Elim, Drenthe

Elim
Elim
Country	Netherlands
Province	Drenthe
Municipality	Hoogeveen
Population (1 January 2014)	2,993

Elim is a village in Drenthe (province of The Netherlands) and is part of the Hoogeveen municipality. The population of Elim and rural area is about 2500 (1 January 2007). The most spoken dialect is Drenths, a local language that is a mixture of Dutch, German and English.

History

A few hundred years ago there were only swamps in this part of the Netherlands. After the drainage of the swamps, people started to harvest peat, which was transported to the west of the Netherlands. The people who harvested the peat built houses on the land and started a small community, on the present place of Elim, called "Het Dwarsgat". In 1914 the name Elim was used for the first time in the Hoogeveensche Courant, the local newspaper. On 1 February 1923, the council of Hoogeveen approved the name Elim. On 1 May 1924, the village was called Elim. The name Elim is from the Bible, Exodus 15:27 : "there were twelve wells of water, and seventy date palms," and the Israelites "camped there near the water". The village is considered a Christian enclave in a relatively low observant region.

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