Almelo

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Almelo

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mapsize = 280px
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Netherlands
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Overijssel
area_footnotes = (2006)
area_total_km2 = 69.40
area_land_km2 = 67.43
area_water_km2 = 1.96
population_as_of = 1 January 2007
population_note = Source: CBS, [http://statline.cbs.nl/ Statline] .
settlement_type = Municipality
population_total = 72103
population_density_km2 = 1069
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2.

Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, with the industrial centres of Enschede and Hengelo as close neighbours but also with tourist towns like Ootmarsum, Delden and Markelo only a bicycle ride away. Almelo received city rights in 1394. Within the city limits lies the castle of the Counts of Almelo.

At the end of the 19th century textile emerged as a major employer and drew many workers to Almelo, at first from within the Netherlands. Since the 1960s workers from Spain and Turkey came to Almelo. The first mosque of the Netherlands was built in Almelo in 1976 for the Turkish population of the city.

In the 1970s the industry dwindled and most factories were relocated to countries with cheaper labour. Some factories remain in the city centre and are now in use for apartments or offices. Currently, a major employer in Almelo is Urenco Nederland. This is a uranium enrichment plant which produces uranium with about five percent U-235, for nuclear reactors. It uses the gas centrifuge method and produces 2.8 MSWU/year.A bakery factory, Bolletje, PANalytical (formerly Philips) and the regional court are also major employers.

Worth seeing is Huize Almelo, a centuries-old castle in the city centre. There are mosaics which decorate the walls of the tunnel close to the railway station.

Notable people born in Almelo

* Kea Bouman (1903-1998) – female tennis player; only Dutch female tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament
* Wubbo Ockels (1946) – first Dutch astronaut
* Berdien Stenberg (1957) – musician
* Herman Finkers (1954) – comedian
* Wilfried Finkers (1957) – comedian and brother of Herman
* Tom Egbers (1957) – tv-presenter
* Henk Jan Smits (1961) – manager, scout and producer
* Hendrie Krüzen (1964) – football midfielder
* Cunera van Selm (1964) – tv-presenter
* Eddy Zoëy (1967) – tv-presenter
* Mari Carmen Oudendijk (1968) - tv-presenter
* Daphne Bunskoek (1973) – tv-presenter
* Marcel Kuijer (1974) – tv-presenter
* Ilse de Lange (1977) – musician and singer
* Azra Akin (1981) – model and Miss World 2002
* Cor Galis (1910 - 1997) – 'de stem der VPRO'
* Jan Tuttel (1943 - 2006), – Drents nature activist, columnist, publicist en tv-presenter/producer
* Bert Bakker (1958) – D66-politician
* Brian van Loo (1975) – soccer player (goalkeeper)
* Michiel Veenstra (1976) – radio-dj on 3FM
* Arnold Bruggink (1977) – soccer player
* Mark Looms (1981) – soccer player

ee also

* Ambt Almelorobert zeevalk

Twin cities

* Preston, England
* Iserlohn, Germany
* Denizli, Turkey

References

* [http://www.almelo.nl Official Website]

External links

* [http://www.almelo.nl Official Website]
* [http://www.almelonet.nl AlmeloNet.nl]
* [http://www.hessink.nl/Webalbum/toetanchamon/schilderijen-I/ALBUM8.HTML "Landschap te Almelo"] by Marie Vorobieff Marevna (go down to painting No. 2206), or see enlargement without description [http://www.hessink.nl/Webalbum/toetanchamon/schilderijen-I/2206.jpg] . ----