Aalst is a village in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Gelderland

Gelderland

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...

. It is a part of the municipality of Zaltbommel

Zaltbommel

Zaltbommel is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel first received city status in 1231, which status was renewed in 1316....

, and lies about 12 km southeast of Gorinchem

Gorinchem

Gorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...

.

In 2005, the village of Aalst proper had 1950 inhabitants. The built-up area of the village was 0.32 km², and contained 525 residences.
The statistical area "Aalst", which also includes the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 2020.

For a short while, Aalst was a separate municipality. In 1818, it became a part of the municipality of Poederoijen

Poederoijen

Poederoijen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaltbommel, and lies about 9 km southeast of Gorinchem.Poederoijen was a separate municipality until 1955, when it was merged with Brakel....

. According to the historian Van der Aa, there used to be an old castle here, but only a few remnants were left in the middle of the 19th century.