Oostzaan () is a municipality and a town in the

Zaanstreek The Zaan () is a small river in the province of North Holland in the northwestern Netherlands and the name of a district through which it runs. The river was originally a side arm of the IJ bay and travels 13.5 kilometers (8½ miles) through the m ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, in the province of North Holland. The municipality had a population of in . Oostzaan has a total area of of which is water. Oostzaan—together with Westzaan and Assendelft—are considered the "mother towns" of the Zaanstreek (the region around the River Zaan), of which they are the three oldest towns. Oostzaan also played a role in the VOC and WIC shipping and shipbuilding. In the 17th century Oostzaan had its own pirate, named Claes Compaen. Originally sailing from the

as a legal pirate captain, in the possession of pirate letters, he soon began to raid ships for his private account, from the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

and the African-Atlantic coast into even the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. He liquidated the booty on the coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, later in

Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...

and the Barbary Coast. A street in Oostzaan is named for Claes Compaen. The town has a Reformed church with a cruciform groundplan, the Great Church (1760), which contains two ship models that recall the days when Oostzaan was an important sea-faring community. In the Oostzijderveld area of Oostzaan stands a windmill, De Windjager (The Wind Hunter).

Hamlets

Oostzaan consists of several hamlets, * Achterdichting (Get Behind The Seal), * De Heul, * Kerkbuurt (church neighborhood), * Noordeinde (North end), * Zuideinde (South end). Kerkbuurt and the northern part of Zuideinde are the center of Oostzaan.

Local government

The municipal council of Oostzaan consists of 13 seats, which are divided as follows:

Economy

The poultry company Meyn Food Processing Technology is headquartered in Oostzaan.

Notable people

* Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (before 1470 – 1533) a Northern Netherlandish designer of woodcuts and a painter * Claes Gerritszoon Compaen (1587 in Oostzaan - 1660 in Oostzaan) a Dutch corsair, merchant, a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

for the Dutch Republic and pirate * Albert Heijn (1865 in Oostzaan – 1945) a Dutch entrepreneur who founded Albert Heijn, a Dutch supermarket chain * Grietje de Jongh (1924 in Oostzaan – 2002) a Dutch sprinter, competed at the 1948 and

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

* Robert Tijdeman (born 1943 in Oostzaan) a Dutch mathematician, specializing in number theory, wrote Tijdeman's theorem * Trijnie Rep (born 1950 in Oostzaan) a Dutch former speed skater, who competed at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

* Charles Zwolsman Sr. (1955 in Oostzaan – 2011) a Dutch drug dealer and professional racecar driver

Gallery

File:Kerkbuurt 27, Oostzaan.JPG, Kerkbuurt 27, Oostzaan File:Mill Twiske at Oostzaan in the morningsun at 21 November 2014 - panoramio.jpg, Mill Twiske at Oostzaan - panoramio File:Zaanse schans straote.jpg, Zaanse schans straote File:Church in the center of Oostzaan - panoramio.jpg, Church in the center of Oostzaan - panoramio

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Municipalities of North Holland Populated places in North Holland