Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.There are 26 centers and villages scattered over an area of 18,500 hectares. Typical of the town is the diversity: scale against small scale, urbanized area from rural, high-tech farm opposite.
The town is in a constant process of renewal: the expansion of Schiphol and the construction of infrastructure, industrial and residential areas, but also investment in green and recreation. If business location is Haarlemmermeer nationally and internationally as a prime location.
Haarlemmermeer It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.
The municipality of Haarlemmermeer consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Aalsmeerderbrug, Abbenes, Badhoevedorp, Beinsdorp, Boesingheliede, Buitenkaag, Burgerveen, Cruquius, De Hoek, Hoofddorp, 't Kabel, Leimuiderbrug, Lijnden, Lisserbroek, Nieuwe Meer, Nieuwebrug, Nieuw-Vennep, Oude Meer, Rijsenhout, Rozenburg, Schiphol, Schiphol-Rijk, Vijfhuizen, Weteringbrug, Zwaanshoek, Zwanenburg.
Monuments and Parks
* Stelling van Amsterdam – the old defense line of Amsterdam crosses the Haarlemmermeer. Plans are being made to make this entire defense line walkable, but currently it is not possible to cross the major highway A4 that goes through it. This park is accessible at various points for recreation, including the Haarlemmermeersebos.
* Haarlemmermeersebos – The largest public park in Haarlemmermeer and site of the International garden show Floriade in 2002, the park includes a large lake for swimming in the summer and a 40 meter manmade hill called Spotter's Hill.
* Museum De Cruquius – the Cruquius museum resides in one of the steam mills used to pump the Haarlemmermeer dry and is open to the public for a demonstration of the steam engine and a model of the Netherlands waterways and polders. Because the Cruquius steam engine is the largest ever built, the museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. Behind the museum is a park.
International airport Netherlands
Schiphol Airport, the principal international airport of the Netherlands is also situated in Haarlemmermeer. Its destinations are worldwide.
Railway
Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch national railway company, serves the municipality with three stations: Hoofddorp, Nieuw-Vennep, and Schiphol.
Railway Leiden Centraal to Schiphol (part of line 10), with stations (municipalities in bold) and official station abbreviations:
* Leiden Centraal (ledn)
* Nieuw Vennep (nvp) (mun. Haarlemmermeer)
* Hoofddorp (hfd) (ditto)
* Schiphol (shl) (ditto)
Water transport
The Ringvaart is an important waterway for commercial and recreational boats alike. A portion of it forms part of the sailroute from Hollands Diep to the IJsselmeer, passable for ships with masts over 6 meters tall. There is also a connection to the Kaag Lake system (Kagerplassen), which extends to Leiden and beyond.
There are several canals within Haarlemmermeer itself, the main ones are Hoofdvaart (Main Canal) and Kruisvaart (Cross Canal). But these had initially no connection to the outside waterways, meaning that goods had to be reloaded at the ring dike. In 1895 a double canal lock was built at Aalsmeer, boosting the economy. In the 1950s this lock was closed and the canals are once again no longer used for shipping.
