Westzaan is a village in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of

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 ...

, and lies about 13 km northeast of Haarlem. It is located west of

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaand ...

Koog aan de Zaan Koog aan de Zaan () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 11 km northwest of Amsterdam. History Koog aan de Zaan developed in the 16th century on the western bank of ...

and

Zaandijk Zaandijk () is a town in the municipality of Zaanstad, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It lies about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) northwest of Amsterdam and had a population of 8,686 in 2017.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Statline: Kern ...

, southwest of

Wormer Wormer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wormerland, and lies about 13 km northwest of Amsterdam. The town is situated in the Zaan district, on the eastern side of the river Zaan, across ...

, southeast of

Krommenie Krommenie () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 15 km northeast of Haarlem. History Krommenie developed in the 11th century as a peat excavation settlement. In 1 ...

and south and southeast of

Assendelft Assendelft () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad. Assendelft was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was formed. However, Assendelft didn't wan ...

. Westzaan developed in the 12th century as a

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

excavation settlement. The Dutch Reformed church is a cruciform church with quarter round extensions in each corner. It was built between 1740 and 1741 and designed by Jan van der Streng. Originally the 1573 tower from the old church was retained, but it collapsed in 1843. Westzaan was a separate municipality until 1974, when it became a part of Zaanstad. Westzaan has the only wind powered paper mill in the world.

References

Zaanstad Former municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland {{NorthHolland-geo-stub