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Vlieland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈvlilɑnt] ; West Frisian: Flylân [ˈflilɔ̃ːn]) is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog.
Vlieland | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location in Friesland | |
| Coordinates: 53°18′N 5°4′E / 53.300°N 5.067°E | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Friesland |
| Government | |
| • Body | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Michiel Schrier (SP) |
| Area | |
• Total | 315.80 km2 (121.93 sq mi) |
| • Land | 39.15 km2 (15.12 sq mi) |
| • Water | 276.65 km2 (106.82 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Population (January 2021)[4] | |
• Total | 1,194 |
| • Density | 30/km2 (80/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Vlielander |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postcode | 8899 |
| Area code | 0562 |
| Website | www |
| Official name | Duinen Vlieland |
| Designated | 29 August 2000 |
| Reference no. | 2216[5] |
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Vlieland is one of the West Frisian Islands, lying in the Wadden Sea. It is the second island from the west in the chain, lying between Texel and Terschelling. The island was permanently separated from the mainland in St. Lucia's flood in 1287. Vlieland was named after the Vlie, the seaway between it and Terschelling that was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times. Richel is a permanently dry sandbank, located about 1 kilometer east of the northernmost point of Vlieland and is administered by the municipality of Vlieland.
History
editThe northern part of the island of Texel, Eierland, once was the southwestern part of Vlieland. A storm surge in 1296 probably separated Eierland from Vlieland.[6] Erosion further diminished the size of Vlieland from the west, leading in 1736 to the disappearance of a second village on Vlieland, West-Vlieland (Westeijnde), after the inhabitants had tried for decades to rebuild the town following numerous floods.
During the Second World War, Vlieland became part of the German Atlantic Wall. The occupying German forces built two anti-aircraft batteries and stationed more soldiers on the island than there were inhabitants. In 1942 the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling were transferred from the province of North Holland to Friesland and the situation was not reversed after the war.[7] The mail station in the western part of the island is a reminder that in the past mail was delivered by ferry from Texel.
Because of this history, Vlieland natives do not speak Frisian. The original dialect, Vlielands, was related to the dialect of Texel and to other Dutch dialects in North Holland. The last native speaker, Petronella de Boer-Zeylemaker, died in 1993 at the age of 107.[8]
Geography
editThe majority of the landscape of the island consists of sand dunes, but there are some wooded areas and small meadows. A large part of the island, the western part, consists mainly of sand. There is one village on the island, Oost-Vlieland (West Frisian: East-Flylân). A second village, West-Vlieland, was lost to the sea in 1736.
Transport
editVlieland can be reached by ferry from the Frisian town of Harlingen on the mainland. Ferries are operated by Doeksen and the journey takes 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to cross the Wadden Sea and part of the North Sea.[9] Tourists are not allowed to bring cars with them on the ferry. A summer-only ferry service runs between De Cocksdorp on the neighboring island of Texel and the westernmost point of Vlieland.[10] The most common form of transport on the island is the bicycle; a network of cycle paths criss-cross the island. A bus service runs from the ferry terminal to the village and campsites after the arrival of a ferry, and some time before departure. There is a very small heliport near the village, but it is only used for SAR flights.
Climate
editVlieland, being the outermost of the Frisian barrier islands, sees its climate the most moderated by the North- and Wadden Sea. As is the case with the other West Frisian islands, sunshine hours are among the highest in the Netherlands. Temperature extremes are rare; on average only 6 times a year does the daytime high exceed 25 degrees, and a high above 30 happens on average only once every three years. This also counts for extreme cold; only on five days a year does the temperature stay below zero for a whole 24-hour period, and nighttime frost happens on less than 40 nights a year. Nights below -10 Celsius only happen on average once every two years. Wind is abundant however, the average wind speed on Vlieland is almost 8 metres per second, or 28 kilometres per hour. Gale-force winds occur on average nine days per year.
| Climate data for Vlieland (10m amsl) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) |
5.3 (41.5) |
7.4 (45.3) |
11.1 (52.0) |
14.7 (58.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
19.8 (67.6) |
20.4 (68.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.1 (57.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
12.3 (54.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.7 (38.7) |
3.5 (38.3) |
5.2 (41.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.1 (59.2) |
11.5 (52.7) |
7.7 (45.9) |
4.8 (40.6) |
10.2 (50.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
1.6 (34.9) |
3.1 (37.6) |
5.0 (41.0) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.3 (52.3) |
13.7 (56.7) |
14.6 (58.3) |
12.4 (54.3) |
9.0 (48.2) |
5.3 (41.5) |
2.5 (36.5) |
7.6 (45.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 72 (2.8) |
49 (1.9) |
55 (2.2) |
32 (1.3) |
45 (1.8) |
50 (2.0) |
68 (2.7) |
72 (2.8) |
89 (3.5) |
105 (4.1) |
98 (3.9) |
82 (3.2) |
919 (36.2) |
| Average precipitation days | 12 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 135 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 86 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 79 | 83 | 86 | 78 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 68 | 99 | 142 | 204 | 247 | 228 | 239 | 213 | 156 | 118 | 70 | 61 | 1,835 |
| [citation needed] | |||||||||||||
Politics
editVlieland has a nine-member municipal council elected every four years. The results of the 2022 election are shown in the table below.[11] Michiel Schrier (Socialist Party) has been mayor of Vlieland since 2021.[12]
| Party | Popular vote | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |||
| Lijst Fier | 253 | 38.63 | 3 / 9
| |
| Nieuw Liberaal Vlieland (NLV) | 187 | 28.55 | 3 / 9
| |
| Algemeen Belang Vlieland (ABV) | 141 | 21.53 | 2 / 9
| |
| GroenWit (GW) | 74 | 11.3 | 1 / 9
| |
Economy
editTourism is the main source of income on Vlieland. There are approximately 15 hotels, and several hundred apartments and holiday homes. Vlieland has two campsites.
'Here Comes The Summer' and 'Into The Great Wide Open' are two music festivals, held respectively in late April and in late August.[13]
Notable people
edit- Willem de Vlamingh (1640 in Oost-Vlieland – 1698) a Dutch sea captain who explored the coast of Australia, then New Holland
- Nicolaas Kruik (1678 in West-Vlieland – 1754) a Dutch land surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weatherman; remembered for the Museum De Cruquius
Gallery
edit-
St. Nicolas church (Nicolaas Kerk) in Oost-Vlieland -
Dunes on the northern shore of Vlieland looking towards Terschelling -
Vlieland, beach at dusk -
Aerial view of southern part of Vlieland from Texel
References
edit- ^ "Burgemeester en wethouders" [Mayor and aldermen] (in Dutch). Gemeente Vlieland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2020" [Key figures for neighbourhoods 2020]. StatLine (in Dutch). CBS. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ "Postcodetool for 8899AE". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ "Bevolkingsontwikkeling; regio per maand" [Population growth; regions per month]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ "Duinen Vlieland". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ J.T. Bremer, De genese van de Kop van Noord-Holland en het westelijk Waddengebied, in Van Groningen tot Zeeland: geschiedenis van het cultuurhistorisch onderzoek naar het kustlandschap, Uitgeverij Verloren, 2010, p. 1100
- ^ Friesland zoals het was, September 1942 Archived 2015-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Tresoar
- ^ Harrie Scholtmeijer, Veranderingen in het Vlielands at the Meertens Institute website
- ^ "TIME TABLE". www.rederij-doeksen.nl. Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ "Texel-Vlieland v.v." Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ "Vlieland municipal election 2022". verkiezingsuitslagen.nl (in Dutch). 16 March 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Burgemeester en wethouders". vlieland.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ Into The Great Wide Open Facebook - Into The Great Wide Open
