Est. 1900

Haarlem is a city and municipality in the Netherlands and the capital of the province of North Holland. The city lies on the river Spaarne and in Kennemerland region.

Haarlem is one of the medium-sized cities in the Randstad. The municipality includes the town of Haarlem and the western part of the village Spaarndam. The municipality has 153,800 inhabitants and is the second largest city after Amsterdam North Holland and the thirteenth municipality of the Netherlands. The urban agglomeration Haarlem (Haarlem, Haarlem and Bloemendaal) has about 200,000 inhabitants and the metropolitan Haarlem (South Kennemerland and Ijmond) more than 400,000 inhabitants.

Haarlem is first mentioned in a document from the 10th century. In 1245 the town charter of William II of Holland got. At the end of the Middle Ages Haarlem become one of the major cities of Holland. In the Early Modern Period the city developed in the industrial field as textile city and cultural city as a painter.