Zierikzee
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City
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View over Zierikzee
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Flag 
Coat of arms | |
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The town centre (dark green) and the statistical district (light green) of Zierikzee in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland.
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| Coordinates: 51°38′59″N 3°54′59″E / 51.64972°N 3.91639°E / 51.64972; 3.91639 | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Province | Zeeland |
| Municipality | Schouwen-Duiveland |
| Population
(5-1-2020)
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| • Total | 11,460 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code |
4301
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| Dialing code | 0111 |
Zierikzee (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈziːrɪkseː]) is a small city in the southwest Netherlands, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. It is situated in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland. The city hall of Schouwen-Duiveland is located in Zierikzee, its largest city. Zierikzee is connected to Oosterschelde through a canal.
In 2001, the town of Zierikzee had 10,313 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 3.0 km2, and contained 4,295 residences.[1] The statistical area "Zierikzee", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 10,730.[2]
Zierikzee, then located on the island of Schouwen, received city rights in 1248. In 1304, a fleet commissioned by the French and Dutch defeated a Flemish fleet in the naval Battle of Zierikzee.
On 30 April 1917, a lost British pilot of the Royal Naval Air Service mistakenly entered the airspace of the Netherlands, then neutral in World War I, and dropped eight bombs on Zierikzee - damaging several houses and killing a family of three. After initially denying the incident, the British government apologized and agreed to compensate the Dutch for damage and loss of life.[3]
In 1953, Zierikzee was damaged by the catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953. The English town of Hatfield sent help and a friendship has developed. The two towns have been twinned. In 1997 the municipality of Zierikzee merged into that of Schouwen-Duiveland.
In 2015, the last surviving example of the city's defensive cannons; cast in 1552, was donated to the city by the British coastguard. The coastguard had recovered it from a commercial diver, during a criminal investigation. The diver had found it off the Kent coast.[4]
On 27 June 2022, a tornado estimated at between F1 and F2 struck the city, killing one person and injuring nine others.[5] Three hundred properties were damaged.[6][7]
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