The Netherlands has had electoral districts since 1814. From 1814, the districts matched the provinces and the members of the House of Representatives were elected indirectly via the provincial councils.[1]
After the Constitutional Reform of 1848, members of the House of Representatives were elected directly in a two-round system. 38 electoral districts (nl|kiesdistrict) were created, with sometimes multiple members per district who were elected in staggered elections. The number of districts increased over time, with 100 in 1896 when multi-member districts were abolished.[2]
After the Pacification of 1917, party-list proportional representation was introduced in Dutch elections. There are still electoral districts (nl|kieskring). Electoral lists are filed per district, which means the list can differ per district and lists might not participate in all districts.[2]
Electoral districts differ between elections in the Netherlands. For the European Parliament elections, the Netherlands is a single district.[3]
| Number | Includes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| After 1989 | Until 1989 | |||
| Groningen | 1 | XVI | Groningen (province) | |
| Leeuwarden | 2 | XIV | Friesland | |
| Assen | 3 | XVII | Drenthe | |
| Zwolle | 4 | XV | Overijssel | |
| Lelystad | 5 | XIX | Flevoland | |
| Nijmegen | 6 | IV | Municipalities Berg en Dal, Beuningen, Buren, Culemborg, Druten, Heumen, Maasdriel, Neder-Betuwe, Nijmegen, Tiel, West Betuwe, West Maas en Waal, Wijchen, Zaltbommel | |
| Arnhem | 7 | III | Municipalities Aalten, Apeldoorn, Arnhem, Barneveld, Berkelland, Bronckhorst, Brummen, Doesburg, Doetinchem, Duiven, Ede, Elburg, Epe, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Hattem, Heerde, Lingewaard, Lochem, Montferland, Nijkerk, Nunspeet, Oldebroek, Oost Gelre, Oude IJsselstreek, Overbetuwe, Putten, Renkum, Rheden, Rozendaal, Scherpenzeel, Voorst, Wageningen, Westervoort, Winterswijk, Zevenaar, Zutphen | |
| Utrecht | 8 | XIII | Utrecht (province) | |
| Amsterdam | 9 | IX | Municipality Amsterdam | |
| Haarlem | 10 | XI | Municipalities Aalsmeer, Amstelveen, Beverwijk, Blaricum, Bloemendaal, Diemen, Gooise Meren, Haarlem, Haarlemmermeer, Heemskerk, Heemstede, Hilversum, Huizen, Laren, Ouder-Amstel, Uithoorn, Velsen, Wijdemeren, Zandvoort | |
| Den Helder | 11 | X | Municipalities Alkmaar, Castricum, Bergen, Dijk en Waard, Drechterland, Edam-Volendam, Enkhuizen, Heiloo, Hollandse Kroon, Hoorn, Koggenland, Landsmeer, Medemblik, Oostzaan, Opmeer, Purmerend, Schagen, Stede Broec, Texel, Uitgeest, Waterland, Wormerland, Zaanstad | |
| The Hague | 12 | VI | Municipality The Hague | |
| Rotterdam | 13 | V | Municipality Rotterdam | |
| Dordrecht | 14 | VIII | Municipalities Alblasserdam, Albrandswaard, Barendrecht, Brielle, Delft, Dordrecht, Goeree-Overflakkee, Gorinchem, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Heerjansdam, Hellevoetsluis, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Hoeksche Waard, Maassluis, Midden-Delfland, Molenlanden, Nissewaard, Papendrecht, Ridderkerk, Rijswijk, Schiedam, Sliedrecht, Vlaardingen, Westland, Westvoorne, Zwijndrecht | |
| Leiden | 15 | VII | Municipalities Alphen aan den Rijn, Bodegraven-Reeuwijk, Capelle aan den IJssel, Gouda, Hillegom, Kaag en Braassem, Katwijk, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Krimpenerwaard, Lansingerland, Leiden, Leiderdorp, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Lisse, Nieuwkoop, Noordwijk, Oegstgeest, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Teylingen, Voorschoten, Waddinxveen, Wassenaar, Zoetermeer, Zoeterwoude, Zuidplas | |
| Middelburg | 16 | XII | Zeeland | |
| Tilburg | 17 | II | Municipalities Alphen-Chaam, Altena, Baarle-Nassau, Bergen op Zoom, Breda, Dongen, Drimmelen, Etten-Leur, Geertruidenberg, Gilze en Rijen, Goirle, Halderberge, Hilvarenbeek, Loon op Zand, Oisterwijk, Oosterhout, Roosendaal, Rucphen, Steenbergen, Tilburg, Waalwijk, Woensdrecht, Zundert | |
| 's-Hertogenbosch | 18 | I | Municipalities Asten, Bergeijk, Bernheze, Best, Bladel, Boekel, Boxtel, Cranendonck, Deurne, Eersel, Eindhoven, Geldrop-Mierlo, Gemert-Bakel, Heeze-Leende, Helmond, 's-Hertogenbosch, Heusden, Laarbeek, Land van Cuijk, Maashorst, Meierijstad, Moerdijk, Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten, Oirschot, Oss, Reusel-De Mierden, Sint-Michielsgestel, Someren, Son en Breugel, Valkenswaard, Veldhoven, Vught, Waalre | |
| Maastricht | 19 | XVIII | Limburg | |
| Bonaire | 20 | Caribbean Netherlands |