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Vlissingen

Vlissingen
Flushing
Municipality
Clockwise from top left: Coastline skyscraper, harbour, museum, residential tower and boulevard with beach
Clockwise from top left: Coastline skyscraper, harbour, museum, residential tower and boulevard with beach
Flag of Vlissingen
Flag
Coat of arms of Vlissingen
Coat of arms
Highlighted position of Vlissingen in a municipal map of Zeeland
Location in Zeeland
Coordinates: 51°27′N 3°34′E / 51.450°N 3.567°E / 51.450; 3.567Coordinates: 51°27′N 3°34′E / 51.450°N 3.567°E / 51.450; 3.567
Country Netherlands
Province Zeeland
Boroughs
Government
 • Body Municipal council
 • Mayor Letty Demmers-van der Geest (D66)
Area
 • Total 344.83 km2 (133.14 sq mi)
 • Land 34.18 km2 (13.20 sq mi)
 • Water 310.65 km2 (119.94 sq mi)
Elevation 1 m (3 ft)
Population (May 2014)
 • Total 44,353
 • Density 1,298/km2 (3,360/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Vlissinger
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode 4380–4389
Area code 0118
Website www.vlissingen.nl

Vlissingen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvlɪsɪŋə(n)]; Zeelandic: Vlissienge; historical name in English: Flushing) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.

Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) are built.

The municipality of Vlissingen consists of the following places:

The fishermen’s hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Schelde around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into the third-most important port of the Netherlands. The Counts of Holland, Flanders, and Zeeland had the first harbours dug. Over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade. Under the Treaty of Nonsuch, English garrisons were stationed here and at Brill to keep these ports out of Spanish hands. During the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age, ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces.


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