Hilversum (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɪlvərsʏm]) is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilversum is part of the Randstad, one of the largest conurbations in Europe, and the Amsterdam metropolitan area; it is about 22 km from the centre of Amsterdam and about 15 km from the city of Utrecht. The city is home to the headquarters, studios and broadcast stations of several major radio, television, newspaper companies. This means that Hilversum is known for being the mediastad (media city) of the Netherlands.