Valkenswaard

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Valkenswaard

Location municipality Valkenswaard

Country Netherlands
Province North Brabant
Area 56.44 km²
- Land 55.01 km²
- Water 1.43 km²
Population (2005) 31,032
- Density 564/km²

Valkenswaard (pronunciation (help·info)) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the province of Noord-Brabant. The municipality had 30,943 citizens (as of June 1, 2005) and spans an area of 56,50 square kilometers (1,15 of which water).

The name Valkenswaard stems from its history of falconers, who caught wild falcons there; valk is Dutch for "falcon". It lay on a route where falcons migrated south each year. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, Valkenswaardian falconers were active at many European courts, in which falconing was a beloved pastime. In the 19th and 20th century, a number of large cigar factories was founded in Valkenswaard, the two most renowned of which being Willem II and Hofnar ("court jester"). Valkenswaard's falcon-catching area has now been built over and falcons are no longer caught there.

[edit] Population centres

[edit] Famous people born in Valkenswaard

  • Jan Tops (5 April 1961), horseman
  • Pieter van Geel, secretary of state
  • Caroline de Bruin, actress
  • Romé Fasol, mayor
  • Dominique van Hulst ("Do"), singer
  • Bouke Beumer, politician

[edit] External link


 
North Brabant Province

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Netherlands | Provinces | Municipalities| map

Coordinates: 51°21′N 5°28′E