Main	Births etc

Nijkerk
—  Municipality  —
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52°13′N 5°29′E / 52.217, 5.483
Country	Netherlands
Province	Gelderland
Area(2006)
• Total	72.05 km2 (27.82 sq mi)
• Land	69.51 km2 (26.84 sq mi)
• Water	2.53 km2 (0.98 sq mi)
Population (1 January, 2007)
• Total	38,879
• Density	559/km2 (1,450/sq mi)
	Source: CBS, Statline.
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Nijkerk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɛi̯.kɛrk]  ( listen), Dutch Low Saxon: Niekark) is a municipality and a city in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland.

Contents 1 Population centres 2 Transportation 3 The city of Nijkerk 4 Politics 5 Climate 6 Famous people from Nijkerk 7 Twin town 8 References 9 External links

Population centres Edit

Achterhoek, Appel, De Veenhuis, Doornsteeg, Driedorp, Hoevelaken, Holk, Holkerveen, Kruishaar, Nekkeveld, Nijkerkerveen, Prinsenkamp, Slichtenhorst, 't Woud and Wullenhove.

Some people state that Groot Corlaer is a population centre on his own, but officially it's part of the city of Nijkerk

TransportationEdit

Railway station: Nijkerk

The city of Nijkerk Edit

The name Nijkerk stems from Nieuwe Kerk (Dutch for New Church). This new church was built when the old chapel was destroyed by fire in 1221. Nijkerk was strategically located between the Duchy of Guelders (Dutch: Hertogdom Gelre) and the Bishopric of Utrecht. Because of this strategic location Nijkerk regularly was the scene of war, and in 1412 the village was completely destroyed. It was restored and Nijkerk received city rights in 1413. In 1421 the church that gave Nijkerk its name burnt down and was replaced; this happened several times, until a new church was built in the 18th century which still stands today. The organ in this church was built in 1756.

In the 18th century Nijkerk was a flourishing merchant city. Several inhabitants traveled to the New World, such as Arent van Curler and Kiliaen van Rensselaer and founded new cities.

Since World War II Nijkerk is growing fast. It lies on the border of the IJsselmeer which allows for transportation of goods via ships, and the intersection of two major motorways, the A1 and A28. This allowed local industries to grow, and also caused a lot of people who work in the nearby Randstad to move to the more quiet Nijkerk. Also the easy access to the Veluwe is a contributing factor to this growth.

Politics Edit

In 2000, the municipalities of Nijkerk and Hoevelaken merged to form the new municiplity of Nijkerk. Since then the city council has 25 seats. Currently (April 2010) the seats are divided as follows:

Party	Number of seats
CDA	8
Christen-Unie and SGP	5
VVD	3
Progressief 21	4
Lokaal Belang	4
PPP	1

Progressief 21 is a local party combining the local chapters of D66, GroenLinks and PvdA. The last two parties are local parties that have no national connection.

On August 24th, 2011, the municipality announced that Nijkerk had passed the mark of 40,000 inhabitants. This should mean that after the next election the city council would be extended by 2 seats, but because of government spending reductions this is not yet certain.^[1]

ClimateEdit

Climate data for Nijkerk
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	5 (41)	5 (41)	8 (46)	12 (54)	17 (63)	19 (66)	21 (70)	21 (70)	18 (64)	13 (55)	8 (46)	6 (43)	12.8 (55.0)
Average low °C (°F)	0 (32)	0 (32)	1 (34)	2 (36)	7 (45)	10 (50)	12 (54)	12 (54)	9 (48)	6 (43)	3 (37)	1 (34)	0 (41.5)
Precipitation mm (inches)	70 (2.76)	45 (1.77)	65 (2.56)	45 (1.77)	60 (2.36)	70 (2.76)	65 (2.56)	60 (2.36)	65 (2.56)	75 (2.95)	80 (3.15)	85 (3.35)	785 (30.91)
Mean monthly sunshine hours	52	83	114	160	205	188	197	193	132	105	58	41	1,528
Source: [2]

Famous people from Nijkerk Edit

• Bernardus Johannes Alfrink (1900-1987), Cardinal
• Arent Van Curler (1620-1667), founder of Schenectady, New York
• Christiaan Eijkman (1858-1930), Nobel Prize winner
• James Kwast (1852-1927), pianist and teacher
• Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), priest and writer
• Kiliaen van Rensselaer (before 1596 - after 1642), merchant and Hudson Valley patroon.

Twin town Edit

• Schenectady, New York, USA

ReferencesEdit

External links Edit

• Official Website
• Schenectady/Nijkerk Council
• Map

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Coordinates: 52°13′N 5°29′E / 52.217, 5.483

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