Reiderland () is a former

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

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 northeastern

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 ...

, which was founded in 1990 during a large municipal reorganisation. The former municipalities

Finsterwolde Finsterwolde () is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen, about 7 km northeast of the city of Winschoten. Finsterwolde was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Beerta into Reiderland. In 2010 Reiderland merged i ...

and

Bad Nieuweschans Bad Nieuweschans (also ''Lange Akkeren''; ; Gronings: ''Nij-Schans''; German: ''Bad Neuschanz'') is a village in the north-eastern Netherlands on the border with Germany. It forms part of the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt. Nieuw ...

were abolished and added to

Beerta Beerta () is a village and former municipality with a population of 2,205 in the municipality of Oldambt in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. In the 20th century, Beerta was a communist stronghold. In 1933, the municipal council was ...

. In 1992, the new municipality was given its current name. In 2010 it joined in the municipality Oldambt.

Politics

Reiderland was one of the few municipalities in the Netherlands that still had

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

councillors after the dissolution of the

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...

in 1989. (As of 2006, it was one of only four Dutch municipalities to have any, the other three being

Heiloo Heiloo () is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the historical region of West Friesland. Heiloo had a population o ...

Scheemda Scheemda () is a village with a population of 2,445 in the municipality of Oldambt in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. Scheemda was a separate municipality until 2010, when it merged with Reiderland and Winschoten to form the muni ...

and

Lemsterland Lemsterland (; fy, Lemsterlân) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2014 it merged with the municipalities of Skarsterlân and Gaasterlân-Sleat to form the new municipality De Fryske Marren De Fryske Marren ( nl, De Friese ...

.) The

New Communist Party of the Netherlands The New Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Nieuwe Communistische Partij Nederland, NCPN) is a communist party in the Netherlands. The NCPN was founded in 1992 by the former members of the Communist Party of the Netherlands to oppose CPN's me ...

was in fact the largest party in Reiderland from 1990 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2006.

and

, which was the only town in the Netherlands that ever had a communist mayor, had long been communist strongholds. In the 1998 municipal election, the

received 35.7% of the votes, behind the Labour Party's 40.3%, but in 2002 it received 34.1%, ahead of the Labour Party's 24.7%. It won five of the thirteen seats on the local council and formed the Court of Mayor and the Aldermen in alliance with local party Gemeentebelangen, although the two parties were traditionally foes. In the 2006 election, however, the NCPN lost 3 of its 5 seats, getting only 18.3% of the vote, behind the Labour Party's 38.1%, Gemeentebelangen's 20.4%, and the

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 ...

's 19.0%, and consequently lost its positions on the Court of Mayor and Aldermen. For the remaining years of the municipality's existence, the Labour Party's had 5 seats on the local council, the Socialist Party 3 seats, local party Gemeentebelangen 3 seats as well, and the NCPN 2 seats. Reiderland also drew some attention in the 2002 general election, when the

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popul ...

received 22.9% of the vote in the municipality, the party's best result in the province of

Population centres

Towns and villages in the municipality include: * Beersterhoogen *

* Booneschans *

Drieborg Drieborg (also: ''Stocksterhorn''; Gronings: ''Drijbörg'') is a dike village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Oldambt. History The village started along a dike on the Dollart as Stocksterhorn. In 1656, ...

* Ekamp *

* Finsterwolderhamrik * Ganzedijk * Goldhoorn * Hamdijk *

Hongerige Wolf Hongerige Wolf (; Hungry Wolf) is a Hamlet (place), hamlet with a population of 30 in the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt in the Netherlands. Overview The origin of the name is unclear. It first appeared in a 1877 newspaper as " ...

* Kostverloren * Kromme-Elleboog *

Nieuw-Beerta Nieuw-Beerta () is a village with a population of 120 in the municipality of Oldambt in the east of the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , ...

* Nieuwe Statenzijl *

* Oude Statenzijl * Oudedijk * Oudezijl *

Ulsda Ulsda (; Gronings: ''Olsde'') is a hamlet in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_na ...

The old Reiderland

Reiderland is also the name of an area of land in the

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that was drowned with 33 villages and a town in 1277 when the

Dollart The Dollart (German name) or Dollard (Dutch name) is a bay in the Wadden Sea between the northern Netherlands and Germany, on the west side of the estuary of the Ems river. Most of it dries at low tide. Many water birds feed there. Gaining ...

inlet formed. Much of the area has been re- empoldered since. See List of settlements lost to floods in the Netherlands#Drowned villages in Groningen province.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 53, 10, N, 7, 05, E, display=title Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2010 Former municipalities of Groningen (province) Oldambt (municipality) stq:Reiderland