ASSEN

gemeente (municipality) and capital, Drenthe provincie (province), northeastern Netherlands, at the northeastern end of the Drentsche Hoofd (also called Smilder) Canal. Founded in 1257 around a small convent, it was not chartered until 1807, when King Louis Bonaparte made it the provincial capital. An agricultural and dairy centre, it also has some light industry. It is a rail junction, and Eelde airport is 10 mi (16 km) north. The 13th-century Cistercian convent church remains and houses a museum of antiquities; in the vicinity of Assen are prehistoric stone monuments. Pop. (1991 est.) 50,357.