irvo.
Farmhouse in Staphorst
Staphorst is famous for people wearing traditional dress. Furthermore, it is one of the most religious towns of the Netherlands, with a lot of people attending Calvinist church. Staphorst is grind to a halt on Sundays.
A large proportion of the population holds fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and oppose technologies such as television. This is in contrast to the permissive, libertarian tendency in Dutch law. Nevertheless, Staphorst has a big industrial area with small, but modern enterprises; on days other than Sundays, tourists are welcome (see below).
In 1971, Staphorst became world news due to an outbreak of polio. Certain inhabitants did not wish their children to be vaccinated against polio on religious grounds. They found that vaccination was against Divine Providence, in particular the Heidelberg Catechism. Due to this (and probably also due to laxity of other inhabitants in getting vaccinated) 39 people (mostly children) became infected with polio. Of these, five died and a number of others became disabled. Most inhabitants are now vaccinated, however 20% remain unvaccinated. As a result, Staphorst and other similar areas in the Netherlands are classified as risk areas by the WHO[1] - the only such area in Europe.
In 2005, Staphorst's municipal council (run by the SGP, which until 2006 banned women from politics) passed a measure to ban swearing, by 13 - 4 votes
The TFR in Staphorst at 2.76 was 4th highest in all of Netherlands in 2003. [1] That makes Staphorst a place with one of the highest birth rates in all of Europe.
Farmhouse in Staphorst
Staphorst is famous for people wearing traditional dress. Furthermore, it is one of the most religious towns of the Netherlands, with a lot of people attending Calvinist church. Staphorst is grind to a halt on Sundays.
A large proportion of the population holds fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and oppose technologies such as television. This is in contrast to the permissive, libertarian tendency in Dutch law. Nevertheless, Staphorst has a big industrial area with small, but modern enterprises; on days other than Sundays, tourists are welcome (see below).
In 1971, Staphorst became world news due to an outbreak of polio. Certain inhabitants did not wish their children to be vaccinated against polio on religious grounds. They found that vaccination was against Divine Providence, in particular the Heidelberg Catechism. Due to this (and probably also due to laxity of other inhabitants in getting vaccinated) 39 people (mostly children) became infected with polio. Of these, five died and a number of others became disabled. Most inhabitants are now vaccinated, however 20% remain unvaccinated. As a result, Staphorst and other similar areas in the Netherlands are classified as risk areas by the WHO[1] - the only such area in Europe.
In 2005, Staphorst's municipal council (run by the SGP, which until 2006 banned women from politics) passed a measure to ban swearing, by 13 - 4 votes
The TFR in Staphorst at 2.76 was 4th highest in all of Netherlands in 2003. [1] That makes Staphorst a place with one of the highest birth rates in all of Europe.