Staphorst Totally Explained

Everything about Staphorst totally explained

is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.

Religion

Staphorst is famous for people wearing traditional dress. Furthermore, it's one of the most religious towns of the Netherlands, with a lot of people attending Calvinist church. Staphorst is said to grind to a halt on Sundays.
   A large proportion of the population holds fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and oppose technologies such as television and blood transfusions. This is in contrast to the permissive, libertarian tendency in Dutch law. Nevertheless, Staphorst has a big industrial area with small, but modern enterprises; on days other than Sundays, tourists are welcome (see below).
   In 1971, Staphorst became world news due to an outbreak of polio. Certain inhabitants didn't wish their children to be vaccinated against polio on religious grounds. They found that vaccination was against Divine Providence, in particular the Heidelberg Catechism. Due to this (and probably also due to laxity of other inhabitants in getting vaccinated) 39 people (mostly children) became infected with polio. Of these, five died and a number of others became disabled. Most inhabitants are now vaccinated, however 20% remain unvaccinated. As a result, Staphorst and other similar areas in Holland are classified as risk areas by the WHO - the only such area in Europe.
   In 2005, Staphorst's municipal council (run by the SGP, which until 2006 banned women from politics) passed a measure to ban swearing, by 13 - 4 votes
   The TFR in Staphorst at 2.76 was 4^th highest in all of Netherlands in 2003. (External Link

) That makes Staphorst a place with one of the highest birth rates in all of Europe.

Population centres

Situation; economy

Staphorst lies only 5 km south of Meppel (province Drenthe). The village has a junction to the A28 motorway (Groningen - Zwolle - Amersfoort). It is also situated along the railroad between these cities. The railway station was closed in the early 1900's.
In Staphorst there are some factories producing all kinds of metallic goods. Many inhabitants are farmers, breeding cows.
The villages of Staphorst and its southern neighbour Rouveen came into existence as in the 13th century monks started to bring the bogs and swamps into culture. All the farms were built along the long road through the bog area. Thus a lengthy row of farms was built, becoming the 7 miles long village of Staphorst-Rouveen. This phenomenon is called in Dutch: lintbebouwing (ribbon urbanization). In many parts of the Netherlands this type of village is quite common, for example Vriezenveen, the villages along river dykes in Holland, the so-called moor-colonies in the provinces Drenthe and Groningen, as well as the German regions opposite the border. A specialty for Staphorst is, that after a farmer's death, his land was often divided between his sons. The son, who didn't inherit his father's farm, built a farm-house for his own behind the other. Therefore, many pieces of farmland are very lengthy, yet narrow (for example 1500 x 40 metres). Originally, each piece of land was 125 metres wide. The farms are of the traditional Low Saxon type. They have green doors and window shutters. Most farms existing now were built between 1850 and 1910.

Sights

In Staphorst, one of the traditional farm-houses is now a small, yet interesting museum about Staphorst history, traditions and farming. A thorough knowledge of the Dutch language is needed to understand that what is shown in this Museum Farm (Museumboerderij).

Near the village of IJhorst, east of Staphorst, you can walk in a large forest. There are also some camping sites. Attention: a local regulation forbids anyone to take photographs and films of Staphorst inhabitants without their permission! Also, swearing and cursing is strictly forbidden.
Out of respect to local tradition, a visit to Staphorst on a Sunday isn't advised.

Demographics (2007)

Staphorst had a sustainable birth rate till the beginning of 21st century. But during the 2000-2007 period birth rate plummeted considerably.

Birth Rate: 15.79 per 1000 (Down from 18.96 in 2000).

Death Rate: 6.98 per 1000.

NGR: +0.88% (External Link

) Further Information

Get more info on 'Staphorst'.

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