Aalsmeer is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland; its name is derived from the Dutch for eel and lake. The town is located 13 kilometers (8 miles) southwest of Amsterdam.

Because the largest flower auction in the world is based in Aalsmeer, along with numerous nurseries and an experimental station for floriculture, the town is sometimes referred to as the flower capital of the world; the flowers are often exported by airplane. The auction building is the largest commercial building in the world, in terms of floorspace. For the same spatial reasons the Endemol-studios are located here. In May 2007 it was announced that a new Mayor for Aalsmeer was chosen to succeed the former mayor J. Hoffscholte (VVD), The new Mayor Pieter Litjens is also a member of the VVD.

Population Centres
The municipal council of Aalsmeer consists of 19 seats, which are divided as follows:

CDA - 6 seats
PACT - 5 seats
AB - 4 seats
VVD - 4 seats