Holland

Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands with 6.07 million inhabitants. Holland is a former county of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, ruled by the Count of Holland and later the dominant province of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces 1581–1795.


The name Holland is derived from holtland ("wooded land"). Popular, but incorrect, etymology holds that it is derived from hol land ("hollow land"), inspired by the low-lying geography of both the Dutch Holland and the English region (Holland, Lincolnshire). Apart from coastal dunes most of the surface consists of polder landscape, lying well below sea-level and only kept from flooding by continuous drainage, for which in earlier centuries the typical Dutch windmills were used.

In recent millennia the geography of the region has been extremely dynamic with the western coastline shifting up to thirty kilometres to the east, the Frisian Isles becoming detached from the north of Holland and the main Rhine and Maas rivers changing their course repeatedly and dramatically. In the last thousand years this process has been complicated by human activities. Behind the row of coastal dunes a large and high peat plateau had grown, protecting the land against the sea. In the tenth century this area was brought under cultivation; the drainage had extreme soil shrinkage as result, lowering the surface up to fifteen metres. In Zealand and Frisia this led to catastrophic storm floods literally washing away entire regions and the sea hollowed Holland out from behind, forming the Zuiderzee. Only drastic administrative intervention saved the county from utter destruction. The Counts and large monastries took the lead in this, building the first really heavy emergency dykes to bolster critical points. Later special administrative bodies were formed, the waterschappen ("waterscapes"), with the power to enforce on penalty of death any decision they made regarding water management. They constructed an extensive dyke system with complete coverage of all polders, protecting the land from further incursions by the sea. From the 16th century onward, the Hollanders took the offensive and began land reclamation programmes, making polders of many lakes. As a result of all this historical maps bear little resemblance to the present situation.

The area is today divided between two provinces of the Netherlands: North Holland (Noord-Holland) and South Holland (Zuid-Holland) that were created in 1840, and make up roughly 13% of the area of the Netherlands. A few regions that were historically Hollandic became part of other provinces as a result of reforms during the French occupation (1795-1813). Willemstad and surroundings, the Biesbosch and the Land van Altena became eventually part of North Brabant in 1818. In 1940, after the Battle of the Netherlands the Germans ordered the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling to go to Friesland. This was not changed back after World War II. In 1950, the island of Urk went to Overijssel (in 1986 to Flevoland). More recent territorial changes are the transfer of Oudewater, Woerden and Vianen from South Holland to the province of Utrecht, in 1970, 1989 and 2002 respectively.