Wieringermeer

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Wieringermeer


mapsize = 280px


flag_size = 150x75px
image_shield = Gemeentewapen Wieringermeer.gif
shield_size = 150x75px
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Netherlands
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = North Holland
leader_name = L.A.G.M. de Zeeuw-Lases
leader_party = VVD
area_footnotes = (2006)
area_total_km2 = 307.76
area_land_km2 = 194.82
area_water_km2 = 112.94
population_as_of = 1 January, 2007
population_note = Source: CBS, [http://statline.cbs.nl/ Statline] .
settlement_type = Municipality
population_total = 12676
population_density_km2 = 65
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 52.85
latNS = N
longd = 5.03
longEW = E
website = [http://www.wieringermeer.nl www.wieringermeer.nl]

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Population centres

The municipality of Wieringermeer consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Kreileroord, Middenmeer, Slootdorp, Wieringerwerf.

History

Around the year 1000 AD this area was land, however several storms after 1100 flooded the land and turned it into a flood plain.

The Wieringmeerpolder is a polder, newly created land. The creation of this polder started in 1927. Originally the polder would have been created after the completion of the Afsluitdijk, but there was a severe lack of agricultural ground. This meant that the dikes for the polder had to be built in the Zuiderzee, a sea, instead of in the milder lake IJsselmeer that the Zuiderzee would become after the completion of the Afsluitdijk. Therefore the dikes had to be tougher and ready to withstand the sea. Draining of the polder was finished on August 21, 1930.

The new land became usable in 1934. Four villages (Slootdorp (1931), Middenmeer (1933), Wieringerwerf (1936) and Kreileroord (1957)) eventually grew up in the polder.Since July 1, 1941 the Wieringermeer is an independent municipality. The Netherlands were occupied by Nazi Germany and on April 17, 1945 a vengeful German command ordered the dike of the Wieringermeer to be blown up: the Wieringmeer was innundated. No-one was killed as the polder slowly submerged again (the inhabitants were warned, too), but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade. The floodwater was fresh water, so the land did not have to be desalinated again. Reconstruction followed quickly; by the end of 1945 the polder was declared drained again and rebuilding the roads and bridges, houses and farms, was greatly facilitated by the experience of building them the first time.

Its name means "Wieringen Lake", the name of an inland lake that occupied the area in the early mediaeval period.

Local government

The municipal council of Wieringermeer consists of 15 seats, which are divided as follows:

* CDA - 4 seats
* VVD - 4 seats
* Gemeente Belangen Wieringermeer - 2 seats
* PvdA - 2 seats
* ChristenUnie - 1 seat
* Independent - 1 seat
* Progressief Wieringermeer - 1 seat

References

* Statistics are taken from the [http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gemeentes/gem533nh.htm SDU Staatscourant]