The Netherlands

I

Introduction

The Netherlands, a small country in northwestern Europe that faces the North Sea. It is the largest of the Low Countries, which also include Belgium and Luxembourg. The Netherlands is often called Holland, but Holland is really the name of only the northwestern part of the country.

The Dutch have a saying that “God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland.” About half the land in The Netherlands lies at or below sea level. Much of this land has been reclaimed from the sea. The Dutch built dikes around swampy or flooded land and then pumped the water out. The pumping was originally done with windmills, but today electric pumps are used.

The Netherlands has few natural resources, and its lands are poor for agriculture. However, the Dutch people have struggled against these obstacles and have made The Netherlands one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Foreign trade is the mainstay of the Dutch economy. Several major rivers of Europe flow through The Netherlands into the sea. These rivers and the country’s location on the North Sea have helped make it a great trading nation.

The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. About 90 percent of its people live in cities. Amsterdam is the capital and largest city. The seat of government is in The Hague. Rotterdam is the major Dutch port and the country’s second largest city.

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This small country has made major contributions to art, literature, and science. The 17th century is considered the Golden Age in Dutch history. During this time Dutch artists Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, and Frans Hals painted masterpieces, and Dutch scientists made startling discoveries with the powerful microscopes and telescopes they built.

The Kingdom of The Netherlands was established in 1815. At first, it included the whole of the Low Countries. Belgium revolted in 1830 and became independent, and Luxembourg became fully separate from The Netherlands in 1890. The Kingdom of The Netherlands today includes, besides The Netherlands proper, the Netherlands Antilles and the island of Aruba.

II

Land and Resources

The Netherlands, as its name suggests, is a low-lying country. About half of the country’s area lies no more than 1 meter (3 feet) above sea level, and a quarter of this land is below sea level. Dikes, canals, dams, sluices, and windmills characterize much of the landscape of The Netherlands. They are part of a water drainage system that has enabled the Dutch to increase their country’s land area by almost one fifth. More importantly, without constant drainage and the protection of dunes along the coast, almost half of The Netherlands would be inundated—mainly by the sea, but also by the many rivers which cross it.

Canals, rivers, and arms of the sea cut through much of the low-lying western part of the country. Farther to the east the land lies slightly higher and is flat to gently rolling. The elevation rarely exceeds 50 m (160 ft). Most of the land is devoted to agriculture.

The total area of The Netherlands is slightly larger than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined. At its widest point from east to west The Netherlands extends 120 miles (193 km), and from north to south the greatest distance is 190 miles (306 km). The Netherlands is bounded on the east by Germany, on the south by Belgium, and on the north and west by the North Sea. Across the North Sea lies the east coast of Great Britain.

A

Natural Regions

The North Sea coastline of The Netherlands consists mostly of sand dunes. Many of the country’s major cities are located on these slightly elevated dunes. To the north the sea has broken through the dunes to form the West Frisian Islands. To the south rivers have made gaps in the dunes and created a delta of islands and waterways.

Adjacent to the narrow strip of dunes is a low-lying area protected by dikes and kept dry by continuous mechanical pumping. This is polderland that the Dutch have reclaimed from the sea and turned into productive farmland. Dikes were built around sections of this swampy or flooded land and the water was pumped out, at first by windmills and later by steam and electric pumps. Reinforcing dikes were also built along the lower courses of The Netherlands’ major rivers, which flow above the land between banks of sediment deposited when they flood.

The work of reclaiming the Zuider Zee, a large arm of the North Sea, began in 1927. By 1932 a 29-km (18-mi) dike had been built across the entrance to the Zuider Zee. The dike turned the waters behind it into a freshwater lake within five years. By the early 1980s about three-quarters of the area had been drained, but the project to reclaim the last polder was canceled by the early 1980s. The freshwater lake left behind is called the IJsselmeer.

In 1953 the spring tide severely flooded the delta region in the southwest and about 1,800 people died. The Delta Plan, launched in 1958 and completed in 1986, was implemented to prevent such flooding. Under the plan, the Dutch shortened the coastline by about 700 km (about 435 mi); developed a system of dikes; and built dams, bridges, locks, and a major canal. The dikes created freshwater lakes and joined some islands.

The polders, which are used almost entirely for agriculture, are composed chiefly of clay soils and peat. Most of the eastern half of The Netherlands is covered by sandy soil deposited by glaciers, wind, and rivers. Hilly country (the foothills of the Ardennes) and fertile loamy soil is found only in the southern part of Limburg Province, an area of rich farmland. Vaalserberg (321 m/1,053 ft), the nation’s highest point, is in this area.

B

Rivers and Lakes

The major rivers of The Netherlands are the Rhine, flowing from Germany, and its several arms, such as the Waal and Nederrijn rivers; and the Maas (a branch of the Meuse) and the Schelde (Escaut), flowing from Belgium. These rivers and their arms form the delta with its many islands. Together with numerous canals, the rivers give ships access to the interior of Europe.

In the northern and western portions of The Netherlands are many small lakes. Nearly all the larger natural lakes have been pumped dry. However, land reclamation projects have created numerous new freshwater lakes, the largest being the IJsselmeer.

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