Oostzaan

Oostzaan is a municipality and a town in the Zaanstreek, Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The municipality had a population of 9,689 in 2021. Oostzaan has a total area of 16.08 km2 of which 4.55 km2 is water.

Oostzaan—together with Westzaan and Assendelft—are considered the "mother towns" of the Zaanstreek, of which they are the three oldest towns. Oostzaan also played a role in the VOC and WIC shipping and shipbuilding.

In the 17th century Oostzaan had its own pirate, named Claes Compaen. Originally sailing from the Netherlands as a legal pirate captain, in the possession of pirate letters, he soon began to raid ships for his private account, from the English Channel, to the Mediterranean Sea and the African-Atlantic coast into even the Caribbean Sea.