Westland (municipality), Netherlands

Westland (municipality), Netherlands
Westland is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It covers an area of of which is covered by water and had a population of in .
Towns and other settlements: De Lier, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, Naaldwijk, Wateringen, Heenweg, Honselersdijk, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde.
History
Westland 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 or town, but rather of the region. The City hall is located in the middle of Westland, in Naaldwijk, the second largest settlement in Westland.
The town of Honselersdijk also possesses the largest Flower Auction, FloraHolland, which also has a location in Rijnsburg. This is a very important sector of the Westland economy. Flowers produced in Westland are sold all over the world.
Coastal towns are Ter Heijde (near Monster), Monster itself and 's-Gravenzande. These towns are popular with Germans and people from the Eastern Netherlands. It is not unknown for every holiday campsite to be fully booked with tourists because of their relative proximity to the more popular Scheveningen.
Wider area
Westland is part of the Haaglanden conurbation.
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 Hook of Holland (municipality of Rotterdam).
Westland is most known for its horticulture in greenhouses, growing flowers and vegetables.
Notable people
Martinus Dorpius (1485 in Naaldwijk – 1525) a humanist, friend and correspondent of Erasmus
Arnold Vinnius (1588 in Monster – 1657) a leading jurist
Franco Burgersdijk (1590 in De Lier – 1635) a Dutch logician
Maria Ponderus (1672 in Monster – 1764), an art collector and hofje founder
Gerrit van Poelje (1884 in Maasdijk – 1976) a Dutch civil servant, lawyer and Public Administration scholar
Peter Van de Wetering (1931 in Naaldwijk – 2014) an American horticulturist and nurseryman
Huub Kortekaas (born 1935 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch sculptor
Rein Welschen (1941–2013) Dutch politician, acting Mayor of Westland in 2014
Hans Strikwerda (born 1952 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch organizational theorist and academic
Marc Lankhorst (born 1968 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch computer scientist, researcher and consultant, works on enterprise architecture and ArchiMate
Anneliese Van Der Pol (born 1984 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch-American actress and singer
Sport
Cornelis van Dalen (1885 in Monster – 1953) a Dutch sports shooter, competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Hans Houtzager (1910 in Honselersdijk – 1993) a Dutch hammer thrower, competed at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics
Wim van der Voort (1923 in 's-Gravenzande – 2016) a Dutch speed skater, silver medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Kees Broekman (1927 in De Lier – 1992) a Dutch former speed skater, silver medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Leo van Vliet (born 1955 in Honselersdijk) a former professional racing cyclist
Gerrit Solleveld (born 1961 in De Lier) a former Dutch professional road bicycle racer
Menno Boelsma (born 1961 in Monster) a retired speed skater, competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Patrick van der Meer (born 1971 in Wateringen) a Dutch dressage rider, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Marinus Dijkhuizen (born 1972 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch football manager, coach and former player with 365 club caps
Oscar Moens (born 1973 in 's-Gravenzande) a former Dutch footballer with 401 club caps
Guus Vogels (born 1975 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch field hockey goalkeeper, gold medallist at the 1966 and 2000 Summer Olympics
Stefan Aartsen (born 1975 in 's-Gravenzande) a former butterfly swimmer, competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics
Ricardo van der Ende (born 1979 in Poeldijk) a Dutch racing driver
Martine Zuiderwijk (born 1984 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch former figure skater
Johan Voskamp (born 1984 in De Lier) a Dutch footballer with over 280 club caps
Mandy Mulder (born 1987 in Poeldijk) a sailor, competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Thiemo de Bakker (born 1988 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch tennis player
Mandy van den Berg (born 1990 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch football defender
Arantxa Rus (born 1990) a Dutch tennis player, lives in Monster
Kiki Bertens (born 1991 in Wateringen) a Dutch tennis player
Lara van Ruijven (born 1992 in Naaldwijk - 2020) a Dutch short track speed skater
References
External links
Official website
Municipalities of South Holland
Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2004