It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 13 km southwest of Assen.

The village was first mentioned in 1936 as Oranje, and refers to the Oranjekanaal [nl] which was dug in 1854.

[3] In 1913, the potato starch factory of Avebe was built, and a little village was created to house the work force.

[4] After an initial grudging agreement from the inhabitants to house 700 refugees in a holiday park in their village, on 6 October 2015 the government unilaterally increased this number to 1,400 to be accommodated immediately.

[5] This resulted in outrage and short term blockades of the village by the inhabitants.