Almelo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑlməloː] ^ⓘ) is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres are Almelo itself and the villages of Aadorp, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek. Almelo has about 75,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, with the industrial centres of Enschede and Hengelo as close neighbours but also with tourist towns like Ootmarsum, Delden and Markelo only a bicycle ride away.

Almelo received city rights in 1394. Within the city limits lies the castle of the Counts of Almelo. Located in the city centre is Huize Almelo, a castle that in its current form dates back to 1662 but is not open to the public.

The city is also known for its local association football club Heracles Almelo, which plays in the Eredivisie, the highest football league in the Netherlands, and uses the Erve Asito stadium. Some of the Almelo population speak the Tweants dialect.

The name Almelo comes from the Germanic words alma (which means elm) and lauha.

The city had a moat, but no walls, and therefore never held any military significance. Huis Almelo (Almelo House) likely existed since the 12th century and remains in the hands of the Van Rechteren Limpurg family to this day. For centuries, the family held various rights in the city of Almelo, including the right to administer justice.

After the then lord of Almelo, Zeger van Rechteren (1623-1674) banned the practice of Catholicism in 1664, the nuns of the St. Catherine Monastery in Almelo left in 1665 and settled 300 meters across the German border, just southwest of Glane in the Netherlands, in a monastery they named Maria Vlucht (Maria Flight). After the monastery was closed, the church treasures were dispersed throughout the region.

At the end of the 19th century, textile emerged as a major employer and drew many workers to Almelo, at first from within the Netherlands.

The municipality of Almelo was formed from a merger (1914) between the municipalities of Ambt Almelo and Stad Almelo.