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°ECoordinates: 52°40′N 6°45′E / 52.667°N 6.750°E
Country	Netherlands
Province	Drenthe
Government[1]
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Bert Bouwmeester (D66)
Area[2]
• Total	299.69 km^2 (115.71 sq mi)
• Land	296.54 km^2 (114.49 sq mi)
• Water	3.15 km^2 (1.22 sq mi)
Elevation[3]	12 m (39 ft)
Population (May 2014)[4]
• Total	35,639
• Density	120/km^2 (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.

Etymology

The name Coevorden means "cow ford(s)" or "cow crossing", similar to Bosporus or Oxford.^[5]

History

Fortification plan of Coevorden, in Star fort style.

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).^[5] There is also a family of nobility with the surname van Coeverden, sometimes spelled with a K (as with Canadian kayaker Adam van Koeverden).

Geography

2014 map of the city of Coevorden

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

The population centres in the municipality are:

• Aalden
• Achterste Erm
• Ballast
• Benneveld
• Bovensteenwijksmoer
• Coevorden
• Dalen
• Dalerpeel
• Dalerveen
• De Bente
• De Haar
• De Kiel
• De Mars
• Den Hool
• Diphoorn
• Eldijk
• Erm
• Gees
• Geesbrug
• Grevenberg
• 't Haantje
• Holsloot
• Hoogehaar
• Kibbelveen
• Klooster
• Langerak
• Meppen
• Nieuwe Krim
• Nieuwlande
• Noord-Sleen
• Oosterhesselen
• Padhuis
• Pikveld
• Schimmelarij
• Schoonoord
• Sleen
• Steenwijksmoer
• Stieltjeskanaal
• Valsteeg
• Veenhuizen
• Vlieghuis
• Vossebelt
• Wachtum
• Weijerswold
• Wezup
• Wezuperbrug
• Zweeloo
• Zwinderen

International relations

Coevorden is twinned with:

• Brest, Belarus^[6]
• Czarnków, Poland

Transportation

There is one railway station in the municipality:

• Coevorden railway station

See also

Fantasy Gardens's Coevorden Castle was donated by Coevorden to Expo 86 and later relocated to the current site.

References

1. "Burgemeester en wethouders" [Mayor and aldermen] (in Dutch). Gemeente Coevorden. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
2. "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten" [Key figures for neighbourhoods]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
3. "Postcodetool for 7741GC". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
4. "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
5. "History of Vancouver - Coevorden". Vancouverhistory.ca. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
6. "Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Kingdom of the Netherlands - News of the Embassy". Netherlands.mfa.gov.by. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2013-03-26.

External links

• Official website