Westland () is a

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

in the western

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. It covers an area of of which is covered by water and had a population of in . Towns and other settlements: De Lier, 's-Gravenzande,

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

, Naaldwijk, Wateringen, Heenweg,

Honselersdijk Honselersdijk is a town in the Netherlands, Dutch province of South Holland. It is home to the historic Huis Honselaarsdijk, former palatial estate of the Dutch Princes of Orange. Huis Honselaarsdijk was one of the finest examples of Baroque a ...

, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde.

History

Westland was created on 1 January 2004 by a merger of the municipalities De Lier, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, Naaldwijk and Wateringen. These are also the names of five of the settlements. The others are Heenweg, Honselersdijk, Kwintsheul, Maasdijk, Poeldijk, and Ter Heijde. Westland itself is not the name of a settlement or town, but rather of the region. The City Hall is located in the middle of Westland, in Naaldwijk, the second largest settlement in Westland. The town of Honselersdijk also possesses the largest Flower Auction, FloraHolland, which also has a location in

Rijnsburg Rijnsburg () is a village in the eastern part of the municipality of Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It lies on the Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn, from which it takes its name. History Rij ...

. This is a very important sector of the Westland

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. Flowers produced in Westland are sold all over the world. Coastal towns are Ter Heijde (near Monster), Monster itself and 's-Gravenzande. These towns are popular with

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and people from the Eastern Netherlands. It is not unknown for every holiday campsite to be fully booked with tourists because of their relative proximity to the more popular

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

Wider area

Westland is part of the Haaglanden conurbation. In a wider sense, Westland is also the name of the region south-west of the line

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, approximately consisting of the municipalities Westland and Midden-Delfland, as well as

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

(municipality of

). Westland is most known for its horticulture in

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s, growing

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

Notable people

* Martinus Dorpius (1485 in Naaldwijk – 1525) a humanist, friend and correspondent of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

Arnold Vinnius Arnold Vinnius (4 January 1588 – 1 September 1657) was a Dutch jurist and writer. Life Vinnius was born in Monster. He attended the University of Leiden from 1603 where he read law. He gained his degree in 1612. His most important teacher was ...

(1588 in Monster – 1657) a leading jurist * Franco Burgersdijk (1590 in De Lier – 1635) a Dutch

logician Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure of arg ...

* Maria Ponderus (1672 in Monster – 1764), an art collector and

hofje A (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. have existed since the Middle Ages. A provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). They were privately funded, and served as a form of ...

founder * Gerrit van Poelje (1884 in Maasdijk – 1976) a Dutch civil servant, lawyer and Public Administration scholar * Peter Van de Wetering (1931 in Naaldwijk – 2014) an American horticulturist and nurseryman * Huub Kortekaas (born 1935 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch sculptor * Sander Jan Klerk a Dutch Actor. * Rein Welschen (1941–2013) Dutch politician, acting Mayor of Westland in 2014 * Hans Strikwerda (born 1952 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch organizational theorist and academic * Marc Lankhorst (born 1968 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch computer scientist, researcher and consultant, works on

enterprise architecture Enterprise architecture (EA) is a business function concerned with the structures and behaviours of a business, especially business roles and processes that create and use business data. The international definition according to the Federation of ...

and

ArchiMate ArchiMate ( ) is an open and independent enterprise architecture modeling language to support the description, analysis and visualization of architecture within and across business domains

* Anneliese Van Der Pol (born 1984 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch-American actress and singer IMDb Database
retrieved 07 October 2019

Sport

* Cornelis van Dalen (1885 in Monster – 1953) a Dutch sports shooter, competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

* Hans Houtzager (1910 in Honselersdijk – 1993) a Dutch hammer thrower, competed at the

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

* Wim van der Voort (1923 in 's-Gravenzande – 2016) a Dutch speed skater, silver medalist at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

* Kees Broekman (1927 in De Lier – 1992) a Dutch former speed skater, silver medalist at the

* Leo van Vliet (born 1955 in Honselersdijk) a former professional racing cyclist * Jutta Leerdam a Dutch Speedskater * Gerrit Solleveld (born 1961 in De Lier) a former Dutch professional road bicycle racer *

Menno Boelsma Menno Boelsma (8 January 1961 – 10 September 2022) was a Dutch speed skater. He competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in the 500 m and 1000 m events and finished in 16th and 24th place, respectively. Boelsma achieved his best results in the 5 ...

(born 1961 in Monster) a retired speed skater, competed at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

* Patrick van der Meer (born 1971 in Wateringen) a Dutch dressage rider, competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

* Marinus Dijkhuizen (born 1972 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch football manager, coach and former player with 365 club caps *

Oscar Moens Oscar Moens (born 1 April 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. After his retirement, he has held positions in the coaching staff of Sparta Rotterdam ...

(born 1973 in 's-Gravenzande) a former Dutch footballer with 401 club caps * Guus Vogels (born 1975 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch field hockey goalkeeper, gold medallist at the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

* Stefan Aartsen (born 1975 in 's-Gravenzande) a former butterfly swimmer, competed at the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

* Ricardo van der Ende (born 1979 in Poeldijk) a Dutch racing driver * Johan Voskamp (born 1984 in De Lier) a Dutch footballer with over 280 club caps * Mandy Mulder (born 1987 in Poeldijk) a sailor, competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Thiemo de Bakker Thiemo Carsten Jannick de Bakker (; born 19 September 1988) is a Dutch tennis coach and a former professional player. He has an ATP career-high ranking in singles of World No. 40 achieved on 19 July 2010. Career Considered a top prospect of hi ...

(born 1988 in 's-Gravenzande) a Dutch tennis player * Mandy van den Berg (born 1990 in Naaldwijk) a Dutch football defender *

Arantxa Rus Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch professional tennis player. She won one WTA Tour singles title at the 2023 Hamburg European Open – Women's singles, 2023 Hamburg Open and four in doubles. Her biggest singles successes to date ...

(born 1990) a Dutch tennis player, lives in Monster * Kiki Bertens (born 1991 in Wateringen) a Dutch tennis player * Lara van Ruijven (born 1992 in Naaldwijk - 2020) a Dutch short track speed skater

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of South Holland Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2004