Molenwaard () is a former municipality in the western

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in the southeastern part of the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

, and the northwestern part of the region of

Alblasserwaard The Alblasserwaard () is a polder in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part. History The first human inhabitant ...

. It was the result of a merger of the municipalities of Graafstroom, Liesveld, and Nieuw-Lekkerland on 1 January 2013. On 1 January 2019 it merged with

Giessenlanden Giessenlanden () is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of of which is water, and had a population of as of . The municipality included communities of Arkel, Giesse ...

, together they form the new municipality of

Molenlanden Molenlanden () is a municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The municipality was created on 1 January 2019 by merging the municipalities of Giessenlanden en Molenwaard. It is located east of Rotterdam along the Lek. Th ...

. Molenwaard had about 29,000 inhabitants and an area of about . The largest settlements are

Bleskensgraaf Bleskensgraaf is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and lies about 10 km northeast of Dordrecht. It has an area of 1272 hectares. On 1 January 2009 Bleskensgraaf and Hofwegen had 27 ...

Groot-Ammers Groot-Ammers is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and is located about 13 km southeast of Gouda on the southside of the Lek River. In 2001, the town of Groot-Ammers had 2822 inh ...

, and Nieuw-Lekkerland. Molenwaard is a landscape of

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

s, consisting of large pastures traversed by ditches and canals, like the Groote- of Achterwaterschap, and the Ammersche Boezem. In the outermost northwest are the windmills of Kinderdijk. About 1.5 m below sea level, the municipality is bordered by the Lek river in the north and briefly the

Noord Noord () is a town and region in Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). This town is known for its low rise and high rise hotels, restaurants, beaches, malls, the California Lighthouse, and other places of attraction. Places of interes ...

river in the west. The Graafstroom and the Alblas flow through it. Religiously, the municipality is part of the

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States and the Midwestern state of Missouri (which also has significant Southern influence), where evangelical Protestantism exerts a strong social and cultural influence. The region has been de ...

, resulting in the dominance of the Christian parties in politics.

Localities

Molenwaard consists of the following settlements:

Topography

''Map of the municipality of Molenwaard, June 2015''

Politics

Elections were held on 21 November 2012 for the first council of the new municipality of Molenwaard, which took office on 2 January 2013. The 21 seats divided as follows: There was an election in November 2018 for the new merged Molenlanden municipality that commenced work on 1 January 2019, replacing Molenwaard council.

Notable people

Johannes Gysius Johannes Gysius (c.1583–1652) was a Dutch historian and minister. Gysius was born in Ostend, Belgium around 1583. He was married twice. His second wife was named Petronella Michiel Matthijsdr. The couple married in Dordrecht in South Holland o ...

(ca. 1583 – 1652 in Streefkerk) a Dutch historian and minister *

Fop Smit Fop Smit (11 October 1777 – 25 August 1866) was a Dutch naval architect, shipbuilder, and shipowner. He founded the tugboat, towage and Marine salvage, salvage company L. Smit & Co that is now part of Smit International. His shipyard had a num ...

(1777 in Alblasserdam – 1866) a Dutch naval architect, shipbuilder, and shipowner * Aart den Boer (1852 in Nieuw-Lekkerland – 1941) a Dutch architect and contractor *

Simon Bon Simon Bon (1 February 1904 – 17 June 1987) was a Dutch rower. He competed at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics in the men's eight and coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used ...

(1904 in Nieuwpoort – 1987) a Dutch rower, competed at the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

* Herbertus Bikker (1915 in Wijngaarden – 2008) a Dutch war criminal and member of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

* Els Veder-Smit (born 1921 in Kinderdijk – 2020) a Dutch politician *

Willem Aantjes Willem "Wim" Aantjes (; 16 January 1923 – 22 October 2015) was a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). A jurist by occupation, Aantjes was elected to the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives on ...

(1923 in Bleskensgraaf – 2015) a Dutch politician and jurist * Ad Dekkers (1938 in Nieuwpoort – 1974) a Dutch artist of

reliefs Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

Gert Schutte Gerrit Jan Schutte (24 May 1939 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch politician and teacher. He was the party leader of the now defunct Reformed Political League (GPV), which later merged into the Christian Union (Netherlands), Christian Union (CU), ...

(born 1939 in Nieuwpoort – 2022) a Dutch politician and teacher * Dirk van der Borg (born 1955 in Thesinge) a Dutch politician, Mayor of Molenwaard since 2013 *

Corien Wortmann-Kool C.M. (Corien) Wortmann-Kool (born 27 June 1959 in Oud-Alblas) is a Dutch language, Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 until 2014. She has a background in politics, ...

(born 1959 in Oud-Alblas) a Dutch politician and

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

* Maarten Demmink (born in 1967 in Goudriaan) known as Demiak, is a Dutch painter, photographer and sculptor * Merijn Korevaar (born 1994) and Jeanne Korevaar (born 1996 in Groot-Ammers) Dutch racing cyclists

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Molenlanden Former municipalities of South Holland Municipalities of the Netherlands established in 2013 Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2019