Pekela () is a

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 ...

in the province of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

in the

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 ...

. It was created in 1990 when

Oude Pekela Oude Pekela ( Gronings: ''Olle Pekel''; ) is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Pekela, about 5 km southwest of Winschoten. It was established to exploit the peat in the area. During the 19th ce ...

and

Nieuwe Pekela Nieuwe Pekela ( Gronings: ''Nij Pekel'') is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Pekela, about 7 km southeast of Veendam. The village started as a peat colony, and was named after the river Pekel ...

were merged.

History

The municipality of Pekela was created when the municipalities of

and

were merged in 1990.

Geography

Pekela is located at in the southeast of the province of

in the northeast of the

. It is bordered by the municipalities of: The river

Pekel Aa Pekel A (also Pekel Aa; ) is a river in the Groningen (province), Province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The villages of Oude Pekela and Nieuwe Pekela have been named after the river. The name translates to Brine ('':nl:Pekel, Pekel'') River ( ...

crosses the municipality from north to south. The main population centres in the municipality are the villages of (Upper Pekela),

(New Pekela), and

(Old Pekela). Part of the village of Alteveer and the hamlets of Bronsveen and are also in the municipality. The municipality has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Governance

Mayor (''

burgemeester Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

'') of Pekela is Jaap Kuin of the Labour Party. The

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 ...

of Pekela consists of 15 seats, which are divided as follows:

Demographics

In , the municipality had a total population of and a population density of .

Notable people

* Jan de Boer (1859 in Nieuwe Pekela – 1941) a Dutch gymnast who competed in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

* Fré Meis (1921–1992), communist politician *

Janneke Snijder-Hazelhoff Janna Fennechien "Janneke" Snijder-Hazelhoff (born 26 December 1952) is a Dutch farmer and politician. As a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) she was an House of Representatives of th ...

(born 1952 in Nieuwe Pekela) a Dutch farmer and politician * Gerard Wiekens (born 1973 in Oude Pekela) a Dutch former footballer with 518 club caps who played for

SC Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 an ...

and

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an England, English association football, football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English football. Fo ...

Gallery

File:Pekela Villa Elsa 03.JPG, Villa ''Elsa'', Clockstraat, Oude Pekela File:Pekela Timmer 01.JPG, Art project ''"Geveltjes viadukt"'' in Nieuwe Pekela File:Het Dokhuis, Oude Pekela (2018) 02.jpg, ''Het Dokhuis'', a retirement home in Oude Pekela File:De Onrust as viewed from the park, Oude Pekela (2018).jpg, Pekelder Windmill ''"De Onrust"'' in Oude Pekela

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of Groningen (province)