Texel
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Template:Infobox Dutch municipality 5
This article is about the Dutch island Texel. For the meaning in computer graphics, see Texel (graphics)
Image:Ltspkr.pngTexel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark.
Although spelled with an X the name is pronounced Tessel, this is because historically it was spelled with a ligature for ss which strongly resembled x. As the ligature disappeared from use the name came to be spelled with an x, although the pronunciation remained the same.
Image:Texel.jpgThe municipality also includes the uninhabited sand bar of Noorderhaaks. The island of Texel, which received city rights in 1415, originally was made up of two islands, Texel proper to the south and Eierland to the northwest, which were connected by shoals. In the seventeenth century, the islands were poldered together.
Texel is known for its wildlife, particularly in winter, when birds of prey and geese take up residence.
There is a ferry to Den Helder on the North Holland mainland. The island has an airfield, Texel International Airport, at Midden-Eierland.
In the early Middle Ages and before, Texel and Wieringen may have been much bigger and met each other as opposite banks of the Marsdiep, which was then a river with banks of permanent land: see here.
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Population centres
The island includes the seven villages De Cocksdorp, De Koog, De Waal, Den Burg, Den Hoorn, Oosterend, and Oudeschild, and the small townships of Bargen, De Nes, Dijkmanshuizen, Driehuizen, Harkebuurt, 't Horntje, Midden-Eierland, Molenbuurt, Nieuweschild, Noorderbuurt, Ongeren, Oost, Spang, Spijkdorp, Tienhoven, Westermient, Zevenhuizen, and Zuid-Eierland.
Battles
- 1653 Battle of Scheveningen - During the First Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1673 Battle of Texel - During the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1945 Georgian Uprising of Texel - During the Second World War
Local government
The municipal council of Texel consists of 15 seats, which are divided as follows:
- Texels Belang - 4 seats
- CDA - 3 seats
- VVD - 3 seats
- GroenLinks - 2 seats
- PvdA - 2 seats
- D66 - 1 seat
References
- Statistics are taken from the SDU Staatscourant
External links
- Virtual Tour Texel
- Tourist information Texel
- Barry Yeoman, Destination: Wadden Islands, Attaché magazine
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