Wikipedia:Today's featured list/September 2, 2013

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Map of municipalities of the Netherlands after the mergers of 1 January 2013
Map of municipalities of the Netherlands after the mergers of 1 January 2013

There are 411 municipalities in the Netherlands: 408 regular municipalities and 3 public bodies. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective provinces. Their duties are delegated to them by the central government and they are ruled by a municipal council that is elected every four years. Municipalities are responsible for a wide variety of public services, which include land-use planning, public housing, management and maintenance of local roads, waste management and social security. Municipal mergers have reduced the total number of municipalities by two-thirds since the first official boundaries were created after a cadastre was formed in the mid-19th century. These municipalities come in a wide range of sizes, from as small as 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) to 814 km2 (314 sq mi) and with populations ranging from 1,000 to 800,000. (Full list...)