Veendam

Veendam is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck.

Holland America Line has named four ships Veendam after the town.

The municipality includes Westerdiepsterdallen, the smallest town in the Netherlands.

Geography
The population centres in the municipality are:


 * Bareveld
 * Borgercompagnie
 * Kibbelgaarn
 * Korte Akkers
 * Numero Dertien
 * Ommelanderwijk
 * Tripscompagnie
 * Veendam
 * Wildervank
 * Wildervanksterdallen
 * Zuidwending

International relations
Veendam has two sister cities:

Cycling
Veendam was the start place of stage 4b at the 2012 Energiewacht Tour and the finish place of stage 2 at the 2013 Energiewacht Tour.

Sport clubs

 * SC Veendam, former soccer club
 * Flash Veendam, volleyball club
 * NNZC Veendam, gliding club

Notable residents

 * Hendrik de Cock (1801–1842) a Dutch minister responsible for the 1834 Dutch Reformed Church split
 * Anthony Winkler Prins (1817 in Voorst – 1908) a Dutch writer, chief editor of the Winkler Prins encyclopedia.
 * Herman Mees (1880–1964) was a Dutch artist, portrait painter, watercolorist and academic
 * Herman Johannes Lam (1892–1977) a Dutch botanist
 * Addeke Hendrik Boerma (1912–1992) the first Executive Director of the World Food Programme 1962-1967
 * Gerda Geertens (born 1955 in Wildervank) a Dutch composer

Sport

 * Bert Romp (1958–2018) a Dutch equestrian, gold medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics
 * Janette Bouman (born 1964) a Dutch-born Kazakhstani dressage rider
 * Rick Slor (born 1971) a retired professional footballer with 509 club caps
 * Anneke Venema (born 1971) a retired rower, silver medallist at the 2000 Summer Olympics
 * Linda Moes (born 1971) a former breaststroke swimmer, competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics
 * Peter Windt (born 1973) a Dutch former field hockey player
 * Renate Groenewold (born 1976) a Dutch former long track speed skater, silver medallist at both the 2002 and the 2006 Winter Olympics
 * Henk Grol (born 1985 in Winschoten) a Dutch judoka, bronze medallist at both the 2008 and the 2012 Summer Olympics
 * Jeroen Zoet (born 1991) a Dutch professional football goalkeeper with over 250 club caps