Alkmaar, a well built and strongly fortified town of the Netherlands, in North Holland, on the Helder ship canal, about 18 m. N. by W. of Amsterdam; pop. in 1867, 11,609. Its environs are laid out in beautiful gardens and fine meadows, and broad canals intersect its streets, the banks of which are planted with trees. A court of first resort and a tribunal of commerce sit in Alkmaar, and the town is well supplied with educational and scientific institutions. There is a large export trade in cheese and butter, and a considerable trade in cattle and corn. The manufactures consist of sail cloth, parchment, salt, soap, vinegar, leather, and earthenware. Alkmaar successfully stood a siege of ten years by the Spaniards, from 1573 to 1583; and in the expedition of 1799 the British and Russians, under the duke of York, halted here, before the conclusion by the latter of his inglorious capitulation with the French.