gemeente (municipality), southwestern Netherlands (Netherlands, The), near the Belgian border. Roosendaal (“Valley of Roses”) developed after the inhabitants of surrounding hamlets, including Nispen, were granted permission to build a church there in 1268. Peat digging was an early economic activity. Today Roosendaal is a rail junction on the Rotterdam-Antwerp line, with railway repair shops, and an industrial centre with varied manufactures. Pop. (2007 est.) 77,450.