Westland, Netherlands

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Westland

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imagesize = 240px
image_caption =


flag_size = 120x100px
image_shield = WapenWestland.gif
shield_size = 120x100px


mapsize = 280px
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Netherlands
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = South Holland
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 = 90.59
area_land_km2 = 79.90
area_water_km2 = 10.69
population_as_of = 1 June, 2007
population_note = Source: CBS, [http://statline.cbs.nl/ Statline] .
settlement_type = Municipality
population_total = 99067
population_density_km2 = 1240
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 52.00
latNS = N
longd = 4.16
longEW = E
website = [http://www.gemeentewestland.nl www.gemeentewestland.nl]

Westland (pronunciation|Nl-Westland.ogg) is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It covers an area of 90.59 km² (of which 10.69 km² is covered by water) and had a population of 97,270 in 2004.

Towns and other settlements: De Lier, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, Naaldwijk, Wateringen, Heenweg, Honselersdijk, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde.

History

It was created on 1 January 2004 by a merger of the municipalities De Lier, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, Naaldwijk and Wateringen. These are also the names of five of the settlements. The others are Heenweg, Honselersdijk, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde. Westland itself is not the name of a settlement. The municipalityhouse will be settled in the middle of Westland, in Naaldwijk, the largest settlement in Westland.

In Honselersdijk is the world's largest company that sells flowers by auction, FloraHolland, which also has a location in Rijnsburg. This is a very important sector of the Westland economy. Flowers produced in Westland go all over the world.

Beach resorts are Ter Heijde (near Monster), Monster itself and 's-Gravenzande. These resorts are pretty popular with Germans and people from Eastern Netherlands. Generally every camp in Westland is full in the summer, because Westland is near Scheveningen, but cheaper.

Wider area

In a wider sense, Westland is also the name of the region south-west of the line The Hague - Delft - Rotterdam , approximately consisting of the municipalities Westland and Midden-Delfland, as well as Hoek van Holland (mun. Rotterdam).

It is well known for its horticulture in greenhouses, growing flowers and vegetables.

External links

* [http://wetten.overheid.nl/cgi-bin/deeplink/law1/title=Wet%20tot%20gemeentelijke%20herindeling%20van%20het%20Westland Law on merger, in Dutch, with map]
* [http://www.plattegronden.nl/gemeentewestland/index.html Map of municipality Westland]