Rijswijk, formerly known as Ryswick in English, is a town and municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in, and it has an area of, of which is water. The municipality also includes the villages 't Haantje and Sion.
History
Archeological excavations indicate that this area of the coastal dunes was already inhabited some 5500 years ago. The formation of the village Rijswijk took place in the 13th century, and its history was dominated by presence of mansions and estates of the nobility and affluent. Among the many country estates known to have been in Rijswijk are: The Treaty of Ryswick was signed at the Huis ter Nieuwburg in 1697, ending the Nine Years' War. A monument, the Needle of Rijswijk, was erected to commemorate the treaty in the Rijswijk Forest. Until 1900 Rijswijk remained a relative small community but it became urbanized during the 20th century when it expanded rapidly. Today, Rijswijk's area has almost been completely built-up. The last major development is the new Ypenburg neighbourhood, built on the lands of the former Ypenburg Airfield but this part of Rijswijk was annexed by The Hague in 2002. Rijswijk is part of the Haaglanden conurbation. During the years its built-up area has grown to the point where it has effectively merged with The Hague, even though it is still a separate municipality. Up until 2009 Rijswijk had a polytechnic college for applied sciences; TH Rijswijk. After a merger with the Haagse Hogeschool, this was moved to the campus of the TUDelft in Delft. The building still remains. Istana Negara, one of the six presidential palaces of Indonesia, in the Jakarta neighbourhood of Harmoni, was called Palais te Rijswijk during Dutch colonial times.
A large technology centre of the oil company Shell, on Kessler Park.
A small part of the Dutch national Forensic Laboratory, researching clues and objects in order to aid police investigations. The main building is moved to The Hague-Ypenburg.
Sports park 'De Schilp' has an indoor swimming pool.
Museum Rijswijk located at Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk has many works of art
The largest shopping center is called 'In de Bogaard' and smaller shops are located in the old town center. There is the old Schaapweimolen. De Broodfabriek holds many fairs and events.
