Nieuwegein
Encyclopedia
Nieuwegein ˌniwəˈɣɛi̯n is a municipality and city 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 Utrecht
Utrecht (province)
Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...

. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein
IJsselstein
IJsselstein is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. IJsselstein received city rights in 1331. IJsselstein owes its name to the river Hollandse IJssel which flows through the city....

 in the west and Houten
Houten
Houten is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The expected population in 2015 will be 50,000. The municipality consists of the following towns:* Houten * 't Goy * Schalkwijk...

 in the east.

Nieuwegein was founded on 1 July 1971 as a planned city
Planned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...

, following the merger of the former municipalities of Jutphaas
Jutphaas
Jutphaas is a former village and municipality in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The municipality merged with Vreeswijk in 1971, and is now the northern half of the town of Nieuwegein....

 and Vreeswijk
Vreeswijk
Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The municipality merged with Jutphaas in 1971, and is now the southern half of the town of Nieuwegein....

. The new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...

 was built for the expanding population of the city of Utrecht, and grew rapidly during the decades following its foundation.

Nieuwegein is surrounded by three Motorways (Dutch: autosnelweg), the A2
A2 motorway (Netherlands)
The A2 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. It is one of the busiest highways in the Netherlands. The road connects the city of Amsterdam, near the interchange Amstel, with the Belgian border, near Maastricht and Liège , and the Belgian road A25....

 to the west, the A12
A12 motorway (Netherlands)
The A12 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. The road connects the city of The Hague, with the German border, near Zevenaar, and the German Autobahn BAB 3...

 to the north and the A27
A27 motorway (Netherlands)
The A27 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. It is approximately 109 kilometers in length.The A27 is located in the Dutch provinces North Brabant, South Holland, Utrecht, North Holland, and Flevoland. It connects the city of Breda with the Almere...

 to the east. Nieuwegein is connected to Utrecht and IJsselstein by light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

. There is a pedestrian ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 across the river Lek to Vianen.

Three canals
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 flow through Nieuwegein: the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal or Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal is a canal in the Netherlands that was built to connect the port city of Amsterdam to the main shipping artery of the Rhine...

, the Lek River
Lek River
The Lek is a river in the western Netherlands of some 60 km in length. It is the continuation of the Nederrijn after the Kromme Rijn branches off at the town of Wijk bij Duurstede. The main westbound waterway is hereafter called the Lek River...

 and the Merwede Canal.

The Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond
Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond
The Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond is the governing body of cricket in the Netherlands. It was formed in 1883 and received a Royal charter in 1958.-See also:*Dutch cricket team*Dutch women's cricket team...

 (Royal Dutch Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 Board), which controls cricket in the Netherlands
Cricket in the Netherlands
Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th century, and in the 1860s was considered a major sport in the country. Many other sports have long since surpassed cricket in popularity amongst the Dutch, and today there are around 6,500 cricketers in the Netherlands, recent...

, is based in Nieuwegein.

External links


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