Flevoland is the 12th and youngest 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 province has a population of 423,021 as of January 2020 and consists of six municipalities. Its capital is Lelystad and its most populous city is Almere.
A polder is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
- Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
- Flood plains separated from the sea or river by a dike
- Marshes separated from the surrounding water by a dike and subsequently drained; these are also known as koogs, especially in Germany
Lelystad is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk, making the reclamation possible. Lelystad is approximately 3 metres below sea level.
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 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.
Noordoostpolder is a polder and municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called Urker Land. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the heart of the Noordoostpolder.
Urk is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands.
Schoonhoven is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality.
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained.
Schokland is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee, in the municipality of Noordoostpolder. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just a slightly elevated part of the polder, with a still partly intact retaining wall of the waterfront of Middelbuurt. On 1 April 2014, it had 8 inhabitants, but according to Statistics Netherlands there are five people living on the former island.
Tollebeek is a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and is approximately 90 kilometres north east of Amsterdam.
Ens is a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 10 km southeast of Emmeloord.
Creil is one of the ten so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 6 km northwest of Emmeloord.
Bant is one of the so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 7 km north of Emmeloord.
Espel is one of the so-called green villages (Dutch: groendorpen) in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It lies in the municipality of Noordoostpolder next to a crossroads where provincial road N712 from Urk to Lemmer intersects with road N714 to Emmeloord, roughly 6 km to the east.
Nagele is a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 10 km south of Emmeloord.
The Poldertoren is a water tower at the town center of Emmeloord, Netherlands. The Dutch name Poldertoren could be translated as Polder Tower. The 65-meter tower was built in 1959 and has a large carillon. The tower is no longer in use as a water tower. The owner of the tower was the water company, Vitens, but since 2005 the municipality of Noordoostpolder has owned the tower.
Rutten is a village in the central Netherlands. It is located in Noordoostpolder, Flevoland, about 8 km northwest of Emmeloord. It was founded in 1952.
The pilot Polder Andijk, or Test Polder Andijk, Proefpolder Andijk in Dutch, is a polder established in 1926 - 1927 in the Zuiderzee near the village of Andijk. The aim of this prototype is to study the embankments and agriculture for future polders in the Zuiderzee Works. In 1929, the pilot polder was inaugurated by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
Sonoy was a restaurant located in Emmeloord, in the Netherlands. It held a Michelin-star rating in the period 2010–2013.
