Kampen

Kampen is a municipality, a city and an old Hanseatic city at the lower reaches of the river IJssel in the Dutch province of Overijssel.

The municipality of Kampen counts 50,073 inhabitants (January 1, 2010) in an area of approximately 162 square kilometres (63 sq mi) (only a small part of this area consists of water). Kampen is located in the North West of Overijssel and is the largest city in this region. The city of Kampen itself counts 34,063 inhabitants.

Kampen has one of the best preserved old town centres of the Netherlands, including remains of the ancient city wall (of which three gates are still standing) and numerous churches. Also notable are the three bridges over the IJssel which connect Kampen with IJsselmuiden and Kampereiland, the agricultural area between the branches which form the IJssel delta, and a windmill (d' Olde Zwarver - the Old Vagabond).

Traditionally people in Kampen speak a variation of the Sallands dialect, known as Kampers.

Geography

Kampen is part of the province of Overijssel ('Over-IJssel' i.e. (mostly) across the river IJssel, as seen from the central part of The Netherlands) in the Eastern part of The Netherlands, situated between the provinces of Gelderland, Flevoland, Drenthe and Friesland.