Almere

For other uses, see Almere (disambiguation).

Almere (Dutch pronunciation: [ɑlˈmeːrə] ^ⓘ) is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer from Amsterdam.

Almere
City and municipality
Skyline with the Weerwater Almere Centrum railway station Topsportcentrum The Green Cathedral Floriade 2022
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Flevoland
Almere Location within the Netherlands Show map of Netherlands Almere Location within Europe Show map of Europe
Coordinates: 52°22′N 5°13′E / 52.367°N 5.217°E / 52.367; 5.217
Country	Netherlands
Province	Flevoland
Region	Amsterdam metropolitan area
Government ^[1]
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Ank Bijleveld (acting) (CDA)
Area ^[2]
• Total	248.77 km^2 (96.05 sq mi)
• Land	129.19 km^2 (49.88 sq mi)
• Water	119.58 km^2 (46.17 sq mi)
Elevation ^[3]	−3 m (−10 ft)
Population  (January 2021)^[4]
• Total	214,715
• Density	1,662/km^2 (4,300/sq mi)
Demonym	Almeerder
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postcode	1300–1379
Area code	036
Website	www.almere.nl
Click on the map for a fullscreen view

Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprises six official areas^[5] that are the districts of Almere Stad (which is further split up into Almere Stad Oost, Almere Stad West and Almere Centrum), Almere Buiten and Almere Pampus (which is currently being designed),^[6] and the boroughs of Almere Haven, Almere Hout and Almere Poort. Four of them feature official district or borough offices.^[7] Furthermore, it also comprises the unofficial historic district and neighborhood Oostvaardersdiep.^[8][9] Almere is part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA).

Almere is the newest city in the Netherlands:^[10] the land on which the city sits, the Southern Flevoland polder, was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer from 1959 to 1968. The first house was finished in 1976, and Almere became a municipality in 1984. It has the largest population of the municipalities in Flevoland with 214,715 citizens in 2021 and the 8th largest in the Netherlands. In October 2007, the city council of Almere made agreements with the government to expand the city to 350,000 inhabitants by 2030.^[11][12]

History

The original plans for the IJsselmeerpolders saw the land being used for agriculture. However, after World War II housing was needed for the rapidly growing population of Amsterdam and two towns were planned in the polders Oostelijk Flevoland and Zuidelijk Flevoland. The town in Oostelijk Flevoland became Lelystad. The town in Zuidelijk Flevoland was still called Zuidweststad (English: South West City) on the first sketches, but in the 1970s it became called Almere, named after the lake Almere, the early medieval name of the Zuiderzee. The first house in Almere was finished in 1976. At that time the town was still controlled by the Openbaar Lichaam Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders (Z.IJ.P.), with a Landdrost. In 1984 Almere became an official municipality. Originally, Almere was envisioned as a town with multiple centres. This idea was later abandoned in favor of allowing neighbourhoods like Tussen de Vaarten to be built. There is also a difference between the way houses are built in the oldest and the newest parts of the city. The housing plan in Almere in the 1970s was basic functionality and a levelling of social status. However, starting in the 1990s more exclusive homes with striking designs were built (notably in the Regenboogbuurt).

Governance

Local executive

Ank Bijleveld (CDA) has been serving as acting mayor of Almere since 17 January 2022. Following the Dutch municipal elections, 2014 the current municipal council was inaugurated. The nationalist Party for Freedom had won the most seats in the local elections, which was both national and international news due to the controversial statements of its leader Geert Wilders. Despite this PVV plurality, the party did not join the municipal administration.

List of mayors

• 1984–1986: Han Lammers (PvdA)
• 1986–1993: Cees de Cloe (PvdA)
• 1993–1994: Cees Roozemond (PvdA, acting)
• 1994–1998: Ralph Pans (PvdA)
• 1998–2003: Hans Ouwerkerk (PvdA)
• 2003–2003: Jaap van der Doef (PvdA, acting)
• 2003–2015: Annemarie Jorritsma (VVD)
• 2015–2022: Franc Weerwind (D66)
• 2022–2023: Ank Bijleveld (CDA, acting)
• 2023-currently: Hein van der Loo (independent)

Municipal council

The first municipal council was installed on 2 January 1984 in the presence of the then-Minister of the Interior Koos Rietkerk. The council elections took place on 21 September 1983. Prior to 1984 Almere had an Adviesraad, which was chosen every 2 years (1978–1980, 1980–1982, 1982–1984). This Adviesraad was made up of different political parties similar to a local council. On 11 March 1977 the first adviescommissie was elected. It consisted of 5 people that were chosen on personal title. Since 2018, the council of Almere has comprised a total of 45 members.

Party	1984	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	5	5	7	10	12	8	7	7	5	8
Labour Party	10	14	9	6	9	7	12	8	5	7
Party for Freedom	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	9	6
Democrats 66	1	2	7	10	5	2	1	3	6	5
GroenLinks	2	1	3	4	4	4	3	3	2	4
Leefbaar Almere	-	-	-	-	-	9	4	3	4	3
Socialist Party	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	4	3
Party for the Animals	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Christian Union	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	1	1	2
Christian Democratic Appeal	2	3	4	3	3	4	3	2	2	2
Almere Partij/OPA	-	1	2	2	3	2	2	-	1	1
Respect	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Trots op Nederland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Verenigde Senioren Partij	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-
Stadspartij Almere	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Centrumdemocraten	2	1	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Stap '84	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	23	27	33	37	39	39	39	39	39	45

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Netherlands

Twin cities

Almere maintains international relations with the following twin cities:^[13][14]

Aalborg, Denmark^[15]   České Budějovice, Czech Republic   Haapsalu, Estonia^[citation needed]   Kumasi, Ghana   Lancaster, United Kingdom

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom   Port Sudan, Sudan (1986)   Rendsburg, Germany   Tainan City, Taiwan (2009)   Växjö, Sweden

Geography

 

Satellite image of the Flevopolder

 

Topographic map of Almere, September 2014

 

Overview map of Almere

Almere is located in the polder of Southern Flevoland (Dutch: Zuidelijk Flevoland). It is the most western municipality of the province Flevoland. It borders with Markermeer in the west and north, Lelystad in the northeast, Zeewolde in the east, and Gooimeer in the south.

Almere consists of three boroughs and three districts (Dutch: stadsdelen), three of which are under construction.^[16]

Name	Year^[17]	Location
Almere Haven ('Almere Harbor')	1976
Almere Stad ('Almere City')	1980
Almere Buiten ('Outer Almere')	1984
Almere Hout ('Almere Woods')	1991
Almere Poort ('Almere Gate')	2000
Almere Pampus	To be constructed

Climate

Almere has an oceanic climate characterized by mild to cool winters, and warm summers with fair precipitation year-round.

Climate data for Almere
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	4.9 (40.8)	5.5 (41.9)	8.2 (46.8)	9.6 (49.3)	16.2 (61.2)	19.3 (66.7)	20.8 (69.4)	21.0 (69.8)	18.5 (65.3)	14.2 (57.6)	8.9 (48.0)	5.9 (42.6)	12.8 (55.0)
Daily mean °C (°F)	2.2 (36.0)	2.5 (36.5)	4.8 (40.6)	6.7 (44.1)	11.9 (53.4)	14.9 (58.8)	16.5 (61.7)	16.6 (61.9)	14.3 (57.7)	10.6 (51.1)	6.1 (43.0)	3.4 (38.1)	9.2 (48.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−0.4 (31.3)	−0.4 (31.3)	1.5 (34.7)	3.8 (38.8)	7.6 (45.7)	10.5 (50.9)	12.3 (54.1)	12.2 (54.0)	10.1 (50.2)	7.1 (44.8)	3.4 (38.1)	0.9 (33.6)	5.7 (42.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	68.0 (2.68)	47.0 (1.85)	59.0 (2.32)	45.0 (1.77)	53.0 (2.09)	62.0 (2.44)	75.0 (2.95)	77.0 (3.03)	76.0 (2.99)	80.0 (3.15)	78.0 (3.07)	76.0 (2.99)	838.2 (33.00)
Source: climatedata.org (1981–2010 normals)^[18]

Demography

Inhabitants by origin

2017	Numbers	%
Dutch natives	118,944	54.31
European immigrants	17,380	10.91
Non-European immigrants	64,590	32.93
Suriname^[19]	22,772	11.33
Morocco	7,871	3.92
Indonesia	5,981	2.98
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba	4,955	2.47
Turkey	3,572	1.78
Others	36,819	11.50

Total population

Year	Almere Haven	Almere Stad	Almere Buiten	Almere Hout	Almere Poort	Almere Pampus	Almere in total
1970							52
1975							47
1980	6,596						6,632
1985	21,410	17,240	1,559				40,297
1990	22,355	37,024	11,499				71,087
1995	22,376	58,816	22,740	564			104,496
2000	22,237	83,934	35,290	1,336			142,797
2005	22,590	103,560	47,358	1,366			175,008
2007	22,507	105,261	51,751	1,345	134		180,998
2016	22,037	109,863	55,663	1,678	10,920		200,812

Culture

On 19 May 2004, at the instigation of Kees Kousemaker, owner of the Amsterdam comics store Lambiek, the first buildings of the Stripheldenbuurt were inaugurated in Almere. This is a district where all street names are named after famous comics characters and cartoonists.^[20]

Sport

Almere is the home of football team Almere City FC, American football team FlevoPhantoms and the home of professional basketball team the Almere Sailors.

Transport

 

Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland (formerly known as "Schouwburg Almere")

The traffic infrastructure in Almere is recognisable because of its separate infrastructure for cycles (which, in most cases, have separate cycle paths), cars and buses (the buses drive on a separate bus lane in most parts of the city). Almere is connected to the motorways A6 and A27.

Railway

In 1987 Almere was connected to the national railway system (see NS) with the fully completed Flevolijn which connected Weesp to Lelystad Centrum.

Almere currently has six railway stations:

• Almere Poort (opened December 9, 2012)
• Almere Muziekwijk (opened May 30, 1987)
• Almere Centrum (opened May 30, 1987)
• Almere Parkwijk (opened on February 1, 1996)
• Almere Buiten (opened May 30, 1987)
• Almere Oostvaarders (opened December 12, 2004)

A seasonal-use station, Almere Strand, was set up for certain events, such as Libelle Zomerweek. The station was made up of iron platforms. It was opened in May 1996 under the name Muiderzand. The station was closed after June 1996 but re-opened in June 1999 under the name Muiderstrand and closed again in July 1999. It re-opened again in 2001 under the name Almere Strand as an official seasonal-use station, meaning it was now open certain seasons every year. Because of the rapid development of the adjacent borough Almere Poort, it was decided to open an official station there (see Almere Poort), thus making the station of Almere Strand obsolete. Almere Poort station opened on December 9, 2012. Therefore, Almere Strand station was officially closed just after the summer of 2012 and its iron platforms were torn down in the weekend of October 6–7, 2012.^[21] There are no remains of the station, although passengers can still see where the platforms once stood from the windows of Flevolijn trains.^{[clarification needed]}

Public buses

Local bus lines

In Almere there are 11 bus lines which service the urban area.

Line #	Route	Notes
M1	Almere Centrum Station – Almere Haven De Marken or Almere Haven De Gouwen – Almere Haven Centrum	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays). The bus line changes into M2 at Almere Centrum
M2	Almere Centrum Station – Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders station - Almere Stripheldenbuurt	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays). The bus line changes into M1 at Almere Centrum
M3	Almere Centrum Station - Almere Beatrixpark - Almere Muziekwijk	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M4	Almere Centrum Station – Almere Literatuurwijk – Almere Gooisekant-West – Almere Poort Homeruskwartier – Almere Poort Station	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M5	Almere Centrum station - Almere Filmwijk - Almere Danswijk - Almere Parkwijk station	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
M6	Almere Centrum Station – Noorderplassen	Runs every 7 minutes Mon-Fri (every 15 minutes on Saturdays and every 30 minutes on Sundays).
M7	Almere Centrum station - Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Buiten station - Almere Oostvaarders station	Runs every 5 minutes Mon-Fri during daytime hours (every 7.5–15 minutes on evenings and Sundays).
22	Almere De Vaart/PIA – Almere Buiten Station	Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. Has 2 request stops
24	Almere Poort Station - Almere Duin	Only on Mon-Fri in rush hours. During the summer months also on weekends
25	Almere Sallandsekant - Almere Nobelhorst	Only on Mon-Fri in rush hours
525	Almere Sallandsekant – Almere Nobelhorst	Mon-Sat outside rush hours only

Monday to Friday, most city buses run about every 5 minutes (10 times every hour) during daytime hours. Saturdays, only a few city bus lines run every 7,5 minutes during daytime hours; most of them run every 12–15 minutes. Sunday, most of the city buses run every 15 minutes (with some buses running extra runs during certain hours) and M6 which only runs every 30 minutes.

There are a few overnight bus lines (Mon-Sat nights only): N21, N22 and N23. They run under the Keolis internal name nightGo (but are operated by R-net branded regional buses).

The bus company running almost all buses is Keolis Netherlands. Local buses (city buses) run under the name allGo. In the buses one can use the national transportation chipcard (smart card), subscriptions or one can buy bus tickets of allGo in the bus or at TVM's (the latter only Downtown).

Regional bus lines

Besides the local bus lines, there are regional and rush hour bus lines to towns and cities in the area.

Line	Route	Notes
323	Almere Parkwijk station - Almere Poort Station – Muiden P+R - Amsterdam Bijlmer	Mon-Fri between 5.30 AM and 10.30 AM and between 14.00 PM until the end of the day. Sat only after 18.00 PM and Sun all day long.^[22]
324	Almere Parkwijk Station – Almere Filmwijk - Amsterdam Bijlmer	Mon-Fri, rush hours-only, express bus without stops in Amsterdam
326	Almere Centrum Station – Busstation 't Oor – Almere De Kemphaan – Blaricum Carpoolplaats	Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends.
159	Almere Centrum Station – Almere Veluwsekant – Almere De Kemphaan – Almere Hout – Zeewolde – Harderwijk	Mon-Fri only; does not run on evenings and weekends. The last two buses of the day terminate halfway at Zeewolde Kwartiermakerslaan. Closed-system in Almere.
160	Almere Centrum Station – Busstation 't Oor – Almere De Kemphaan – Zeewolde De Eemhof – Amersfoort Vathorst Station	Runs 7 days a week, but only every 2 hours and only between 10 AM-10:30 PM. This bus is actually part of the OV Regio IJsselmond concession, but Keolis operates it under contract with Syntus Overijssel-branded buses.^[23]
322	Almere Parkwijk Station – Almere Flevoziekenhuis – Almere Gooisepoort – Almere Poort Station – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam Amstel	Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
327	Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam Amstel	Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.
328	Almere Haven Centrum – Busstation 't Oor – Muiden P+R – Diemen Diemerknoop – Amsterdam Bijlmer	Closed-system in Amsterdam. Is allowed to use the emergency lanes on the highway parts of the route to maneuver past traffic jams.

Line 159 is operated by the bus company Connexxion.

Since April 2012, there was a rush hour route, 150, to Utrecht which connected Almere directly with the University Area of Utrecht called De Uithof. (This was previously done by former bus line 295^[24]). Due to budget cuts, line 150 was scrapped on July 9, 2016.^[25]

Notable residents

 

Rob Verlinden, 2012

 

Michaëlla Krajicek, 2016

• Rob Verlinden (born 1950) Dutch gardener, TV presenter on gardening
• Annemarie Jorritsma (born 1950) politician and former mayor of Almere
• Bart van Leeuwen (1950 – 2017) Dutch photographer, author and radio DJ
• Jörgen Raymann (born 1966) cabaretier, stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and RTV host^[26]
• Chris Jansen (born 1966) politician
• Raymzter (born 1979) rapper
• "Angerfist" (Danny Masseling, born 1981) producer and DJ
• Yfke Sturm (born 1981) international model^[27]
• Ali B (born 1981) rapper, host/presenter, music label owner
• Alvaro (born 1987) Producer, DJ
• Pieter Elbers (born 1970) CEO KLM

Sport

• Frank Rijkaard (born 1962) football player and coach
• Remy Bonjasky (born 1976) kickboxer
• Maartje Scheepstra (born 1980) Dutch field hockey player, silver medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Marco Piqué (born 1980) Dutch-Surinamese welterweight kickboxer
• Hedwiges Maduro (born 1985) footballer with over 250 club caps
• Danny Holla (born 1987) footballer with over 300 club caps
• Michaëlla Krajicek (born 1989) Dutch tennis player
• Desiree van Lunteren (born 1992) Dutch footballer
• Niki Wories (born 1996) Dutch figure skater
• Sergiño Dest (born 2000) Dutch/American footballer

See also

• Floriade 2022

References

1. . Gemeente Almere. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
2. "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2020" [Key figures for neighbourhoods 2020]. StatLine (in Dutch). CBS. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
3. . Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
4. "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
5. [e-mail]. "Stadsdelen - Over Almere - Gemeente Almere". www.almere.nl.
6. "Pampus - Gebiedsontwikkeling - Gemeente Almere". almere20.almere.nl.
7. [e-mail]. "Gebiedskantoren - Contact - Gemeente Almere". www.almere.nl.
8. . Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
9. "Oostvaardersdiep". oostvaardersdiep.net.
10. Miller, Norman. "The Dutch city testing the future of urban life". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
11. (in Dutch) Schaalsprong Almere 2030, PDF. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
12. (in Dutch) Feiten en cijfers over Almere, Almere.nl.
13. (in Dutch) Gemeente Almere: Partnersteden. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
14. (in Dutch) Algemene Informatie Archived 2004-09-10 at archive.today. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
15. . Europeprize.net. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
16. (in Dutch) Gemeente Almere: Stadsdelen. Retrieved on 2015-08-29.
17. (in Dutch) Sociale Atlas 2007 Bevolkingsopbouw^{[dead link]}. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
18. "Almere Climate Data 1981–2010".
19. "CBS StatLine - Selecteren van gegevens". statline.cbs.nl.
20. "The History of Lambiek (2003-2005)".
21. . www.stationsweb.nl. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
22. "Lijn 323 Almere Station Parkwijk - Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA - OV in Nederland Wiki".
23. "Lijn 160 Almere Station Centrum - Amersfoort Station Vathorst - OV in Nederland Wiki".
24. "Lijn 295 Almere-Stad Station Centrum - Utrecht AZU - OV in Nederland Wiki". wiki.ovinnederland.nl.
25. "Snelwegbus Utrecht-Almere stopt ermee - RTV Utrecht". www.rtvutrecht.nl. 7 June 2016.
26. IMDb Database retrieved 10 August 2019
27. IMDb Database retrieved 10 August 2019

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Almere.

 

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Almere.

• Gemeente Almere (official website)
• (in Dutch) Geheugen van Almere (people's stories about Almere)
• Oldest location in Almere