Emmeloord is the administrative center of the municipality of Noordoostpolder

Noordoostpolder

Noordoostpolder is a 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 Noordoostpolder. The municipality has the largest land area in the Netherlands...

, Flevoland

Flevoland

Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country, at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on January 1, 1986; the twelfth province of the country, with Lelystad as its capital...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

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At the heart of the Noordoostpolder

Noordoostpolder

Noordoostpolder is a 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 Noordoostpolder. The municipality has the largest land area in the Netherlands...

, where the three main drainage canals intersect, is the city of Emmeloord (1943). Emmeloord is in a polder

Polder

A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...

: land reclaimed from the IJsselmeer

IJsselmeer

IJsselmeer is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe....

, which earlier was part of the sea. Planned from the outset to be the first and the only major town of the polder, it is the local governmental and services centre. Ten smaller villages, conceived more as agricultural communities, were planned in a wide circle around Emmeloord, with the distances between them determined to be easily reachable by bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

. The first settlements were Ens

Ens

Ens may refer to:*Ens , a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland*Ens, Hautes-Pyrénées, a town in France*Ens, Saskatchewan, a hamlet in CanadaENS may also refer to:*ENS Ltd, a London based PR agency that specializes in sport...

, Marknesse and Kraggenburg

Kraggenburg

Kraggenburg is a settlement in the Noordoostpolder area of the Netherlands, with 1500 inhabitants. The village is situated south east of the regional town Emmeloord.Kraggenburg got her name from a former lighthouse that is named Oud Kraggenburg...

 (1949), then Bant (1951), then Creil

Creil

Creil is a large town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-History:Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site, as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging to a Gaulish fortress or protected camp.The city itself...

 and Rutten

Rutten

- Locations :* Rutten , a village in Belgium, noted as the location of the Hamal Castle* Rutten , a town in Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, Netherlands- Surname :* Louis Rutten , a Dutch geologist...

 (1953), and finally Espel

Espel

Espel is a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 6 km west of Emmeloord....

, Tollebeek and Nagele (1956). There is another village called Luttelgeest (located northeast in the Noordoostpolder). From Emmeloord three canals take their water to three pumping stations, the Buma near Lemmer

Lemmer

Lemmer is a town in the municipality of Lemsterland , in the Netherlands. It has a population of around 10,500 and is one of Friesland's most famous water sport towns.Lemmer also is a common Luxembourgish last name....

, the Smeenge at Vollenhove

Vollenhove

Vollenhove is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, southwest of Steenwijk. Until the Noordoostpolder was drained, it was located on the coast of the IJsselmeer....

 and the Vissering on Urk

Urk

Urk is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands.Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the Almere, a lake that would become part of the Zuiderzee in the 13th century after a series of incursions...

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Emmeloord was named after an abandoned village on the island of Schokland

Schokland

Schokland is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee. Schokland lost its status as an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942...

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In the center of Emmeloord there is a watertower called the Poldertoren

Poldertoren

The Poldertoren is a water tower at the town center of Emmeloord, the Netherlands. The Dutch name Poldertoren could be translated as Polder Tower. The 65-meter tower was built in 1959 and has a large carillon. The tower is no longer in use as a water tower...

. The tower is the central point of the Noordoostpolder and could be seen from almost every location in the early years of the Noordoostpolder, when there were no tall trees. In Japan there is a replica of this watertower.

For history see Zuiderzee Works

Zuiderzee Works

The Zuiderzee Works are a manmade system of dams, land reclamation and water drainage works, the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the North Sea, and the...

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Transportation

There is no railway station in Emmeloord, but the following are a few suggestions also showing possible major destination. Bus Times can be found at this link http://www.9292ov.nl.

Station	Destinations	How To Get There
Lelystad Centrum Lelystad Centrum railway station Lelystad Centrum is the current terminus railway station on the Flevolijn. It is the only station in Lelystad and is in the centre of the town. The station was opened on 28 May 1988 after the extension from Almere Buiten was completed. There are plans to build the station Lelystad Zuid by 2015. The... , Lelystad 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 Afsluitdijk, making the reclamation possible...	Almere Almere Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the... , Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... , Amsterdam Airport Schiphol	Bus 315 (Only From Bus Station)
Kampen Kampen railway station Kampen is a terminus railway station located in Kampen, the Netherlands. The station was opened on 10 May 1865 and is located on the Kamperlijntje, which is the Zwolle - Kampen section of the Utrecht–Kampen railway. The train service is operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen... , Kampen Kampen (Overijssel) Kampen is a municipality, a city and an old Hanseatic city at the lower reaches of the river IJssel in the Dutch province of Overijssel.The municipality of Kampen counts 50,073 inhabitants in an area of approximately 162 km² . Kampen is located in the North West of Overijssel and is the...	Zwolle Zwolle Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...	Bus 141
Zwolle Zwolle railway station Zwolle is a railway station in Zwolle, the capital of the province Overijssel, the Netherlands. The station opened on 6 June 1864 and is on the Utrecht–Kampen railway, also known as the Centraalspoorweg, the Zwolle–Almelo railway, the Arnhem–Leeuwarden railway and the Zwolle–Emmen railway.The... , Zwolle Zwolle Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...	Groningen, Leeuwarden, Emmen, Almelo Almelo Almelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie and Bornerbroek.... , Enschede Enschede Enschede , also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region... , Deventer Deventer Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in... , Arnhem Arnhem Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the... , 's-Hertogenbosch, Breda Breda Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance... , Roosendaal, Amersfoort Amersfoort Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the... , Utrecht Utrecht (city) Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features... , Rotterdam Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre... , The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...	Bus 71, 141, 171

External links

• http://www.emmeloord.info/ (Dutch)
• http://www.noordoostpolder.nl/ (Dutch)