Valkenswaard

Valkenswaard is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of in and spans an area of of which is water.The name Valkenswaard stems from its history of falconers, who caught wild falcons there; valk is Dutch for "falcon". It lay on a route where falcons migrated south each year. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, Valkenswaardian falconers were active at many European courts, in which falconing was a beloved pastime. Valkenswaard's falcon-catching area has now been built over and falcons are no longer caught there.In the 19th and 20th century, a number of large cigar factories were founded in Valkenswaard, the two most renowned of which being Willem II and Hofnar.The spoken language is Kempenlands (an East Brabantian dialect, which is very similar to colloquial Dutch).Population centresBorkel en SchaftDommelenValkenswaardTopography300pxDutch topographic map of the municipality of Valkenswaard, June 2015Partner municipalities Tienen (Belgium) Salvaterra de Magos (Portugal)