General Information:
Alblasserdam is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland in the western part of the Netherlands. The municipality covers an area of 9.96 km² of which 1.18 km² is water.

History:
Alblasserdam lies on one of busiest navigatation rivers of West-Europe "De Noord". The history of Alblasserdam dates back to 700 years ago. The name is mentioned for the first time in the cheonicle of Melis Stoke in 1299, but was officially founded in 1447.The old centre was heavily damaged on the 11th of May 1940. Fortunately the historical church street and the dike along the river "De Noord" was remained undamaged. In history of Alblasserdam water played a large role for the city. The name of the town originated from the river, De Alblas, where the dam was moored. Along the river in Alblasserdam a business industry was built. However the river also had disadvanatges. In the years between 1350 and 1821 the Alblasserwaard was under water 32 times. Today, because of reinforcements to the dikes and improvement of the locks, water does not pose a direct danger any more.