Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. It is bordered on the north by the city of

, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on

IJsselstein IJsselstein () is a municipality and a city 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. It is a major commuting ...

in the southwest and

Houten Houten () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Population centres The municipality consists of the following towns: * 't Goy * Houten * Schalkwijk * Tull en 't Waal Houten (town) The main town in the municipality is ...

in the east. Nieuwegein has 64,606 inhabitants as of 1 December 2021. Several national sports federations are housed in Nieuwegein, including the NeVoBo (volleyball), KNZB (swimming), NBb (basketball) and KNCB (cricket). There are three main secondary schools in the city, including the Anna van Rijn College, Oosterlicht College and the Cals College.

History

Nieuwegein was founded on 1 July 1971 as a

planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, following the merger of the former municipalities of Jutphaas and Vreeswijk. The new town was built for the expanding population of the city of Utrecht, and grew rapidly during the decades following its foundation. In the area between Jutphaas and Vreeswijk there used to be a settlement called Geyne (Gein). This settlement received city rights in 1295 but was destroyed in 1333, in a war between the Bishop of Utrecht and the Count of Holland. Today onl
Oudegein House
remains from that time. After the boards of Vreeswijk and Jutphaas had debated for some time about the name of the new municipality, they decided to name it after this old settlement - Nieuwegein meaning 'New Gein'.

Population

Demographics

As of 2016, 50.7% of the population consider themselves religious. The largest denomination are Catholics, which are 27.5% of the population, followed by various protestant denominations (23.8%), and Islam (5.3%). 14.3% of the Nieuwegein population attends religious service regularly.

Social characteristics & issues

As of 2017, Nieuwegein has a poverty rate of 4.7% compared to the 5.7% national average.

Transportation

Nieuwegein is surrounded by three motorways (Dutch: ''autosnelweg''), the A2 to the west, the A12 to the north and the A27 to the east. Nieuwegein is connected to Utrecht and IJsselstein by the '' Sneltram'' ( light rail) line. There is a pedestrian ferry across the river Lek to Vianen. Three

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

s flow through Nieuwegein: the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, the

Lek River The Lek () is a river in the western Netherlands of some 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. The ...

and the Merwede Canal. There are also a few sports clubs in Nieuwegein, such as: KV Koveni, SV Geinoord, VSV Vreeswijk and JSV Nieuwegein.

Buildings

In Nieuwegein, there is a mandi (

Mandaean Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. ...

temple) called ''Vereniging Mandi van de Mandeeërs Gemeenschap in Nederland''.

Twin towns

Puławy Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, was a

twin town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

of Nieuwegein from 1994 to 2020. In July 2020, after Puławy installed a gay-free zone, Nieuwegein ended the partnership. *

Rundu Rundu is the capital and largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted 36,9 ...

, Kavango East Region,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, is a

of Nieuwegein since 1994. Because of the current state of gay rights in Namibia, the city council is debating on continuing the partnership.

Notable people

* Piet Schrijvers (born 1946 in Jutphaas) a Dutch football manager and former goalkeeper with 563 club caps * Veronique Renard (born 1965) a Dutch author and visual artist * Jasper van Dijk (born 1971 in Jutphaas) a Dutch politician * Mark Snoeren (born 1974) a Dutch politician * Nine Kooiman (born 1980) a Dutch politician and former social worker * Finne Jager (born 1984) stage name '' Phynn,'' a Dutch trance and techno DJ and producer * Manuel ''" Grubby"'' Schenkhuizen (born 1986) a Dutch professional eSports player * Sari van Veenendaal (born 1990) a Dutch football goalkeeper with

Atlético Madrid Femenino Club Atlético de Madrid Femenino (commonly known as Atlético Madrid Women or Atleti Femenino) is a Spanish women's football team based in Madrid that play in Liga F. It is the women's section of Atlético Madrid. History Atlético Madrid h ...

, captains the Dutch national team * Robin de Kruijf (born 1991) a Dutch volleyball player, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Gallery

File:Nieuwegein, fietspad langs het Sint Antonius-ziekenhuis foto3 2016-10-05 16.52.jpg, Nieuwegein, hospital Image:2007-06-02 15.23 Nieuwegein, ophaalbrug.JPG, Nieuwegein, drawbridge Image:Nieuwegein, molen foto2 2010-07-04 17.32.JPG, Nieuwegein, windmill File:De Liesbosbrug in Nieuwegein.jpg, De Liesbosbrug in Nieuwegein

References

External links

*
Official website
Municipalities of Utrecht (province) Populated places in Utrecht (province) Populated places established in 1971 1971 establishments in the Netherlands {{Utrecht-geo-stub