Slochteren () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and former municipality with a population of 15,546 in the province of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

in the northeast of the

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 ...

. On 1 January 2018, Slochteren merged with

Hoogezand-Sappemeer Hoogezand-Sappemeer () is a former municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It was the third most-populous municipality in the province of Groningen, after Groningen and Oldambt. It was formed in 1949 by the merger of the former municipaliti ...

and Menterwolde, forming the municipality

Midden-Groningen Midden-Groningen (Gronings: ''Midden-Grunnen'') is a municipality with a population of 60,953 in the province of Groningen, Netherlands. The municipality was formed by the merger of former municipalities of Hoogezand-Sappemeer, Slochteren and M ...

. The former municipality can be characterized as a chain of small villages dividing a mostly agricultural landscape. Having an agricultural background for at least a thousand years, the community houses for the most part commuters to nearby towns like

Hoogezand Hoogezand () is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep Cha ...

and

Delfzijl Delfzijl (; ) is a city and former municipality (which now belongs to the municipality of Eemsdelta) with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf and the Em ...

. The

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

Fraeylemaborg The Fraeylemaborg () is a ''borg'' in the village of Slochteren in the Netherlands. At present the Fraeylemaborg is a historic house museum. The museum had in 2013. Building history Fraeylemaborg is thmost important of the borgen in the provin ...

(a small 'castle', the oldest parts of which are dated in the Middle Ages) is located in Slochteren.

Geography

The population centres in the former municipality are: * Denemarken * Froombosch *

Harkstede Harkstede (; ) is a village in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located in Midden-Groningen, Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dub ...

Hellum Hellum (Gronings: Helm) is a village in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, the Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in 1282 as de Hellum. The etymology is unclear. Hellum is a road village which developed in the 12th century ...

Kolham Kolham is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Groningen (province), Groningen. It is part of the municipality of Midden-Groningen. In 1959, natural gas was discovered at Kolham. Later, it was revealed that Groningen gas field was the la ...

* Lageland * Luddeweer * Overschild * Schaaphok * Scharmer * Schildwolde *

Siddeburen Siddeburen (; or ) is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, about 10 km southwest of Delfzijl. Siddeburen was a separate municipality until 1826, when it was merged with Slocht ...

* Slochteren * Steendam * Tjuchem * Woudbloem Gem-Slochteren-OpenTopo

''Topographic map of the municipality of Slochteren, June 2015''

Natural gas field

Slochteren is in the center of the

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

Groningen gas field The Groningen gas field is a natural gas field in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. With an estimated 2,740 billion cubic metres of recoverable natural gas, it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and one of t ...

, discovered in 1959, ensuring the position of the Netherlands as a major energy exporting country. The estimated gas reserves in 2009 were .NAM/Shell gas/oil website
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Gallery

File:Protestantske tsjerke, Slochteren.jpg, Protestant Church File:SlochterenRM.jpg, Former courthouse of Slochteren File:SlochterenGemeentehuis.jpg, Town hall File:Old postoffice Slochteren.JPG, Former post office

References

External links

* Midden-Groningen Natural gas industry in the Netherlands Former municipalities of Groningen (province) Populated places in Groningen (province) Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2018 {{gasfield-stub