Zwaag
Encyclopedia
Zwaag is a town in the Netherlands
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...

. It is located in the municipality of Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...

, the province of North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...

 and the region of West Friesland
West Friesland (region)
West Friesland is a contemporary region in the northwestern Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.The region covers an area of about , delineated by the Westfriese Omringdijk...

. On January 1, 2007, Zwaag had 3214 inhabitants.

History

Zwaag was founded in the 13th century. The church tower is dated to around 1500. Originally, the population consisted of sailors and artisans. Zwaag was a town then, but it lost its city rights after prolonged disputes with nearby Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...

. As of the 15th century, Zwaag was village of berry growers and dairy farmers. From 1900 onwards, more and more greenhouse were built for growing flowers. In 1979 it became part of Hoorn in 1979 in order for Hoorn to expand and take up surplus population of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. Most of the land that belonged to Zwaag is now urbanized and on places where no houses are built, industrial zones have sprung up.

Trivia

  • The Dorpsstraat is the main road in Zwaag.
  • The annual Carnival
    Carnival
    Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

     festival in Zwaag is one of the biggest in the northern parts of The Netherlands.
  • Notable people from Zwaag include Ed Beers
    Ed Beers
    Edward Joseph "Eddy" Beers is a retired professional ice hockey forward who played 250 games in the National Hockey League. He was nearly a point per game player in his time in the NHL, but his NHL career was cut short by injury....

    , Lobke Berkhout
    Lobke Berkhout
    Lobke Berkhout is a Dutch sailor. She is a five-time World Champion in the 470-class.Berkhout sails since 1990 and since 2001 she participates in the 470-class alongside Marcelien de Koning. Together they became World Champion in 2005 in San Francisco. This performance earned them the title of...

    , Hans van Goor
    Hans van Goor
    Hans van Goor is a retired Dutch long distance swimmer who won a silver medal at the 1993 European Championships. He also swam the English Channel on 4 September 1995 in a time of 8 h and 02 mins, which stood as a European record until 2003...

    , Marike Groot
    Marike Groot
    Marike Groot is a Dutch singer. She started her career in the mid eighties as the singer for punk band The Grabbits, with whom she recorded the EP Aliens. From 1989 to 1992 she was the vocalist of Little Mary Big, which transformed into Visions of Johanna and later Johan...

     and Richard Tol
    Richard Tol
    Richard S. J. Tol is a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland, where he works in the research areas of energy economics and environmental economics...

    .

External links

Map of the former municipality, around 1868.
  • People of .
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