Second-level administrative divisions of the Netherlands
Since 1 January 2023, there have been 342 regular municipalities
[1]
(
Dutch
:
gemeenten
) and three
special municipalities
(
bijzondere gemeenten
) in the
Netherlands
. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the
Dutch Caribbean
. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division, or
public bodies
(
openbare lichamen
), in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective
provinces
. Their duties are delegated to them by the
central government
and they are ruled by a
municipal council
that is elected every four years. Municipal
mergers
have reduced the total number of municipalities by two-thirds since the first official boundaries were created in the mid 19th century. Municipalities themselves are informally subdivided into districts and neighbourhoods for administrative and statistical purposes.
[2]
These municipalities come in a wide range of sizes,
Westervoort
is the smallest with a land area of 7.01 km
2
(2.71 sq mi) and
Sudwest-Fryslan
the largest with a land area of 522.7 km
2
(201.8 sq mi).
Schiermonnikoog
is both the least populated, with 982 people, and the least densely populated municipality at
23/km
2
(60/sq mi).
Amsterdam
has the highest population with 918,117 residents as of January 2023, whereas
The Hague
is the most densely populated with a density of
6,827/km
2
(17,680/sq mi).
Municipal status
[
edit
]
As a second level administrative division
municipalities
are the third tier of public administration in the
Netherlands
after the
central government
and the
provinces
.
[3]
[4]
The Netherlands is a
decentralized
unitary state
, which means that the central government is supreme and delegates certain tasks to lower levels of government by law.
[5]
The different levels do, however, make work agreements, which give municipalities a certain degree of independence in their policy decisions. Municipalities are responsible for a wide variety of
public services
, which include
land-use planning
,
public housing
, management and maintenance of local roads,
waste management
and
social security
.
[6]
After the
Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
in 2010 three special municipalities (officially
public bodies
) were formed. These municipalities function the same as regular municipalities and are grouped together as the
Caribbean Netherlands
and are not part of a province.
[7]
The municipalities are
governed
by both a board of mayor and aldermen and a municipal council. The
municipal council
, which is titled
island council
in the special municipalities, is elected every four years.
[8]
The number of members in the council ranges from nine members for the smallest municipalities to forty-five members for the largest.
[9]
It is the highest administrative body in the municipality and controls public policy. The
executive power
lies with the
executive board
, which consists of a
mayor
, titled
lieutenant governor
in the special municipalities, and multiple aldermen, titled island deputies in the special municipalities. The mayor is appointed for six years at a time by the crown and the alderman are elected by the municipal council, typically after each municipal election.
[10]
The mayor is responsible for public order and is the first in command during emergencies, all other tasks are distributed freely between mayor and aldermen. The exact portfolio for each person differs between each municipality.
[7]
[11]
[12]
Historical number of municipalities
Year
| No.
| ±%
|
---|
1850
| 1,209
| ?
|
---|
1900
| 1,121
| ?7.3%
|
---|
1950
| 1,015
| ?9.5%
|
---|
2000
| 537
| ?47.1%
|
---|
2024
| 342
| ?36.3%
|
---|
Source: Ekamper
et al.
(2003),
[13]
Government of the Netherlands
[1]
|
Official municipal boundaries were first drawn up in 1832 in the Netherlands after a
cadastre
was formed. The
Municipalities Act
of 1851, written by prime minister
Thorbecke
, led to the disappearance of small municipalities. Throughout the years, less populous municipalities have been
merged
. They were either added to the larger neighbouring cities or multiple smaller municipalities merged into a larger new municipality with a new name. The number of municipalities reduced from 1,209 in 1850 to 537 in 2000; as of 2023
[update]
there are 342 municipalities. During this time, multiple mergers occurred simultaneously in large parts of individual provinces; the municipal boundaries were basically redrawn in these regions.
[13]
[2]
[14]
In the 19th and large parts of the 20th century, municipal mergers were forced by the central government. This policy changed in the end of the 20th century; local support for the merger is now a large part of the decision-making process. The larger, merged municipalities are intended to handle an increasing workload because more public services are delegated from higher levels of government to the municipalities. Another reason for municipal mergers is the assumption that larger municipalities are more efficient in performing their tasks than smaller ones.
[14]
[15]
Municipalities have the right to decentralise themselves and form submunicipalities as an additional level of government. This right and the submunicipalities will cease to exist in the near future to reduce the number of levels of government.
[16]
Only
Amsterdam
,
[17]
where the districts are called
stadsdelen
, as well as
Rotterdam
,
[18]
where the districts are called
deelgemeenten
, consist of such formal subdivisions.
The Hague
,
[19]
Almere
,
[20]
Breda
,
Eindhoven
,
[21]
Enschede
,
Groningen
,
[22]
Nijmegen
,
[23]
Tilburg
[24]
and
Utrecht
have instituted
stadsdelen
as well, although they do not have the same legal submunicipal status. For administrative use by municipalities and data collection by
Statistics Netherlands
all municipalities are subdivided into districts (
wijken
), which in turn are subdivided into neighbourhoods (
buurten
).
[25]
These subdivisions have, in contrast to the submunicipalities, no formal status.
Municipalities
[
edit
]
Regular municipalities
[
edit
]
Special municipalities
[
edit
]
Number of municipalities by province
[
edit
]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Gemeentelijke herindeling"
[Municipal reorganisation] (in Dutch). Government of the Netherlands. 21 December 2022
. Retrieved
2 January
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Gemeentelijke indeling op 1 januari 2023"
[Municipalities on 1 January 2023].
CBS Classifications
(in Dutch).
CBS
. 3 October 2022
. Retrieved
3 January
2023
.
- ^
"Central government, provinces, municipalities and water authorities"
.
government.nl
. Government of the Netherlands
. Retrieved
3 April
2013
.
- ^
OECD E-Government Studies: Netherlands 2007
. Paris: OECD Publishing. 28 May 2007. p. 40.
ISBN
978-92-64-03029-9
. Retrieved
25 April
2013
.
- ^
A.H.M. Dolle; D.J. Elzinga; J.W.M. Engels (20 September 2004). "Algemene bevoegdheids- en omgangsbepalingen" [General power and communication clauses].
Handboek van het Nederlandse gemeenterecht
[
Manual of Dutch municipal law
] (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer. pp. 143?170.
ISBN
978-90-268-4169-9
. Retrieved
25 April
2013
.
- ^
Figee, Edward; Eigeman, Jean; Hilterman, Frank (December 2007).
"Local Government in The Netherlands"
(PDF)
.
VNG
. The Hague: Drukkerij Excelsior. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 6 June 2013
. Retrieved
5 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba
[Public bodies act Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba] (345) (in Dutch). 10 October 2010
. Retrieved
5 April
2013
.
- ^
Article 129
,
Constitution of the Netherlands
. Retrieved on 24 April 2013.
- ^
Gemeentewet
[Municipalities Act] (96, 8) (in Dutch). 14 February 1992
. Retrieved
8 April
2013
.
- ^
Gemeentewet
[Municipalities Act] (96, 61.1 and 35.1) (in Dutch). 14 February 1992
. Retrieved
8 April
2013
.
- ^
A.H.M. Dolle; D.J. Elzinga; J.W.M. Engels (20 September 2004). "De samenstelling van het college" [Members of the board].
Handboek van het Nederlandse gemeenterecht
[
Manual of Dutch municipal law
] (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer. pp. 233?252.
ISBN
978-90-268-4169-9
. Retrieved
25 April
2013
.
- ^
"Municipal government"
.
government.nl
. Government of the Netherlands
. Retrieved
8 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Ekamper, Peter; van der Erf, Rob; van der Gaag, Nicole; Henkes, Kene; van Imhoff, Evert; van Poppel, Frans (2003). "Chapter: Provincies en gemeenten, 1850-2000" [Provinces and municipalities, 1850-2000].
Bevolkingsatlas van Nederland: demografische ontwikkelingen van 1850 tot heden
[
Population atlas of the Netherlands: demographic developments from 1850 to now
] (in Dutch). Rijswijk: Uitgeverij Elmar. pp. 21?27.
ISBN
9038913648
. Archived from
the original
(link to PDF)
on 3 June 2012
. Retrieved
8 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Beeckman, Duncan; van der Bie, Ronald (2005).
"Een eeuw gemeentelijke herindelingen"
[A century of municipal mergers]
(PDF)
.
Bevolkingstrends
(in Dutch).
53
(2). Heerlen/Voorburg:
CBS
: 63?64.
ISSN
1571-0998
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 29 May 2013
. Retrieved
8 April
2013
.
- ^
"Gemeentelijke herindeling"
[Municipal mergers].
rijksoverheid.nl
(in Dutch). Government of the Netherlands. 2 July 2010
. Retrieved
9 April
2013
.
- ^
Wet van 7 februari 2013 tot wijziging van de Gemeentewet en enige andere wetten in verband met het afschaffen van de bevoegdheid van gemeentebesturen om deelgemeenten in te stellen
[Act of 7 February 2013 to change the Municipalities Act and other Act in relation to the dissolution of the power of municipalities to form submunicipalities] (76) (in Dutch). 28 February 2013
. Retrieved
10 April
2013
.
- ^
"Amsterdam stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Amsterdam
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Rotterdam deelgemeenten"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Rotterdam. Archived from
the original
on 3 December 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"The Hague stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Gemeente The Hague. Archived from
the original
on 11 December 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Almere stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Almere
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Eindhoven stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Eindhoven. Archived from
the original
on 2 November 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Groningen stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Groningen. Archived from
the original
on 11 December 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Nijmegen stadsdelen"
(in Dutch). Website www.nijmegencity.nl
. Retrieved
5 December
2013
.
- ^
"Statistische gegevens"
(in Dutch). Gemeente Tilburg
. Retrieved
12 March
2019
.
- ^
"Kerncijfers Wijken en Buurten"
[Key figures for districts and neighbourhoods].
Methods:Data collection
(in Dutch).
CBS
. Retrieved
10 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Regionale kerncijfers Nederland"
[Regional key figures Netherlands].
CBS Statline
(in Dutch).
CBS
. 31 October 2023
. Retrieved
5 November
2023
.
- ^
"Population of Dutch Caribbean (1 January); sex, age"
.
CBS Statline
.
CBS
. 15 April 2020
. Retrieved
3 November
2020
.
- ^
Referentiekader Caribisch Nederland met bijlagen
[
Reference frame Caribbean Netherlands with appendices
] (Technical report) (in Dutch). IdeeVersa. 20 February 2012. pp. 25?27. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 5 June 2013
. Retrieved
29 March
2013
.
External links
[
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]