Why go
This history helps make sense of Amsterdam beyond the centre. Sloten, Nieuwendam, Watergraafsmeer, Buitenveldert and Bijlmermeer were not simply extensions of old Amsterdam; they entered the municipality at different times and still give their districts different landscapes, histories and scales today.
The full story
When Amsterdam's municipality was created during the French occupation, it covered the city and its immediate surroundings, only a small part of the present municipal area. Expansion came through annexation. In 1921, Amsterdam absorbed Sloten, Buiksloot, Nieuwendam, Ransdorp and Watergraafsmeer, bringing villages, farmland and waterfront communities into the city. These changes help explain why Amsterdam Noord retains places such as Nieuwendam and Zunderdorp with a different feel from the canal belt, and why western districts include older village names such as Sloterdijk and Osdorp. Later additions extended the city farther south and southeast. Parts of Nieuwer-Amstel brought Buitenveldert into Amsterdam, while part of Weesperkarspel, including Bijlmermeer and Driemond, was annexed in 1966 and became part of Amsterdam Zuidoost. The boundaries may be administrative, but they have a practical payoff for visitors: look for the distinct village, polder or post-war landscape beneath the shared city name.