Lingewaard is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands. It is located in the province of Gelderland, in the most eastern part of the Betuwe. The municipality is situated in the lowlands between the major cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen, where many inhabitants work. Since 2021 it has been part of the Arnhem-Nijmegen Green Metropolitan Region, which aids planning and development in the region's eighteen municipalities.

Population centres

Lingewaard was formed in 2001 as a merger between the former municipalities of Bemmel, Gendt and Huissen. The municipality was initially named Bemmel after the largest former municipality, but later renamed 'Lingewaard' in a referendum. 'Lingewaard' itself is not a population centre but an artificial name, which is favoured by the majority of the voters. The municipality consists of these population centres. The industrial park and hamlet of Looveer (included with Loo) comprises a small area located across the Pannerden Canal. Other notable hamlets in Lingewaard are Hulhuizen (included with Gendt), and Doornik (included with Bemmel). Before 1799, Doornik was a village. This village was destroyed because of a levee breach in 1799, whereby all houses were destroyed, including the church.

Landscape

The municipality lies entirely within the catchment area of the rivers Waal, Nederrijn, and Linge. It generally contains many fertile soils that lie on nutrient-rich river deposits. From an agricultural point of view, Lingewaard is well suited for horticulture. The area contains many greenhouses and orchards. In the south of Lingewaard lies the rewilding area Gelderse Poort, which is managed by Staatsbosbeheer. This nature reserve contains several Dutch riverscape habitats, including: riparian forests, grasslands, small marshes and kolks. Large herbivores (horses and cattle) roam through parts of the area, and play a major role in the landscape character because of their grazing behaviour.

Notable residents

Notable people from the municipality of Lingewaard include:

Sport

Annual festivals

Notable annual festivals and events in Lingewaard include:

Gallery

Twin town

From 2009 to 2014, Lingewaard was twinned with: