Holland is a geographical region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century,Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the counts of Holland. By the 17th century,the province of Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power,dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic.
Flevoland is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands,established in 1986,when the southern and eastern Flevopolders,together with the Noordoostpolder,were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the country in the former Zuiderzee,which was turned into the freshwater IJsselmeer by the closure of the Afsluitdijk in 1932. Almost all of the land belonging to Flevoland was reclaimed in the 1950s and 1960s while splitting the Markermeer and Bordering lakes from the IJsselmeer. As to dry land,it is the smallest province of the Netherlands at 1,412 km2 (545 sq mi),but not gross land as that includes much of the waters of the fresh water lakes (meres) mentioned.
The IJsselmeer,also known as Lake IJssel in English,is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland,North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of 1,100 km2 (420 sq mi) with an average depth of 4.5 m (15 ft). The river IJssel flows into the IJsselmeer.
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands,extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide,with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km. It covered 5,000 km2 (1,900 sq mi). Its name is Dutch for "southern sea",indicating that the name originates in Friesland,to the north of the Zuiderzee. In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea by the construction of the Afsluitdijk,leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea. The salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake now called the IJsselmeer after the river that drains into it,and by means of drainage and polders,an area of some 1,500 km2 (580 sq mi) was reclaimed as land. This land eventually became the province of Flevoland,with a population of nearly 400,000 (2011).
The IJssel is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer,a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediately flows into the east-south channel around the Flevopolder,Flevoland which is kept at 3 metres below sea level. This body of water is then pumped up into the IJsselmeer.
The Zuiderzee Works is a man-made system of dams and dikes,land reclamation and water drainage work,in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the Zuiderzee,a large,shallow inlet of the North Sea,and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture.
The Delta Works is a series of construction projects in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land around the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta from the sea. Constructed between 1954 and 1997,the works consist of dams,sluices,locks,dykes,levees,and storm surge barriers located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.
Beemster is a former municipality in the Netherlands,in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake,the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beemster polder was drained between 1609 and 1612. It has preserved intact its well-ordered landscape of fields,roads,canals,dykes and settlements,laid out in accordance with classical and Renaissance planning principles. A grid of canals parallels the grid of roads in the Beemster. The grids are offset:the larger feeder canals are offset by approximately one kilometer from the larger roads.
The Afsluitdijk is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich in Friesland province,over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi) and a width of 90 metres (300 ft),at an initial height above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum of between 6.7 metres (22 ft) along the section at Friesland,and 7.4 metres (24 ft) where it crosses the deep channel of the Vlieter. The height at the greater sea depths west of Friesland was required to be a minimum of 7 metres everywhere when originally constructed.
West Friesland,is a contemporary region in the Northwest of the Netherlands,in the province of North Holland.
Storm tides of the North Sea are coastal floods associated with extratropical cyclones crossing over the North Sea,the severity of which is affected by the shallowness of the sea and the orientation of the shoreline relative to the storm's path,as well as the timing of tides. The water level can rise to more than 5 metres (17 ft) above the normal tide as a result of storm tides.
The Vecht is a Rhine branch in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is sometimes called Utrechtse Vecht to avoid confusion with its Overijssel counterpart. The area along the river is called the Vechtstreek.
The IJ is a body of water,formerly a bay,in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront.
The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands,north-west Belgium,England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed,resulting in extensive flooding.
St. Lucia's flood (Sint-Luciavloed) was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on 13/14 December 1287 (OS),St. Lucia Day and the day after,killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in one of the largest floods in recorded history.
Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands,as due to its low elevation,approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding,while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes,dams,and floodgates provide defense against storm surges from the sea. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse,while a complicated system of drainage ditches,canals,and pumping stations keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture. Water control boards are the independent local government bodies responsible for maintaining this system.
Lake Flevo was a lake in what is now the Netherlands,which existed in Roman times and the early Middle Ages. Some geographers believe that it was not a single lake,but rather a set of interconnected lakes.
The Gooi is an area around Hilversum,in the centre of the Netherlands. It is a slightly hilly area characterised by its green landscape,its historical charm,the wealth of its inhabitants and its villas. The Gooi is known in the country as the home of the rich and famous.
The Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta is a river delta in the Netherlands formed by the confluence of the Rhine,the Meuse and the Scheldt rivers. In some cases,the Scheldt delta is considered a separate delta to the Rhine–Meuse delta. The result is a multitude of islands,branches and branch names that may at first sight look bewildering,especially as a waterway that appears to be one continuous stream may change names as many as seven times,e.g. Rhine →Bijlands Kanaal →Pannerdens Kanaal →Nederrijn →Lek →Nieuwe Maas →Het Scheur →Nieuwe Waterweg. Since the Rhine contributes most of the water,the shorter term Rhine Delta is commonly used. However,this name is also used for the delta where the Alpine Rhine flows into Lake Constance,so it is clearer to call the larger one Rhine–Meuse delta,or even Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta,as the Scheldt ends in the same delta. By some calculations,the delta covers 25,347 km2 (9,787 sq mi),making it the largest in Europe.
Lake Almere was an inland lake in the place of today's IJsselmeer in the center of the Netherlands.
