groningen in the northeastern Netherlands, which was founded in 1990 during a large municipal reorganization. The former municipalities Finsterwolde and Bad Nieuweschans were abolished and added to Beerta. In 1992, the new municipality was given its current name. In 2010 it joined in the municipality Oldambt.
Reiderland was one of the few municipalities in the Netherlands that still had communist councillors after the dissolution of the Communist Party of the Netherlands in 1989. (As of 2006, it was one of only four Dutch municipalities to have any, the other three being Heiloo, Scheemda and Lemsterland). The New Communist Party of the Netherlands was in fact the largest party in Reiderland from 1990 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2006. Finsterwolde and Beerta, which was the only town in the Netherlands that ever had a communist mayor, had long been communist strongholds.
In the 1998 municipal elections, the New Communist Party of the Netherlands received 35.7% of the votes, behind the PvdA's 40.3%, but in 2002 it received 34.1%, ahead of the PvdA's 24.7%. It won five of the thirteen seats on the local council and formed the Court of Mayor and the Aldermen in alliance with local party Gemeentebelangen, although the two parties were traditionally foes. In the 2006 elections, however, the NCPN lost 3 of its 5 seats, getting only 18.3% of the vote, behind the PvdA's 38.1%, Gemeentebelangen's 20.4%, and the SP's 19.0%, and consequently lost its positions on the Court of Mayor and Aldermen. For the remaining years of the municipality's existence, the PvdA had 5 seats on the local council, the SP 3 seats, local party Gemeentebelangen 3 seats as well, and the NCPN 2 seats.
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