Groningen (province)

Groningen is the northeast province of the Netherlands. It neighbours the German region Niedersachsen, the typically regional language (or dialect) of which is very similar to that of Groningen. Groningen is mainly agrarian, and has a large reserve of natural gas near Slochteren. It has been the scene of particularly fierce class struggle in the nineteenth and twentieth century and houses the only municipality (Beertha) where the Dutch communist party has delivered a mayor ever (Hanneke Jagersma). The capital city of the province is Groningen. The biggest employer in the province is the university, with 5000 employees and 18000 students. The president of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Wim Duisenberg, studied at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and got his PhD (on the economics of disarmament) there too.

Municipalities

• Appingedam
• Bedum
• Bellingwedde
• De Marne
• Delfzijl
• Eemsmond
• Groningen
• Grootegast
• Haren
• Hoogezand-Sappemeer
• Leek
• Loppersum
• Marum
• Menterwolde
• Pekela
• Reiderland
• Scheemda
• Slochteren
• Stadskanaal
• Ten Boer
• Veendam
• Vlagtwedde
• Winschoten
• Winsum
• Zuidhorn

External Links

Website of the province (http://www.provgron.nl)

Website of the capital city, with English pages (http://www.groningen.nl)

Alternative website of the capital city, with access to the sites of local shops and small businesses (http://www.dgs.nl)

Website of the university, with English pages (http://www.rug.nl)

Website of the polytechnic (http://www.hanze.nl)

• province map showing subdivision in municipalities, link for each municipality to basic data page (http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/scdata/gemprovin.htm#GR)