Urk () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in the

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

province in the central

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 ...

. Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...

, an inland sea that would become part of the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an ...

in the 13th century after a series of incursions by the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

. In 1939, a dike from the mainland to Urk ended the town's island status, just as the

Afsluitdijk The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...

project was changing the salt water Zuiderzee surrounding Urk to the less saline IJsselmeer. Later in the 20th century, seabed areas surrounding Urk were reclaimed from the sea to become the

Noordoostpolder Noordoostpolder (; en, "North-East Polder") is a polder and municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called '' Urker Land''. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the heart of the Noo ...

. The mainstay of the town's formal economy has always been

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

, and the products of the sea coming in through Urk harbor continue to be exported widely, although today Urk's fishing boats must travel greater distances to gather them than was required in most historical periods. Religious life has traditionally been very important to Urk's inhabitants, with active, conservative congregations of the Dutch Reformed denominations playing key roles in the life of the community.

Geography

Towards the north, the

is enclosed by an arc of

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...

high areas of land which formed during an

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

glaciations of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch:

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

Wieringen Wieringen () is part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, established in 2012 in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It is a former municipality in this province, with its name appearing in records of the late 9th and early 10t ...

, Urk, de

Voorst Voorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Population centres * Appen (near a wood where nice walks can be taken) * Bussloo (with a recreation centre with a small lake and beach) * De Kar (near a motorway junction (A1, ...

, and Gaasterland. To the south of that arc a lake formed as a result of meltwater, which became known as

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere compr ...

. North of the boulder clay highland of Urk, the Vecht river flowed into the Almere, while the river

IJssel The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. ...

with tributaries flowed into the south of Urk. As the climate became warmer during the Middle Ages, the sea level rose whilst the surrounding areas have been slowly steadily sinking because of forebulge effect since the end of the Ice Age. During the 13th century (and especially after a large storm in 1282) the

formed, and the water round Urk suddenly became a tidal sea. Because there was no sea defense, over time large pieces of the island eroded. The southwest side of Urk, which rose perpendicularly out of the sea, was called ''het Hoge Klif'' ("the High Cliff"). Around 1700 the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

donated sea defenses to Urk. The town contains the highest point in the province of

History

The oldest instance of the name "Urk" is a donation certificate of 966 from

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Otto I to the Sint Pantaleonsklooster

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. The text reads: ''cuiisdam insulae medietatem in Almere, que Urch vocatur'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: "of a certain island in the middle of

, which is called Urch"). Until 1475 the High and Low Lordship of Urk and Emmeloord (the most northern village of

Schokland Schokland () is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee, in the municipality of Noordoostpolder. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just ...

) was in the hands of the Van Kuinre family. From 1475 to 1614, the

Zoudenbalch {{Short description, Prominent Dutch historical familyThe Zoudenbalch family (also known as Soudenbalch) was one of the most prominent families of Utrecht (city), Utrecht throughout the Middle Ages to the age of the Dutch Revolt. They occupied all p ...

family 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 ...

were Lords of Urk and Emmeloord. From 1614 to 1660, Urk and Emmeloord were ruled by the van der Werve from Antwerp. From 1660 to 1792 Urk and Emmeloord belonged to the

of Amsterdam, and ruled from 1660 to 1672/1678 by

Andries de Graeff Andries de Graeff (19 February 1611 – 30 November 1678) was a powerful member of the Amsterdam branch of the De Graeff - family during the Dutch Golden Age. He became a mayor of Amsterdam and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the death of his ...

. From 1792 to 1950 Urk belonged to the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Urk ceased to be an island, and Urk's town expanded into the reclaimed land of the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

. Many Urkers who previously left the town because of overcrowding before the polder reclamation was completed were able to return to Urk. From 1950 to 1986 Urk belonged to the province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...

. Since 1986, Urk has belonged to the province of

. The

in its early years had an alternative name "Urker Land," from which Urk's newspaper, ''Het Urkerland'', gets its name.

Economy

The important economic pillar of the village remains fishery. After the IJsselmeer was formed, the Urkers moved their fishing operations to the

. Additionally, Urk is focused on making a connection between the existing economy and new activities such as tourism, social care, maritime industry and services. The local council is keen to particularly promote tourism, retail and fisherie

In the past, many lives were lost in storms on the Zuiderzee and North Sea. There is a memorial to lost fishermen on Urk, popularly known as the ''Urker vrouw'': a statue of a woman looking out to sea, vainly awaiting the return of her husband and sons.

Politics

Local

The municipal council currently (2021) contains five political parties: * ChristenUnie, Christian Union: 3 seats * CDA: 3 seats *Hart voor Urk: 3 seats * SGP: 6 seats *Gemeentebelangen: 2 seats *PVV: 1 seat *Krachtig Urk: 1 seat ''Gemeentebelangen'', ''Hart voor Urk'' and ''Krachtig Urk'' are local parties. Hart voor Urk was founded by former SGP councillor Jan Koffeman with largely identical party policies to SGP's. A majority coalition of ChristenUnie, SGP and Hart voor Urk are currently in power. The town council is led by (non-elected) mayor Cees van den Bos. None of these parties can be described as either left-wing (socialist) or liberal. National parties such as the VVD (conservative/liberal), D66 (liberal),

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

(green party) and PvdA (labour) are not represented in Urk's town council and support for these parties in national and regional elections remains minimal. However, due to slowly growing support for the VVD, an Urk affiliate of the conservative/liberal party was founded in early 2011 and entered the 2014 local elections. However, the VVD only drew 2.7% of the vote, insufficient for a seat.

National

Urk is one of the most politically conservative areas in the Netherlands. As part of the so-called Dutch "

Bible belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's a ...

", a vast majority of election votes go to the three Christian parties in the Netherlands, SGP,

ChristenUnie The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more socially ...

and CDA. Urk is also known for its high turnout at each election, which is usually considerably higher than the national average (although general turnout percentages have dropped approx. 10% since 2002). Voting patterns used to be relatively stable, with approximately 85-90% of the votes spread out evenly over SGP,

and CDA (each between 25-35%). CDA in Urk usually got more votes in national elections than in local elections, while ChristenUnie's support is sometimes twice locally compared to what it receives from Urk voters in national elections (this is sometimes attributed to the apparent left-wing leanings of the ChristenUnie nationally, while ChristenUnie in Urk tends to be more conservative). SGP's support locally is not much different from its support in national elections. However, in recent years a few changes in voting patterns occurred, such as a growing support for national protest parties such as the LPF or

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

' PVV Freedom Party. Also, voting patterns these days tend to show bigger swings, as shown in 2010's and 2012's national elections in which CDA lost 11% and 13% respectively, and in 2011's regional elections, in which ChristenUnie lost 18%. In 2012, orthodox-Christian SGP even registered an absolute majority with 51.2% of the vote. (In the European Elections of 2014, the combined ChristenUnie/SGP list even registered 78% of the vote). Support for established left wing parties, such as the Labour Party or the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

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Reformed Political Party The Reformed Political Party ( nl, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is a conservative CalvinistThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist political party: * * * * * political party in the Netherlands. The term ''Reformed'' is not a refere ...

(Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) , align="left",

Conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

Reformed Christian Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

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Kees van der Staaij Cornelis Gerrit "Kees" van der Staaij (; born 12 September 1968) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives since 1998 and Leader of the Reformed Political Party (''Staatkundi ...

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Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nin ...

(Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) , align=left,

Right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Estab ...

/ Anti-Islam , align="left" ,

, align="right" , , align="right" , 11.0% , align="right" , +2.2% , - align=right , , align=left,

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

(Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) , align=left,

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

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ChristianUnion The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more social ...

(ChristenUnie, CU) , align=left, Social-Christianity /Orthodox Protestantism , align="left" , Gert-Jan Segers , align="right" , 1376 , align="right" , 11.6% , align="right" , -6.4% , - align=right , , align=left,

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

(Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) , align=left,

Conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...

Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

, align=left,

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

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(Socialistische Partij, SP) , align=left,

Socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

, align="left" , Emile Roemer , align="right" , 78 , align="right" , 0.7% , align="right" , -0% , - align=right , , align=left,

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a social liberal political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Demo ...

(Democraten 66, D66) , align=left,

Social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

, Radicalism,

Progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tech ...

, align="left" , Alexander Pechtold , align="right" , 58 , align="right" , 0.5% , align="right" , +0.3% , - align=right , , align=left,

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of th ...

(GroenLinks, GL) , align=left,

Green Politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It be ...

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Jesse Klaver Jesse Feras Klaver (born 1 May 1986) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives since 2010 and Leader of GroenLinks since 2015. Prior to this, he chaired the youth union of th ...

, align="right" , 29 , align="right" , 0.2% , align="right" , +0.1% , - align=right , , align=left,

Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. Since 2019, the PvdD's political leader is Esther Ouwehand. With 3.8% of the votes ...

(Partij voor de Dieren, PvdD) , align=left,

Animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

Animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevit ...

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Marianne Thieme Marianne Louise Thieme (, born 6 March 1972) is a Dutch politician, author and animal rights activist. A jurist by education, she served as the Party for the Animals' political leader from 2002 to 2019 and a member of the House of Representatives ...

, align="right" , 22 , align="right" , 0.2% , align="right" , +0.0% , - align=right , , align=left, Labour Party
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Social Democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

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Lodewijk Asscher Lodewijk Frans Asscher (; born 27 September 1974) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. Asscher worked as ...

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(Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) , align="left",

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, align="right" , , align="right" , 54.4% , align="right" , -2.0% , - align=right , , align=left,

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Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections ...

(Forum voor Democratie, FvD) , align=left,

/ Anti-Islam , align="left" , Thierry Baudet , align="right" , , align="right" , 9.0% , align="right" , +7.0% , - align=right , , align=left,

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Wopke Hoekstra Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (born 30 September 1975) is a Dutch politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Minist ...

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(Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) , align=left,

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, align="right" , , align="right" , 1.7% , align="right" , -0.1% , - align=right , , align=left,

(Democraten 66, D66) , align=left,

, Radicalism,

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Sigrid Kaag Sigrid Agnes Maria Kaag (; born 2 November 1961) is a Dutch diplomat and politician, serving as Minister of Finance and First Deputy Prime Minister in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. She previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 25 May 20 ...

, align="right" , , align="right" , 0.5% , align="right" , 0.0% , - align=right , , align=left,

(Partij voor de Dieren, PvdD) , align=left,

, align="left" , Esther Ouwehand , align="right" , 22 , align="right" , 0.3% , align="right" , +0.1% , - align=right , , align=left,

(Socialistische Partij, SP) , align=left,

, align="left" ,

Lilian Marijnissen Lilian M. C. Marijnissen (born 11 July 1985) is a Dutch politician serving as Leader of the Socialist Party and ''ex officio'' its parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives since 13 December 2017. She was first installed as a member ...

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(GroenLinks, GL) , align=left,

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, align="right" , , align="right" , 0.2% , align="right" , 0.0% , - align=right , , align=left, Labour Party
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Lilianne Ploumen Elisabeth Maria Josepha "Lilianne" Ploumen (; born 12 July 1962) is a Dutch politician and activist who served as Leader of the Labour Party from January 2021 until April 2022. She had been a member of the House of Representatives since 2017, a ...

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Dialect

One of the oldest and most distinctive

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

s of Dutch is the language spoken in Urk. Nearly everyone in the village speaks this dialect and uses it in daily life. The dialect deviates considerably from contemporary standard Dutch and has preserved many old characteristics that disappeared from standard Dutch a long time ago. The Urkish dialect also includes elements that are older than standard

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 ...

and were never part of the standard language. For example, the old word for "father" in the Urkish dialect is . The dialect developed this way because until

, Urk was an island and could only be reached by boat.

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

was unknown, and the poor population did not have much money for

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

s and

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

s. Until the modern era primary education for the children typically lasted only two years; afterwards children had to help maintain the family and formal schooling ended. Recent linguistic classifications have assigned the Urk dialect to the "Urkers dialect family", of which it is the only member. The Urkish dialect has more vowel sounds than standard Dutch and each vowel has short and long forms. The pronunciation of vowels deviates from standard Dutch and is closer to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. Because living conditions in Urk in historical times were very poor, young girls (typically about age 11 or 12) would frequently leave the island to become domestic servants, mostly in or around Amsterdam. They often served with

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

families. After a few years, they would return to Urk to form families of their own. As a result of this practice, the Urkish dialect absorbed some

loanwords A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

from the Amsterdam dialect and also from

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

. For instance, the Yiddish "Shnur" for "sister-in-law" became the Urkish "Snoar" (identical meaning); the Hebrew "Kallah" () for "bride" became the Urkish "Kalletjen", meaning "girlfriend" (literally "little bride"). When

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

the

, many French words were incorporated into both standard Dutch and Urkish. Just as for standard Dutch, French words often changed form when incorporated into Urkish. The Urkish dialect has always been primarily a spoken language, and there are not many old texts written in the dialect. Only in recent years have people begun to write prose and poetry in the Urkish dialect. There are Urkers who have translated

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

books into Urkish, such as the book of

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

. Urk is no longer an island and exposure to the standard

through the media is widespread. However, the distinctive Urkish dialect is still alive.

Notable people

* A.C. Baantjer (1923 in Urk – 2010) a Dutch author of detective fiction and police officer * Geert Nentjes, (born 1998), professional darts player, lives in Urk * Jan Ras (born 1999 in Urk) a Dutch footballer who plays for SC Heerenveen * Dick Schutte (born 1947 in Wilsum) a former Dutch politician, Mayor of Urk from 1999 to 2005 * Adri van Heteren (born 1951) a Dutch Christian minister in Urk

Folktales

Ommelebommelestien

A famous Urkish folktale is the story parents tell their children when they want to know where the babies come from. The tale involves a large exposed rock which can be seen in the IJsselmeer about from the shore. This stone is known as the "''Ommelebommelestien''". Urkers often tell their children that there are two kinds of people-- ''vreemden'' (strangers) and ''Urkers'' (people from Urk). Strangers are usually born from a cabbage, or a stork brings them to their new parents, but Urkers come from a large stone which lies about from the shores of their former island. Nowadays, the stone is usually called "Ommelebommelestien" (Ommel-Bommel Stone), but in former times it was called "Ommelmoerstien": ''moer'' means "mother's" in the Urkish dialect. In the tale, a

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

comes all the way from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

to put babies in the stone. When the baby is about to be born, the baby's father is said to have to go to

to pick up the key that gives access to the stone. So when an Urkish man is asked if he has been to Schokland, he is actually being asked if he has children. In the older days, when both Urk and Schokland were still islands in the

, the father had to take the

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

in his boat and row from Urk to Schokland to get the key, and then from Schokland to the Ommelebommelestien to get the baby. Nowadays he would be able to go to Schokland by car, but according to the legend he still has to row. The door to the stone is somewhere below sea level, so it is difficult to find. Once the door was found, a small price had to be paid for the baby: traditionally one

Dutch guilder The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, ...

for a

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

but two for a

boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is ...

. The mother was said to be kept in bed with a nail through her right foot. There she would celebrate that she had just become a mother.

Urk and the arts

The prolific Dutch writer Albert Cornelis Baantjer was born here. Baantjer is mainly known for his large series of detective novels revolving around police inspector De Cock and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. Writer Jef Last lived on Urk for several years from 1932 onwards. He wrote several articles about Urk for one of the most progressive Dutch magazines, 'De Groene Amsterdammer'. While living here, he fell in love with a fisherman, and was inspired to write ''Zuiderzee''. This novel deals with the love between two fishermen living on Urk and was one of the first, if not the first novel in Dutch literature to openly deal with homosexuality. The Dutch writer, painter and resistance hero

Willem Arondeus Willem Arondeus (22 August 1894 – 1 July 1943) was a Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Na ...

spent some time in Urk from 1920. While residing on Urk, during 1922, he wrote 'Afzijdige Strofen', a collection of twenty homo-erotic poems which were posthumously published in 2001.

Demographics

Year 2018: *Birth Rate: 20.3 per 1000 *Death Rate: 3.24 per 1000 *NGR: +1.90% per year. The

birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...

of the municipality of Urk is the highest in the Netherlands as of 2016 (and highest in previous years). But like many other places in the Netherlands this number declined to 18.7% (down from 30.8% in 1988). In 1988 only

Zeewolde Zeewolde () is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. It has a population of approximately 22,000 (2017). It is situated in the polder of Flevoland with the small lake called the Wolderwijd to the east. ...

had a slightly higher birth rate at 31.3%, but the birth rate Urk remained the second highest. The

total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

declined to 2.6 (down from 3.9 in 1988).

Rail Links

Urk has no railway station but the nearest stations are Kampen,

Dronten Dronten () is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Flevoland. It had a population of in . History Plans for the municipality of Dronten were made in the early half of the 1950s; real plans for the town of Dr ...

and

Lelystad Lelystad () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdi ...

, each approximately away. This makes Urk one of the most isolated places in the Netherlands as far as railway connections are concerned.

References

External links

* *
Local news site

Local lifeboat station
{{Authority control Former islands of the Netherlands Former municipalities of North Holland Former municipalities of Overijssel Municipalities of Flevoland Populated places in Flevoland

Geography

History

Economy

Politics

Local

National

Dialect

Notable people

Folktales

Ommelebommelestien

Urk and the arts

Demographics

Rail Links

See also

References

External links