Since 1 January 2023, there are 342 regular municipalities ( ; sing.  ) and three special municipalities ( ) in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division, or public bodies (), in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective provinces. Their duties are delegated to them by the central government and they are ruled by a municipal council that is elected every four years. Municipal mergers have reduced the total number of municipalities by two-thirds since the first official boundaries were created in the mid 19th century. Municipalities themselves are informally subdivided into districts and neighbourhoods for administrative and statistical purposes.

These municipalities come in a wide range of sizes, Westervoort is the smallest with a land area of and Súdwest-Fryslân the largest with a land area of . Schiermonnikoog is both the least populated, with 972 people, and the least densely populated municipality at . Amsterdam has the highest population with 931,298 residents as of January 2024, whereas The Hague is the most densely populated with a density of .

Municipal status As a second level administrative division, municipalities are the third tier of public administration in the Netherlands after the central government and the provinces. The Netherlands is a decentralized unitary state, which means that the central government is supreme and delegates certain tasks to lower levels of government by law. The different levels do, however, make work agreements, which give municipalities a certain degree of independence in their policy decisions. Municipalities are responsible for a wide variety of public services, which include land-use planning, public housing, management and maintenance of local roads, waste management and social security. After the Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, three special municipalities (officially public bodies) were formed. These municipalities function the same as regular municipalities and are grouped together as the Caribbean Netherlands and are not part of a province.

The municipalities are governed by both a board of mayor and aldermen and a municipal council. The municipal council, which is titled island council in the special municipalities, is elected every four years., Constitution of the Netherlands. Retrieved on 24 April 2013. The number of members in the council ranges from nine members for the smallest municipalities to forty-five members for the largest. It is the highest administrative body in the municipality and controls public policy. The executive power lies with the executive board, which consists of a mayor, titled lieutenant governor in the special municipalities, and multiple aldermen, titled island deputies in the special municipalities. The mayor is appointed for six years at a time by the crown and the alderman are elected by the municipal council, typically after each municipal election. The mayor is responsible for public order and is the first in command during emergencies, all other tasks are distributed freely between mayor and aldermen. The exact portfolio for each person differs between each municipality.

Official municipal boundaries were first drawn up in 1832 in the Netherlands after a cadastre was formed. The Municipalities Act of 1851, written by prime minister Thorbecke, led to the disappearance of small municipalities. Throughout the years, less populous municipalities have been merged. They were either added to the larger neighbouring cities or multiple smaller municipalities merged into a larger new municipality with a new name. The number of municipalities reduced from 1,209 in 1850 to 537 in 2000; since 2024, there have been 342 municipalities. During this time, multiple mergers occurred simultaneously in large parts of individual provinces; the municipal boundaries were basically redrawn in these regions. In the 19th and large parts of the 20th century, municipal mergers were forced by the central government. This policy changed in the end of the 20th century; local support for the merger is now a large part of the decision-making process. The larger, merged municipalities are intended to handle an increasing workload because more public services are delegated from higher levels of government to the municipalities. Another reason for municipal mergers is the assumption that larger municipalities are more efficient in performing their tasks than smaller ones.

Municipalities have the right to decentralise themselves and form submunicipalities as an additional level of government. This right and the submunicipalities will cease to exist in the near future to reduce the number of levels of government. Only Amsterdam, where the districts are called in Dutch, as well as Rotterdam, where the districts are called in Dutch, consist of such formal subdivisions. The Hague, Almere, Breda, Eindhoven, Enschede, Groningen, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Utrecht have instituted as well, although they do not have the same legal submunicipal status. For administrative use by municipalities and data collection by Statistics Netherlands all municipalities are subdivided into districts (), which in turn are subdivided into neighbourhoods (). These subdivisions have, in contrast to the submunicipalities, no formal status.

Municipalities Regular municipalities

+ MunicipalityCBS codeProvincePopulationPopulation Population densityPopulation density Land areaLand area Map1680Drenthe0358North Holland0197Gelderland0059Friesland0482South Holland0613South Holland0361North Holland0141Overijssel0034Flevoland0484South Holland1723North Brabant1959North Brabant0060Friesland0307Utrecht0362North Holland0363North Holland0200Gelderland0202Gelderland0106Drenthe0743North Brabant0744North Brabant0308Utrecht0489South Holland0203Gelderland0888Limburg1954Limburg0889Limburg1945Gelderland1724North Brabant0893Limburg0373North Holland0748North Brabant1859Gelderland1721North Brabant0753North Brabant0209Gelderland0375North Holland1728North Brabant0376North Holland0377North Holland1901South Holland0755North Brabant1681Drenthe0147Overijssel0654Zeeland0757North Brabant0758North Brabant1876Gelderland0213Gelderland0899Limburg0312Utrecht0313Utrecht0214Gelderland0502South Holland0383North Holland0109Drenthe1706North Brabant0216Gelderland0148Overijssel1891Friesland0310Utrecht1940Friesland0736Utrecht1690Drenthe0503South Holland0400North Holland0762North Brabant0150Overijssel0384North Holland1980North Holland1774Overijssel0221Gelderland0222Gelderland0766North Brabant0505South Holland0498North Holland1719North Brabant0303Flevoland0225Gelderland0226Gelderland1711Limburg0385North Holland0228Gelderland0317Utrecht1979Groningen0770North Brabant1903Limburg0772North Brabant0230Gelderland0114Drenthe0388North Holland0153Overijssel0232Gelderland0233Gelderland0777North Brabant0779North Brabant1771North Brabant1652North Brabant0907Limburg0784North Brabant1924South Holland0664Zeeland0785North Brabant1942North Holland0512South Holland0513South Holland0014Groningen1729Limburg0158Overijssel0392North Holland0394North Holland1655North Brabant0160Overijssel0243Gelderland0523South Holland0072Friesland0244Gelderland0396North Holland0397North Holland0246Gelderland0074Friesland0917Limburg1658North Brabant0399North Holland0163Overijssel0794North Brabant0531South Holland0164Overijssel0796North Brabant1966Groningen0252Gelderland0797North Brabant0534South Holland0798North Brabant0402North Holland1963South Holland1735Overijssel1911North Holland0118Drenthe0405North Holland1507Limburg0321Utrecht0406North Holland0677Zeeland0353Utrecht1884South Holland0166Overijssel0678Zeeland0537South Holland0928Limburg1598North Holland0542South Holland1931South Holland1659North Brabant1982North Brabant0882Limburg0415North Holland1621South Holland0417North Holland0080Friesland0546South Holland0547South Holland1916South Holland0995Flevoland1640Limburg0327Utrecht1705Gelderland0553South Holland0262Gelderland0809North Brabant0331Utrecht0168Overijssel0263Gelderland1641Limburg1991North Brabant0556South Holland0935Limburg0420North Holland0938Limburg1948North Brabant0119Drenthe0687Zeeland1842South Holland1731Drenthe1952Groningen1709North Brabant1978South Holland1955Gelderland0335Utrecht0944Limburg1740Gelderland0946Limburg0356Utrecht0569South Holland0267Gelderland0268Gelderland1930South Holland1970Friesland1695Zeeland1699Drenthe0171Flevoland0575South Holland0820North Brabant0302Gelderland0579South Holland0823North Brabant0824North Brabant1895Groningen0269Gelderland0173Overijssel1773Overijssel0175Overijssel1586Gelderland0826North Brabant0085Friesland0431North Holland0432North Holland0086Friesland0828North Brabant1509Gelderland0437North Holland0589Utrecht1734Gelderland0590South Holland1894Limburg0765Groningen1926South Holland0439North Holland0273Gelderland0177Overijssel0703Zeeland0274Gelderland0339Utrecht1667North Brabant0275Gelderland0340Utrecht0597South Holland1742Overijssel0603South Holland1669Limburg0957Limburg1674North Brabant0599South Holland0277Gelderland0840North Brabant0441North Holland0279Gelderland0606South Holland0088Friesland1676Zeeland0965Limburg0845North Brabant1883Limburg0610South Holland1714Zeeland0090Friesland0342Utrecht0847North Brabant0848North Brabant0037Groningen0180Overijssel0532North Holland0851North Brabant1708Overijssel0971Limburg1904Utrecht1900Friesland0715Zeeland0093Friesland0448North Holland1525South Holland0518South Holland0716Zeeland0281Gelderland0855North Brabant0183Overijssel1700Overijssel1730Drenthe0737Friesland0450North Holland0451North Holland0184Flevoland0344Utrecht1581Utrecht0981Limburg0994Limburg0858North Brabant0047Groningen0345Utrecht0717Zeeland0861North Brabant0453North Holland0983Limburg0984Limburg1961Utrecht0622South Holland0096Friesland0718Zeeland0986Limburg1992South Holland0626South Holland0285Gelderland0865North Brabant1949Friesland0866North Brabant0867North Brabant0627South Holland0289Gelderland0629South Holland0852North Holland0988Limburg1960Gelderland0668Gelderland1969Groningen1701Drenthe0293Gelderland1950Groningen1783South Holland0098Friesland0189Overijssel0296Gelderland1696North Holland0352Utrecht0294Gelderland0873North Brabant0632Utrecht0880North Holland0351Utrecht0479North Holland0297Gelderland0473North Holland0050Flevoland0355Utrecht0299Gelderland0637South Holland0638South Holland1892South Holland0879North Brabant0301Gelderland1896Overijssel0642South Holland0193Overijssel

Special municipalities

+ MunicipalityCapitalPopulationPopulation Population densityThe population density is calculated by dividing the population by the area for each special municipality.AreaArea MapKralendijkOranjestadThe Bottom

Number of municipalities by province + Province Municipalities Drenthe 12 Flevoland 6 Friesland 18 Gelderland 51 Groningen 10 Limburg 31 North Brabant 56 North Holland 44 Overijssel 25 South Holland 50 Utrecht 26 Zeeland 13 Total 342

See also Association of Netherlands Municipalities Municipal politics in the Netherlands List of cities, towns and villages in the Netherlands by province Municipal flags of the Netherlands Coats of arms of municipalities of the Netherlands Gemeentewet

Notes

References

External links

List of municipalities on official Dutch government site