Moerdijk

For other uses, see Moerdijk (disambiguation).

Moerdijk
Municipality
Aerial view over Moerdijk (Zevenbergen in centre)
Flag Coat of arms
Location in North Brabant Location in North Brabant
Coordinates:
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Brabant
Government
• Body	Municipal council
• Mayor	Jac Klijs (CDA)
Area
• Total	184.03 km2 (71.05 sq mi)
• Land	159.24 km2 (61.48 sq mi)
• Water	24.79 km2 (9.57 sq mi)
Elevation	1 m (3 ft)
Population (May 2014)
• Total	36,822
• Density	231/km2 (600/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postcode	4758–4797
Area code	0168
Website	www.moerdijk.nl

Moerdijk (<phonos file="211 Moerdijk.ogg">pronunciation</phonos>) is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant.

History

The municipality of Moerdijk was founded in 1997 following the merger of the municipalities of Fijnaart en Heijningen, Klundert, Standdaarbuiten, Willemstad, and Zevenbergen. At that time the new municipality was called Zevenbergen. The name changed to Moerdijk in 1999.

Population centres

• Fijnaart en Heijningen
• Klundert
• Moerdijk
• Standdaarbuiten
• Willemstad
• Zevenbergen

Topography

Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Moerdijk, June 2015

The village of Moerdijk

The village of Moerdijk is one of the smaller villages of the municipality. Population as of 2002 is 1,205. Moerdijk is however a well-known name in the Netherlands, because of the large Moerdijk industrial area, with a large power plant, and because of the well-known Moerdijk bridges (highway and railway bridges) across the Hollands Diep. This was the last bridge available for the retreat from the vital Scheldt Estuary of the rapidly collapsing German defences near Antwerp in World War II. (Noteworthy as well, the Moerdijk bridges were one of the first targets of guided, or "smart bombs"- by American heavy bombers in late 1944.)

Moerdijk made headlines on January 5, 2011, because of a large fire at Chemie-Pack (a firm processing numerous chemicals) causing a large cloud of toxic smoke to blow over the surrounding area, mostly to the north of Moerdijk.

Above the Moerdijk (meaning "north of Moerdijk") is used as an expression in Belgium and the southern parts of the Netherlands to mean "in the Netherlands" or "in Holland".

Below the Moerdijk (meaning "south of Moerdijk" or "below the major rivers") is also a Dutch expression for the Catholic provinces North Brabant and Limburg. This expression is used particularly around Mardi Gras in relation to the region's traditional carnival culture, which (with a few local exceptions) does not exist north of the major rivers.

Zevenbergen

Zevenbergen is the largest town of the municipality (population as of 2002: 14,006). It is located about 10 km northwest of Breda. It received city rights in 1427.

Zevenbergen has a train station with connections to Dordrecht and Roosendaal.

Transport

Railway Dordrecht to Roosendaal (part of line 11), with stations and official station abbreviations:

• Dordrecht (Ddr)
• Dordrecht Zuid (Ddzd) (mun. Dordrecht)
• Lage Zwaluwe (Zlw) (mun. Moerdijk)
• Zevenbergen (Zvb) (mun. Moerdijk)
• Oudenbosch (Odb) (mun. Halderberge)
• Roosendaal (Rsd)

Close to Hollands Diep, the area is now used for industrial movements by water, with great inland access as well the access into the North Sea, transport company Van der Vlist have their own port located in the area, and many other transport companies have nearby offices.

See also

• List of mayors of Moerdijk

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website