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 1,410 km2 (540 sq mi), but not gross land as that includes much of the waters of the fresh water lakes (meres) mentioned.
There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local governments, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.
The National Reserve Corps is a part of the Royal Netherlands Army. NATRES is a corps in the sense that it has a specialized task. The reservist is part of the military, just like all Dutch military personnel, but mostly working parttime or sometimes full time as a replacement for regulars.
The Estates, also known as the States, was the assembly of the representatives of the estates of the realm, the divisions of society in feudal times, called together for purposes of deliberation, legislation or taxation. A meeting of the estates that covered an entire kingdom was called an estates general.
This list contains all twelve official flags of the provinces of the Netherlands, including the pennons.
The Royal Dutch Hockey Association is the official governing body of Field hockey in the Netherlands. It governs both the indoor and outdoor field hockey leagues, as well as the Netherlands national field hockey team and the Netherlands women's national field hockey team.
The Netherlands has several levels of administrative subdivisions. The first level of subdivision consists of 12 provinces. The second level of subdivision consists of 342 municipalities.
In the Netherlands, a water board, water council or water authority is a regional governing body solely charged with the management of surface water in the environment. Water boards are independent of administrative governing bodies like provinces and municipalities. In general, they are responsible for managing rivers and canals, issues with the flow of watercourses and drainage issues, water collection, flood and erosion prevention and provision of potable water. They manage polder systems, water levels, water barriers and locks, enforcements, water quality and sewage treatment in their respective regions. The concept of a coordinating "High Water Authority" (Hoogheemraadschap) originated in what now is the province of South Holland in the 12th century.
Dutch wine is wine made in the Netherlands. Although a small producer of wine, it is nowadays a strong growing branch of Dutch agriculture. Currently, the country has 180 commercial vineyards.
The Dutch Amateur Radio Emergency Service (DARES), which was founded on 12 May 2004, is a non-profit organization made out of licensed radio amateurs in the Netherlands. DARES participants are able to set up a national, continental or international radio network in case of an emergency situation, like a power outage on a large scale, a flooding, a cyber attack causing severe damage to communication networks, or other emergency situations, where the safety of a large group of people are in danger.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on 20 March 2019. Eligible voters elected the members of the Provincial States in the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. The elections were held on the same day as the 2019 Dutch water boards elections and, in the Caribbean Netherlands, island council elections.
Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên is a Vietnamese beauty queen and model. She was crowned Miss Grand International 2021 in 4 December 2021 at Bangkok, Thailand, is the first Vietnamese woman to win this beauty pageant. Before that, she also represented Vietnam to compete at Miss International 2018 in Japan. She was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister of Vietnam Phạm Minh Chính for Prominent Young Face 2021.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on 15 March 2023, on the same day as the water board elections, as well as island council elections in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Miss Grand Netherlands is a Dutch female national beauty pageant, founded in 2016 by an Amsterdam-based pageant organizer, Robin & Stefan Hoven – Lieuw Choy. The winner of the contest represented the country in its international parent contest, Miss Grand International.
Miss Grand Netherlands 2017 was the second edition of the Miss Grand Netherlands beauty pageant, held at the Crown Theatre in Aalsmeer, Netherlands, on March 25, 2017. Seven candidates who qualified through the casting process held earlier in January competed for the title, and a twenty-three-year-old communication and multimedia designer from North Brabant, Kelly van den Dungen, was named the winner. Kelly then represented the country at the Miss Grand International 2017 pageant in Phú Quốc, Vietnam, where she was placed among the top 20 finalists.
Miss Grand Netherlands 2018 was the third edition of the Miss Grand Netherlands beauty pageant, held at the Apollo Hotel, Vinkeveen, Netherlands, on June 17, 2018. Ten candidates who qualified through the casting process held earlier in March competed for the title, and a businessperson from North Brabant, Kimberley Xhofleer, was named the winner. Kimberley then represented the country at the Miss Grand International 2018 pageant in Yangon, Myanmar, but was unplaced.
The Regio Songfestival is a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters. Held in its current form since 2023, the format of the competition is loosely based on the Eurovision Song Contest and was first used in 1995 under its original title Het Nederlandse Songfestival. Every edition features thirteen original songs that are performed in a live broadcast, each representing a region of the Netherlands. From the competing entries, a winner is determined through a combination of televoting and votes cast by regional juries.
Miss Grand Netherlands 2024 was the 5th edition of the Miss Grand Netherlands pageant, held on July 21, 2024, at the Vinkeveen Event Centre, Vinkeveen. Contestants from 14 provinces and cities competed for the title. Of whom, a 20-year-old singer and songwriter representing North Holland, Ashley Brown, was announced the winner and was crowned by the outgoing Miss Grand Netherlands 2023, Melissa Bottema. Ashleyrepresented the Netherlands at Miss Grand International 2024, held in Thailand on October 25, 2024, but was unplaced.
