Amsterdam (municipality)

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Amsterdam
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52.37° N 4.89° E
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
Area (2006)
- Municipality	219.44 km²  (84.7 sq mi)
- Land	165.34 km² (63.8 sq mi)
- Water	54.10 km² (20.9 sq mi)
Population (1 January 2007)
- Municipality	743,792
- Density	4,499/km² (11,652.4/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website: www.amsterdam.nl

Amsterdam (pronunciation) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the most populous municipality in the country. Most of the inhabitants live in the city of Amsterdam, but the municipality also covers a number of small villages.

The municipality borders on Diemen, Weesp, Abcoude, Ouder-Amstel and Amstelveen in the south, Haarlemmermeer and Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude in the west, and Zaanstad, Oostzaan, Landsmeer and Waterland in the north.

[edit] Population centres

Amsterdam, Driemond, Durgerdam, Holysloot, 't Nopeind, Osdorp, Ransdorp, Sloten, Sloterdijk, Zunderdorp.

[edit] Local government

[edit] City council

As all Dutch municipalities, the municipality of Amsterdam is governed by a mayor, burgemeester, his aldermen, wethouders, and the municipal council, gemeenteraad.

After the 2006 municipal elections a coalition was formed between PvdA and GroenLinks, with a majority of 27 out of 45. These elections saw a political landslide throughout the country, with a strong shift to the left, of which Amsterdam was a prime example. The much talked about all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP that polls indicate would become possible after the national elections of 2006 and that was such a political success in Nijmegen had its largest majority in Amsterdam, apart from some small towns. PvdA even needed only 3 more seats to form a coalition and could thus take its pick, which forced potential coalition partners to give in on a lot of issues. In the case of GroenLinks, this was mostly the policy of preventive searching by the police, which they were opposed to but had to allow.

In total, 24 parties took part in the elections, including 11 new ones, but only 7 got seats. Amsterdam Anders/De groenen got assigned one seat at first, but lost it after redistibution, which in the Netherlands is done through a system that favours big parties. In 2002 they only just missed out on a second seat in a similar manner.

[edit] Boroughs

Amsterdam aldermen at their installation from left to right: Tjeerd Herrema, Maarten van Poelgeest, Marijke Vos, Carolien Gehrels, Ahmed Aboutaleb and Lodewijk Asscher

Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into 15 boroughs (stadsdelen), a system that was implemented in the 1980s. The boroughs are responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. The idea was to bring the government closer to the people. Fourteen of these have their own council, chosen by a popular election. The fifteenth, Westerpoort, covers the harbour of Amsterdam, and has very few inhabitants. It is governed by the central municipal council. Local decisions are made at borough level and only affairs pertaining the whole city (like major infrastructural projects), are delegated to the central city council.

The boroughs are:

• Amsterdam-Centrum - the city centre; in this borough are Dam Square, De Wallen, Homomonument, Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam), Westerkerk, Prinsengracht
• Amsterdam-Noord
• Oud-Zuid
• De Baarsjes
• Bos en Lommer
• Geuzenveld/Slotermeer
• Oost/Watergraafsmeer
• Osdorp

15 Boroughs of Amsterdam

• Oud-West
• Slotervaart
• Westerpark
• Westpoort
• Zeeburg
• Zuideramstel
• Amsterdam Zuidoost

[edit] Mayors

The mayor of Amsterdam is the head of the city council. The current mayor is Job Cohen (PvdA). The mayors since the World War II are:

• Feike de Boer (1945 - 1946)
• Arnold Jan d'Ailly (1946 - 1956)
• Gijs van Hall (1956 - 1967)
• Ivo Samkalden (1967 - 1977)
• Wim Polak (1977 - 1983)
• Ed van Thijn (1983 - 1994)
• Schelto Patijn (1994 - 2001)
• Job Cohen (2001 - now)

See also: List of mayors of Amsterdam

[edit] History of the municipality

When the municipality was created during the French occupation, it covered the city (then consisting of only the central part inside the canals) and the immediate surroundings, less than 10% of the current municipality. When the city grew, it annexed several neighbouring municipalities:

• Sloten (covering the villages of Sloten, Sloterdijk and Osdorp, in the west), annexed in 1921
• Buiksloot, annexed in 1921, now part of Amsterdam-Noord
• Nieuwendam (covering Nieuwendam and Zunderdorp), annexed in 1921, now part of Amsterdam-Noord
• Ransdorp (covering Ransdorp, Schellingwoude, Durgerdam and Holysloot), annexed in 1921, now part of Amsterdam-Noord
• Watergraafsmeer, annexed in 1921
• a part of Nieuweramstel (covering the village of Buitenveldert)
• a part of Weesperkarspel (covering the Bijlmermeer and the village of Driemond), annexed in 1966, now Amsterdam-Zuidoost

In 1995, the national government proposed the creation of a 'city province', consisting of Amsterdam and neighbouring towns. This was rejected by the people in a referendum. The opposition was not so much against creating the city province, but against the splitting of the city in parts. Opposers feared this would destroy the city's cohesion. After the referendum the city province proposal was shelved. Nevertheless, since 1995, city parts have gradually become more autonomous, and neighbouring towns have been drawn into the city, politically and economically. In a sense, the city province has arrived in the form of 'Greater Amsterdam'.

[edit] Education

Amsterdam is thought to have excellent primary schools. Some of these schools base their teachings on particular pedagogic theories like the various Montessori schools. Many however are based on religion. This used to be primarily Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations, but with the influx of Muslim immigrants there is a rise in the number of Muslim schools. In addition to these schools based on distinct beliefs there are public schools.

The same goes for secondary education. Amsterdam is noted for having 3 independent gymnasia, the Vossiusgymnasium, Barlaeusgymnasium and St. Ignatiusgymnasia, where a classical curriculum including Latin and classical Greek is taught. Though believed until recently by many to be an anachronistic and elitist concept that would soon die out, the gymnasia have recently experienced a revival. These schools are highly selective, and only open for the children who do best in primary school.

Amsterdam is home to two different universities, the secular University of Amsterdam, and the protestant Vrije Universiteit, meaning Free University.

[edit] Religion

As of 2005, 35% of the Amsterdam population feels connected to a religion or philosophy of life. 19% identify themselves as Christian (Catholic 9%, Dutch Reformed 3%, Lutheran 2%, Reformed 1%); 11% of the population identify themselves as Muslim. A further 2% is Hindu, with another 2% being Buddhist and 1% being Jewish.

[edit] Public transport

The Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (GVB) is the public company that is responsible for all public transport in Amsterdam. There used to be two public transport companies: one responsible for the ferries across the IJ and the other for the trams, but in 1943 the two companies were combined.

See public transport in Amsterdam, Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf, Amsterdam metro.

[edit] Airport

Schiphol, which is strictly speaking not a part of Amsterdam proper, but rather belongs to the municipality Haarlemmermeer, is the biggest airport in the Netherlands, the fourth largest in Europe, and the tenth largest in the world. It handles about 40 million passengers a year and is homebase to KLM. It's economically vital to Amsterdam and the Netherlands.

[edit] References

• [1] Publication by the SDU staatscourant
• [2] (pdf) - Statistics Netherlands publication on Amsterdam

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