Zwolle

:For other places named Zwolle, see Zwolle (disambiguation).

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is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 50 miles northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 111,000 citizens and is one of the most important cities in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

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Archaeological finds indicate that the area surrounding Zwolle was already inhabited by an ancient Isala tribe around 1500 B.C. The modern city was founded around 800 A.D. by Frisian merchants and troops of Charlemagne. The name Zwolle comes from the word Suolle, which means "hill". Zwolle was founded on a hill between the three rivers surrounding the city, IJssel, Vecht, and Zwarte Water. The hill was the only piece of land that would remain dry during the frequent floodings of the rivers. The oldest known written mention of Zwolle is from 1040.

Municipality: A municipality or "general-purpose district" (compare with: "special-purpose district") is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government....

Overijssel: Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country....

Netherlands: The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland; IPA pronunciation: /"ne:d?rlant/) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that is formed by the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.(Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional m...