The Government of Amsterdam consists of several territorial and functional forms of local and regional government. The principal form of government is the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The municipality's territory covers the city of Amsterdam as well as a number of small towns. The city of Amsterdam is also part of several functional forms of regional government. These include the

Waterschap In the Netherlands, a water board, water council or water authority ( nl, waterschap or heemraadschap) is a regional governing body solely charged with the management of surface water in the environment. Water boards are independent of administr ...

(''water board'') of Amstel, Gooi en Vecht, which is responsible for water management, and the ''Stadsregio'' (City Region) of Amsterdam, which has responsibilities in the areas of spatial planning and public transport. The

of Amsterdam borders the municipalities of

Diemen Diemen () is a town and municipality with a population of in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's city centre, within the Amsterdam metropolitan area. Etymology The na ...

, Abcoude,

Ouder-Amstel Ouder-Amstel () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Ouder-Amstel consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Duivendrecht, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel ...

and

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

in the south,

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...

and

Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. It had a population of 5,760 in August 2017. On 1 January 2019, it merged with the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The munici ...

in the west, and

Zaanstad Zaanstad () is a Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and metropolitan area of Amsterdam. It had a population of in . Topography Popul ...

Oostzaan Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The municipality had a population of in . Oostzaan has a total area of of which is water. Oostzaan—together with Westzaan and Assen ...

Landsmeer Landsmeer () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Landsmeer consists of the three villages: Den Ilp, Landsmeer, Purmerland. Topography ''Dutch topographic ...

and

Waterland Waterland () is a municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. It is situated north of Amsterdam, on the western shore of the Markermeer. It is well-known for comprising the touristy towns of Broek in Waterland and M ...

in the north.

Municipal government

The city of Amsterdam is a

under the Dutch Municipalities Act. It is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

(''gemeenteraad'', also known as 'city council', the principal legislative authority), a municipal executive board (''college van burgemeester en wethouders''), and a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

(''burgemeester''). The mayor is both a member of the municipal executive board and an individual authority with a number of statutory responsibilities, mainly in the area of maintaining public order. The

has 45 seats. Its members are elected for a four-year term through citywide elections on the basis of proportional representation. Under the Municipalities Act, the mayor is appointed for a six-year term by the national government upon nomination by the municipal council. The other members of the executive board (''wethouders'', or 'alderpersons') are appointed directly by the municipal council, but may be dismissed at any time after a no-confidence vote in the council. Because of this

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

, the alderpersons are not appointed until a governing majority in the council has reached a coalition agreement following council elections. In July 2010,

Eberhard van der Laan Eberhard Edzard van der Laan (; 28 June 1955 – 5 October 2017) was a Dutch politician who served as Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration from 2008 to 2010 and Mayor of Amsterdam from 2010 until his death in 2017. He was a member ...

( Labour Party) was appointed

of Amsterdam by the national government for a six-year term after being nominated by the Amsterdam

. After the 2014 municipal council elections, a governing majority of D66,

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberalRudy Andeweg, Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingsto ...

and SP was formed - the first coalition without the Labour Party since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Next to the

, the municipal executive board consists of eight ''wethouders'' ('alderpersons') appointed by the

: four D66 alderpersons, two

alderpersons and two SP alderpersons.

Municipal Government 2006–2010

After the 2006 municipal elections a coalition was formed between PvdA and GroenLinks, with a majority of 27 out of 45. These elections saw a political landslide throughout the country, with a strong shift to the left, of which Amsterdam was a prime example. The much talked about all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP that polls indicate would become possible after the national elections of 2006 and that was such a political success in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

had its largest majority in Amsterdam, apart from some small towns. PvdA even needed only 3 more seats to form a coalition and could thus take its pick, which forced potential coalition partners to give in on a lot of issues. In the case of GroenLinks, this was mostly the policy of preventive searching by the police, which they were opposed to but had to allow. In total, 24 parties took part in the elections, including 11 new ones, but only 7 got seats.

Municipal Government 2010–2014

Dutch municipal elections, 2010:

Municipal Government 2014–2018

Dutch municipal elections, 2014 The Dutch municipal elections of 2014 were held on 19 March in most municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determines the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. Background Municipal elections are, unle ...

Municipal Government 2018–2022

Dutch municipal elections, 2018: , colspan="9" , 2018 Amsterdam municipal election - composition chart

, - ! style="text-align:center;" colspan=3 , Party ! style="text-align:center;", Votes ! style="text-align:right;" , ! style="text-align:right;" , ! style="text-align:right;" , Seats ! style="text-align:right;" , , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

, , 70,880 , 20.4 , +9.6 , 10 , +4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

, , 55,724 , 16.1 , −10.7 , 8 , −6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

, , 39,702 , 11.4 , +0.2 , 6 , +0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Labour Party , , 37,181 , 10.7 , −7.7 , 5 , −5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, , 26,070 , 7.5 , −3.7 , 3 , −3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. Since 2019, the PvdD's political lead ...

, , 24,672 , 7.1 , +4.3 , 3 , +2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Denk Denk may refer to: People *Jeremy Denk (born 1970), American classical pianist * Michael K. Denk, Canadian professor of chemistry * Paula Denk (1908–1978), German actress *Ralph Denk (born 1973), German cyclist and cycling manager *Ulrike Denk ( ...

, , 23,138 , 6.7 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...

, , 20,015 , 5.8 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

, , 11,991 , 3.5 , +0.7 , 1 , +0 , - , bgcolor=#4878A8, , align=left,

Party for the Elderly A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

, , 7,752 , 2.2 , +0.1 , 1 , +0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Union , , 6,837 , 2.0 , +0.2 , 1 , +1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Amsterdam Bij1 , , 6,571 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan="9" style="background:#E9E9E9;", , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Amsterdam , , 4,459 , 1.3 , −0.5 , 0 , +0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

50PLUS 50PLUS (; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests. The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff, and Jan Nagel. Henk Krol served as the party's leader from 2016 to ...

, , 4,233 , 1.2 , New , 0 , New , - , , colspan=2 align=left, Other , 7,923 , 2.3 , , 0 , , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=3 , Total valid votes , 347,148 , 100 , , 45 , , - , colspan=3 align=left, Invalid/blank votes , 4,511 , 1.3 , , , , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=3 align=left, Total & turnout , 351,659 , 51.2 , +1.9 , , , - , align=left colspan=9 , Source
Verkiezingsuitslagen
/small>

Municipal Government 2022–present

Boroughs

Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into eight

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

(''stadsdelen'' or 'districts'), a system that was implemented in the 1980s and significantly reformed in 2014. Before 2014, the boroughs were responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. The idea was to bring the government closer to the people. All of these had their own district council (''deelraad''), chosen by a popular election. Local decisions were made at borough level, and only affairs pertaining the whole city (like major infrastructural projects), were delegated to the central city council. As of 2014, the powers of the boroughs have been significantly reduced, although they still have an elected council called ''bestuurscommissie'' ('district committee'). The boroughs are: *

Amsterdam-Centrum Amsterdam-Centrum is the inner-most borough and historical city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands, containing the majority of the city's landmarks. Established in 2002, Amsterdam-Centrum was the last area in the city to be granted the status of s ...

(English: ''Centre''). *

Amsterdam-Noord Amsterdam-Noord (; ) is a borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands with a population of about 90,000. The IJ, the body of water which separates it from Amsterdam-Centrum and the rest of the city, is situated southwest of Amsterdam-Noord. The borough, whi ...

Amsterdam-Oost Amsterdam-Oost () is a borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands, established in May 2010 after a merger of the former boroughs of Zeeburg and Oost-Watergraafsmeer. In 2013, the borough had almost 123,000 inhabitants. History Amsterdam-Oost is the bor ...

Amsterdam-Zuid Amsterdam-Zuid (; ''Amsterdam South'') is a borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough was formed in 2010 as a merger of the former boroughs Oud-Zuid and Zuideramstel. The borough has almost 138,000 inhabitants (2013). With 8, ...

Amsterdam-West Amsterdam-West () is a borough (Dutch: ''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands, to the west of the centre of the city. This borough was formed in 2010 through the merging of four former boroughs Oud West, Westerpark, De Baarsjes and Bos en Lomm ...

Amsterdam-Zuidoost Amsterdam-Zuidoost (; "Amsterdam-Southeast") is a borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It consists of four residential neighborhoods—Bijlmermeer, Venserpolder, Gaasperdam and Driemond—as well as the Amstel III/Bullewijk B ...

Amsterdam Nieuw-West Amsterdam Nieuw-West () is a borough (Dutch: ''stadsdeel'') comprising the westernmost neighbourhoods of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was created in 2010 after a merger of the former boroughs Osdorp, Geuzenveld-Slotermeer and Slotervaart ...

The eighth,

Westpoort Westpoort (''Western Gateway or Western Port'') is a borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough covers the Port of Amsterdam, the main harbour and industrial area of the city, and is located in the north-western part of A ...

, covers the western harbour area of Amsterdam. Because it has very few inhabitants it is governed by the central municipal council.

Mayors

The mayor of Amsterdam is the head of the city council. The current mayor is

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim bas ...

. The mayors since World War II are: * (1945–1946) * Arnold Jan d'Ailly (1946–1956) *

Gijs van Hall Gijsbert van Hall (21 April 1904 – 22 May 1977) was a Dutch banker, resistance member and senator. He was Mayor of Amsterdam between 1957 and 1967. Early life & banking career Gijs van Hall was born in Amsterdam in an influential Dutch fami ...

(1956–1967) * Ivo Samkalden (1967–1977) *

Wim Polak Willem "Wim" Polak (14 September 1924 – 1 October 1999) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and economist. Polak was born to a Jewish merchant family in Amsterdam on 14 September 1924. His parents were murdered by the Nazis du ...

(1977–1983) *

Ed van Thijn Eduard van Thijn (; 16 August 1934 – 19 December 2021) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and historian. He was a member of the Municipal Council of Amsterdam (1962–1971), member of the House of Representatives (1967–1981; ...

(1983–1994) *

Schelto Patijn Schelto Patijn �sxɛɫtoː pɑˈtɛin(13 August 1936 – 15 July 2007) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. After serving as an elected member of the Dutch and subsequently European Parliament, he served as Queen's Co ...

(1994–2001) *

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (; born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012. Cohen studied Law at the University of Groningen obt ...

(2001–2010) *

(2010–2017) *

(2018-)

Population centers

Driemond Driemond is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of Amsterdam Zuidoost, a borough in the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2001, the village of Driemond had 1422 inhabitants. The built-up area of the village ...

Durgerdam Durgerdam is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam, and lies about 7 km east of the city centre, along the dyke of the IJmeer. Durgerdam is a part of the ''deelgemeente'' (sub-munici ...

Holysloot Holysloot is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam, and lies about 9 km northeast of the city centre. The name ''Holysloot'' probably derives from an expression for a "low-lying area a ...

, 't Nopeind,

Osdorp Osdorp () is neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. A larger area was, from 1981 until 2010, a ''stadsdeel'' (borough) of Amsterdam and in 2010 was merged into the new borough of Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Neighborhood The core neighborhood of Osdor ...

Ransdorp Ransdorp is a village in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, part of the List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Amsterdam. It lies about 7 km northeast of the Amsterdam-Centrum, city ...

, Sloten, Sloterdijk,

Zunderdorp Zunderdorp () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague ...

International cooperation

Cities (and country) of international cooperation: *

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

* Beira,

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

İzmit İzmit () is a district and the central district of Kocaeli province, Turkey. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. As of the last 31/12/2019 estimation, the c ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

Sister ports: *

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

* Halifax,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

* San Pédro,

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

References

External links

*
Publication by the SDU staatscourant

Statistics Netherlands, publication on Amsterdam
{{Coord, 52, 22, N, 4, 53, E, display=title, type:city(3600)_source:nlwiki