Oostendam is a Dutch

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

. It is located in 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 ...

Ridderkerk Ridderkerk () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is covered by water. The municipality of Ridderkerk also includes th ...

, within the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of South Holland. The village was first mentioned in 1435 as "totten cleynen Waldammen toe, die men heet op desen voorsz. tyt Dappers - dam", and means "eastern

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

". The dam was founded in 1332 when Count William III had

dikes Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

built around a side-arm of the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

Waal WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...

. As it is currently a dead branch of the river, the locals commonly refer to it as the

Waaltje The Waaltje (common name; Dutch for Little Waal) is a dammed river in the western Netherlands, southeast of Rotterdam. Historically it used to be the western end of the Waal river, hence its official name continues to be Waal, although the intermed ...

, meaning ''Little Waal''. Oostendam is located on the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

of IJsselmonde, which is largely occupied by the nearby city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. A part of the village was located in the municipality of

Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located on the island of IJsselmonde, and borders with Zwijndrecht, Ridderkerk, and the Noord River (with Alblasserdam and Papendrecht on the other side). The j ...

. It has been annexed and is now a neighbourhood with Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht. It used to have a harbour, but it was closed in 1950. In 1946, the Immanuel Chapel was built as emergency church. It was extensively modified in 1976. In 2000, the church was extended and the former day care centre was redesigned as

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

References

Ridderkerk Populated places in South Holland Populated places established in the 1330s Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht {{SouthHolland-geo-stub