Buren is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. It is also a (historical) county; with the Dutch Monarch still holding the title "Count of Buren".

Population centers include Aalst, Asch, Beusichem, Buren, Eck en Wiel, Erichem, Ingen, Kerk-Avezaath, Lienden, Maurik, Ommeren, Ravenswaaij, Rijswijk, Zoelen and Zoelmond.

The earliest known reference to the settlement dates from 772. The castle built by the Lords of Buren is first mentioned in 1298. The town was granted city rights in 1395 by Sir Alard IV of Buren, which led to the construction of a defensive wall and a moat. Significant parts of these still exist. In 1492 the region was promoted to a county (i.e. ruled by a count), but due to its isolated position it never became very important economically. By 1574 the previously Catholic parish church of Saint Lambert (Dutch: Sint Lambertus) had already become Calvinist Reformed Protestant.^{[citation needed]}

The castle eventually came into the possession of the House of Orange dynasty, the later royal family of the Netherlands. In fact, Queen Beatrix is Countess of Buren. Also, the royals have been known to use the name Van Buren in situations requiring anonymity. The castle was gradually demolished between 1804 and 1883.

Coordinates: 13°10′N 59°33′W / 13.167°N 59.55°W / 13.167; -59.55

Barbados (ⁱ/bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/ or /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊs/) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.

Barbados was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Spanish explorers may have plundered the island of whatever native peoples resided therein to become slaves. The Portuguese visited in 1536, but they too left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony.

Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑr.mɪn vɑn ˈby.rə(n)]), OON (born 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands) is a Dutch trance producer and DJ. Between 2007 and 2010, he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs. In the 2011 list, he ranked in second place. Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which claims to have around 15 million weekly listeners in 26 countries, which would make it one of the most listened-to radio shows in the world. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at #1, a first for a dance music artist in Dutch music history.

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976, but grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. Van Buuren started making music when he was 14.^{[citation needed]} He was inspired by French electronic music composer, Jean Michel Jarre, and wished to become a great electronic music composer like Jarre.^{[citation needed]}

He finished high school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and left for college to study law at Leiden University. While studying law, Van Buuren's interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, although he did return to finish law school in 2003.