Editing Wieringermeer

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{{more footnotes|date=September 2010}}
{{One source|date=August 2021}}
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{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Wieringermeer
|image_skyline = Wieringermeer Gemeentehuis Wieringerwerf.JPG
|image_caption = Town hall
|image_map = Dutch Municipality Wieringermeer 2006.png
|mapsize = 250px
|image_flag       = Wieringermeer_vlag.svg
|flag_size        = 120x100px
|image_shield     = Wieringermeer wapen.svg
|shield_size      = 120x100px
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = [[Netherlands]]
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = [[North Holland]]
|subdivision_type2 = Municipality
|subdivision_name2 = [[Hollands Kroon]]
|area_footnotes = (2006)
|area_total_km2 = 307.76
|area_land_km2 = 194.82
|area_water_km2 = 112.94
|population_as_of = 1 January 2007
|population_note = Source: [[Statistics Netherlands|CBS]], [http://statline.cbs.nl/ Statline].
|settlement_type = Former municipality
|population_total = 12676
|population_density_km2 = 65
|timezone = [[Central European Time|CET]]
|utc_offset = +1
|timezone_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
|utc_offset_DST = +2
|coordinates    = {{coord|52.85|N|5.03|E|region:NL|display=inline,title}}
|website = [http://www.wieringermeer.nl www.wieringermeer.nl]
}}

'''Wieringermeer''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈʋiːrɪŋərˌmeːr|-|Nl-Wieringermeer.ogg}}) is a [[polder]] and former [[Municipalities of the Netherlands|municipality]] in the [[Netherlands]], in the province of [[North Holland]]. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of [[Hollands Kroon]].

== Population centres ==

The former municipality of Wieringermeer consisted of the following small towns and villages: [[Kreileroord]], [[Middenmeer]], [[Slootdorp]], [[Wieringerwerf]].

== History ==
Around the year 1000 AD, this area was land. However, several storms after 1100 turned it into a [[flood plain]]. Wieringmeer means "[[Wieringen]] Lake", the name of an inland lake that filled the area in the early [[Middle Ages|medieval]] period.

The Wieringmeerpolder is a [[polder]], newly created land, and part of the [[Zuiderzee Works]] developed in the 20th century. Originally the polder was planned after the completion of the [[Afsluitdijk]], but a severe lack of agricultural land meant construction was accelerated, starting in 1927.<ref name="ley196110">{{Cite magazine|last=Ley|first=Willy|date=October 1961|title=The Home-Made Land|url=http://galacticjourney.org/stories/6110Galaxye.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022062747/http://galacticjourney.org/stories/6110Galaxye.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-22 |url-status=live|department=For Your Information|magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction|pages=92–106}}</ref> The dikes had to be strong enough to withstand the force of the [[Zuiderzee]], a sea. Draining of the polder was finished on 21 August 1930. After the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the lake [[IJsselmeer]] was formed from the waters. 
[[File:Exterieur OVERZICHT - Medemblik - 20284820 - RCE.jpg|thumb|left|The huge Lely pumping station lies at the southern end of Wieringermeer near [[Medemblik]] and keeps the polder dry.]]
After desalinization, the new land became usable in 1934. Four villages (Slootdorp (1931), Middenmeer (1933), Wieringerwerf (1936) and Kreileroord (1957)), were developed in the polder.

Since 1 July 1941, the Wieringermeer had been an independent municipality. 

On 17 April 1945, during the [[World War II|Second World War]], the German occupiers ordered the dike of the Wieringermeer to be blown up: the [[Inundation of the Wieringermeer|area was inundated]]. No one was killed as the polder slowly submerged again (the inhabitants had been warned), but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade. The floodwater was [[fresh water]], so the land did not have to be [[desalination|desalinate]]d again. Reconstruction followed quickly; by the end of 1945, the polder was declared drained again. Rebuilding of roads and bridges, houses and farms, was greatly facilitated by the experience of building them the first time.

== Local government ==
The former municipal council of Wieringermeer consisted of 15 seats, which at the final [[2010 Dutch municipal elections|election in 2010]] divided as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 March 2010|title=Wieringermeer municipal election 2010 |url=https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/GR20100303/633635 |access-date=5 June 2024 |website=verkiezingsuitslagen.nl|language=nl}}</ref> 
* [[Christian Democratic Appeal|CDA]] - 3 seats
* [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy|VVD]] - 3 seats
* Progressief Wieringermeer - 2 seats
* Onafhankelijk Wieringermeer '04 - 2 seats
* Gemeente Belangen Wieringermeer - 2 seats
* [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|PvdA]] - 2 seats
* [[Christian Union (Netherlands)|Christian Union]] - 1 seat
Elections were held in November 2011 for a council for the new merged municipality of Hollands Kroon that included Wieringermeer, which commenced work in January 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2011 |title=Hollands Kroon municipal election 2011 |url=https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/GR20111123 |access-date=3 June 2024|website=verkiezingsuitslagen.nl|language=nl}}</ref>

== References ==
{{commons category|Wieringermeer}}
{{Reflist}}
* Statistics are taken from the [http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gemeentes/gem533nh.htm SDU Staatscourant]

[[Category:Zuiderzee Works]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2012]]
[[Category:Former municipalities of North Holland]]
[[Category:Polders of North Holland]]
[[Category:Hollands Kroon]]