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59-517: Zeeland ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzeːlɑnt] ; Zeelandic : Zeêland , [ˈzɪəlɑnt] ), historically known in English by the exonym Zealand , is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands . The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east, South Holland to the north, as well as the country of Belgium to

118-458: A higher acceptable risk. River flooding also has a longer warning time, producing a lower estimated death toll per event. These acceptable risks were enshrined in the Delta Law (Dutch: Deltawet ). This required the government to keep risks of catastrophic flooding within these limits and to upgrade defences should new insights into risks require this. The limits have also been incorporated into

177-527: A large freshwater lake, the Zeeuwse Meer (Zeeland Lake). This would have caused major environmental destruction in Oosterschelde, with the total loss of the saltwater ecosystem and, consequently, the harvesting of oysters. Environmentalists and fishermen combined their efforts to prevent the closure; they persuaded parliament to amend the original plan. Instead of completely damming the estuary,

236-407: A lesser extent, Terneuzen , Zeelandic dialect is being mostly replaced by Standard Dutch, although elderly people and people from surrounding rural areas can often still speak Zeelandic. There are clear differences between Zeelandic and Hollandic , Brabantine and East-Flemish dialects, but there is more of a dialect continuum with West-Flemish language varieties. The dialects spoken more towards

295-534: A strip of land bordering the Belgian region of Flanders , the Zeelandic Flanders . The province of Zeeland has 13 municipalities : The largest cities are: Middelburg with 42,000 inhabitants; Vlissingen with 34,000; Goes with 28,000; and Terneuzen with 25,000. As of 1 January 2023, Zeeland had a population of 391,124 and a population density of 220/km (570/sq mi). It is the least populous and

354-443: A village roughly on the middle of the island, can use widely different words for something than speakers from Sint-Maartensdijk do, which lies only 5 km to the west of Poortvliet . Zeelandic is strongly associated with the rural population, as it is spoken mainly in the countryside. The town dialects of Middelburg and Vlissingen are both much closer to Hollandic than the rural variants and are almost extinct. Surveys held in

413-693: A vital part of the province's road system were constructed over the span of decades and came to replace old ferry lines. The final touch to this process came in 2003 when the Western Scheldt Tunnel was opened. It was the first solid connection between both banks of the Western Scheldt and ended the era of water separating the islands and peninsulas of Zeeland. Zeeland consists of several islands and peninsulas. These are, from north to south, Schouwen-Duiveland , Tholen , Noord-Beveland , Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland . It also includes

472-429: Is 2,933 square kilometres (1,132 sq mi), of which 1,154 square kilometres (446 sq mi) is water; it had a population of about 391,000 as of January 2023. Large parts of Zeeland are below sea level. The last great flooding of the area was in 1953 . Tourism is an important economic activity. In the summer, its beaches make it a popular destination for tourists, especially German tourists. In some areas,

531-468: 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 . The aim of the dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers

590-576: Is an old Zeelandic word that has been attested since the Middle Ages . An early citation by Jacob van Maerlant in his description of Sint-Francis goes as follows: The name Zeeuws has been in use for the language spoken in Zeeland ever since, but in addition to this there are various other names. Speakers often refer to their dialect with the name of their own area, such as Walchers for Walcheren or Plat Axels for Zeelandic-Flanders (named after

649-533: Is in the other part, western North Brabant , and enlarged further in 1955, gaining territory from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Haarlem–Amsterdam . The States of Zeeland is the provincial council of Zeeland. As of the 2023 provincial election , the governing coalition consists of the BBB , SGP , CDA , and VVD , with 23 of 39 seats. The Provincial executive ( Gedeputeerde Staten ) of Zeeland

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708-505: Is no such thing as one homogenous Zeelandic dialect or language. There is a large amount of resistance specifically in Goeree-Overflakkee against calling the local dialect Zeelandic, due to historical animosity between this region which belongs to South Holland , and Zeeland proper. In the past, Zeelandic was also called boers (farmer-like), in contrast to Standard Dutch which was known as op z'n burgers (like civilians, like

767-501: Is one passenger railway line, running from Flushing to Roosendaal. It serves the following stations in Zeeland: Bus lines in Zeeland include: Nehalennia is a mythological goddess of an ancient religion known around the province of Zeeland. Her worship dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, and flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. She was possibly a regional god, either Celtic or pre- Germanic – but sources differ on

826-578: Is the executive branch of the province, which consists of several ministers and the King's commissioner of Zeeland. Han Polman ( D66 ) has been the commissioner since 2013. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 13.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 1.8% of the Netherlands economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €30,900, or 102% of the EU27 average that year. There

885-627: Is typically little warning time with North Sea storms. Comprehensive evacuation is not a realistic option for the Holland coastal region. The commission initially set the acceptable risk for complete failure of every "dike ring" in the country at 1 in 125,000 years. But, it found that the cost of building to this level of protection could not be supported. It set "acceptable" risks by region as follows: River flooding causes less damage than salt water flooding, which causes long-term damage to agricultural lands. Areas at risk from river flooding were assigned

944-464: The 3rd least densely populated province of the Netherlands. Religion in Zeeland (2015) Zeeland is more religious than the Netherlands as a whole, with over 53% being religious. The Dutch Bible Belt runs through Zeeland. Zeelandic Flanders is more religious (58.5%) than the rest of Zeeland (51.6%). Among the religious population, Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) is dominant. About 16% of residents are Roman Catholic . After being long part of

1003-474: The Antillian island of Tobago , were both named after parts of Zeeland. The Canadian town of Zealand, New Brunswick , was named for the Zeeland birthplace of Dutchman Philip Crouse who settled in the area in 1789. Zeeland, North Dakota is another town named for this province and whose earliest settlers were of Dutch heritage. Paramaribo , the capital and largest city of Suriname , has a Fort Zeelandia ,

1062-458: The Middle Ages and the early modern period , Zeeland was claimed by the Count of Holland as well as the Count of Flanders , and the area was exposed to influence from both directions. The dialects clearly show a gradual increase of Hollandic elements as one goes northwards. However, Zeelandic is fairly coherent with clear borders, as the broad sea arms form strong isoglosses . The name Zeeuws

1121-399: The 1990s found that at least 60% of Zeeland's population still use Zeelandic as their everyday language. An estimated 250,000 people speak Zeelandic as a mother tongue (West Zeelandic Flemish is included in that count), and although it is in decline, just as other regional languages, it is in no direct danger of extinction since in some villages with strong isolated communities, more than 90% of

1180-618: The Botlek near Vlaardingen were dammed. After the North Sea flood of 1953 , a Delta Works Commission was installed to research the causes and develop measures to prevent such disasters in future. They revised some of the old plans and came up with the "Deltaplan". An important part of this project was fundamental research to come up with long-term solutions, protecting the Netherlands against future floods. Instead of analysing past floods and building protection sufficient to deal with those,

1239-632: The Delta Works Commission, the total costs were estimated at 3.3 billion guilder . This was at that time equal to 20% of national GDP. This amount was spread out over the 25 years that it would take to complete the massive engineering project. The Delta works were mostly financed by the national budget, with a contribution of the Marshall Plan of 400 million guilder. In addition, the Dutch natural gas discovery contributed massively to

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1298-642: The Delta Works are part of was originally designed in a period of time when environmental awareness and ecological effects of engineering projects were barely taken into consideration. Although the level of awareness for the environment grew throughout the years, the Delta Project has caused numerous irreversible effects on the environment in the past. Blocking the estuary mouths did reduce the length of dykes that otherwise would have to be built to protect against floods, but it also led to major changes in

1357-487: The Delta Works commission pioneered a conceptual framework to use as norm for investment in flood defences. The framework is called the 'Delta norm'; it includes the following principles: The most important "dike ring area" is the South Holland coast region. It is home to four million people, most of whom live below normal sea level. The loss of human life in a catastrophic flood here can be very large because there

1416-813: The French occupation (see département Bouches-de-l'Escaut ) and the formation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, the present province Zeeland was formed. During World War II, Zeeland was occupied by Nazi Germany between June 1940 and November 1944. In 1944, Zeeland was devastated by the Battle of the Scheldt and the Walcheren Landings , which brought about the Inundation of Walcheren , between British and Canadian forces, and

1475-714: The High Water Protection Program. During the execution of the works, changes were made in response to public pressure. In the Nieuwe Waterweg, the heightening and the associated widening of the dikes proved very difficult because of public opposition to the planned destruction of important historic buildings to achieve this. The plan was changed to the construction of a storm surge barrier (the Maeslantkering ) and dikes were only partly built up. The Delta Plan originally intended to create

1534-596: The Netherlands in its Golden Age were Holland and Zeeland, and the Dutch explorers originally named the largest landmass of Oceania and the two islands to the southeast Nieuw Holland and Nieuw Zeeland, respectively. The former was eventually replaced by the name Australia, but the name New Zealand remained in place for the latter. Captain James Cook of Britain later anglicised the name to New Zealand and, after British settlers arrived in New Zealand, English became

1593-469: The Oosterschelde and Westerschelde between 1995 and 2015. After 2015, under the High Water Protection Program, additional upgrades are made. In September 2008, the Delta Commission presided by politician Cees Veerman advised in a report that the Netherlands would need a massive new building program to strengthen the country's water defenses against the anticipated effects of global warming for

1652-482: The Oosterschelde needed to be strengthened. Over 200 km of the dike needed new revetments. The connections between the Eastern Scheldt and the neighboring Haringvliet had to be dammed to limit the effect of the salt water. Extra dams and locks were needed at the east part of the Oosterschelde to create a shipping route between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Since operating the barrier has an effect on

1711-847: The Seventeen Provinces became the property of the Habsburgs in 1477. In the Eighty Years' War , Zeeland was on the side of the Union of Utrecht , and became one of the United Provinces . The area now called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (or Zeelandic Flanders ) was not part of Zeeland, but a part of the county of Flanders (still under Habsburg control) that was conquered by the United Provinces, hence called Staats-Vlaanderen (see: Generality Lands ). After

1770-417: The bourgeoisie), but this nomenclature has fallen out of fashion in recent times. The word plat , which is also used in other dialects to refer to any non-Standard-Dutch dialect, is also frequently used in Zeeland. Zeelandic is spoken in most areas in Zeeland province, excluding East-Zeelandic-Flanders where, traditionally, more East-Flemish dialects are spoken. North of Zeeland, Zeelandic is still spoken on

1829-420: The coast, natural sand is added each year to allow sand to blow freely through the dunes instead of having the dunes held in place by planted vegetation or revetments. Although the new plan brought along additional cost, it was received favourably. The re-considerations of the Delta Project indicated the growing importance of integrate environmental impact assessments in policy-making. The Delta Project of which

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1888-603: The culture that first worshipped her. During the Roman era , her main function appeared to be the protection of travelers, especially seagoing travelers crossing the North Sea . Most of what is known about her mythology comes from the remains of carved stone offerings ( votives ) which have been dredged up from the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) since 1870. Two more Nehalennia offering stones have also been found in Cologne , Germany. Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant and BN/De Stem are

1947-576: The dialects spoken in Voorne-Putten , Hoeksche Waard and Rotterdam . There is hardly any dialectal influence from Zeelandic in the neighbouring Brabantine dialects, however, with the exception of the neighbouring villages of Oud-Vossemeer in Tholen and Nieuw-Vossemeer in North-Brabant . Zeelandic still has three grammatical genders and the final schwa of feminine words. It has kept

2006-482: The differences (the orthography is Dutch): The province of Zeeland consists of several former islands that were difficult to reach until well into the 20th century. As a result, there is roughly one dialect per island. The respective dialects differ clearly but only slightly. The Goeree-Overflakkee dialect, for example, does not drop the h , and the Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland dialects have umlauted words, unlike

2065-565: The dikes will eventually have to be made higher and wider. This is a long term uphill battle against the sea. The needed level of flood protection and the resulting costs are a recurring subject of debate, and involve a complicated decision-making process. In 1995 it was agreed in the Delta Plan Large Rivers and Room for the River projects that about 500 kilometres of insufficient dyke revetments were reinforced and replaced along

2124-851: The environment, fisheries and the water management system, decisions made on opening or closing the gate are carefully considered. Also the safety of the surrounding dykes are affected by barrier operations. In an attempt to restore and preserve the natural system surrounded by the dykes and storm-surge barrier, the concept 'building with nature' was introduced in revised Delta Program updates after 2008. The new integrated water management plan not only takes into account protection against flooding, but also covers water quality, leisure industry , economic activities, shipping, environment and nature. Whenever possible, existing engineering constructions would be replaced by more 'nature friendly' options in an attempt to restore natural estuary and tides, while still protecting against flooding. In addition, building components of

2183-784: The finance of the project. At completion in 1997, costs were set on 8.2 billion guilder. Nevertheless, in 2012 the total costs were already set on around $ 13 billion. The original plan was completed by the Europoortkering which required the construction of the Maeslantkering in the Nieuwe Waterweg between Maassluis and Hook of Holland and the Hartelkering in the Hartel Canal near Spijkenisse . The works were declared finished after almost forty years in 1997. Due to climate change and relative sea-level rise,

2242-642: The former Fort Willoughby during British colonization. Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company , in the town of Anping (Tainan) on the island of Formosa , present day Taiwan , during their 38-year rule over the western part of it. Zeelandic It has notable differences from Standard Dutch mainly in pronunciation but also in grammar and vocabulary , which separates it clearly from Standard Dutch. This makes mutual intelligibility with speakers of Standard Dutch difficult. In

2301-410: The government agreed to build a storm surge barrier. This essentially is a long collection of very large valves that can be closed against storm surges. The storm surge barrier closes only when the sea-level is expected to rise 3 metres above mean sea level. Under normal conditions, the estuary's mouth is open, and salt water flows in and out with the tide. As a result of the change, the weak dikes along

2360-537: The hands of both people and nature. The North Sea flood of 1953 inundated vast amounts of land that were only partially reclaimed. The subsequent construction of the Delta Works also changed the face of the province. The infrastructure, although very distinct by the number of bridges, tunnels and dams, has not shaped the geography of the province so much as the geography of the province has shaped its infrastructure. The dams, tunnels and bridges that are currently

2419-458: The island of Goeree-Overflakkee . Traditionally, the Zeelandic language area also extended further north to the island Voorne-Putten , but the dialect has mostly disappeared from that area due to migration from urban areas such as Rotterdam . In urban areas in Zeeland, the dialect is in decline due to migration from other areas in the Netherlands. In Vlissingen , Goes , Middelburg and, to

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2478-656: The last count of Holland died. The Counts of Hainaut then gained control of the County of Zeeland , followed by the counts of Bavaria , Burgundy , and Habsburg . After 1585, Zeeland followed, as one of the 7 independent provinces, the fate of the Northern part of The Netherlands. In 1432, it became part of the Low Countries possessions of Philip the Good of Burgundy , the later Seventeen Provinces . Through marriage,

2537-582: The main language. The city of Zeeland in the US state of Michigan was settled in 1847 by Dutchman Jannes van de Luyster and was incorporated in 1907. Flushing , a neighborhood within the borough of Queens , New York, is named after the city Flushing (Vlissingen in Dutch) in Zeeland. This dates from the period of the colony of New Netherland , when New York was still known as New Amsterdam . The Dutch colonies of Nieuw Walcheren and Nieuw Vlissingen , both on

2596-440: The monophthongs [i] and [y] for ij and ui , rather than breaking them into [ɛi] and [œy] . It usually umlauts [aː] into [ɛː] and renders the old Germanic [ai] and [au] as falling diphthongs ( [ɪə ~ ɪɐ ~ iɐ] and [ʊə ~ ʊɐ ~ uɐ] , respectively, with the exact realisation depending on the dialect. Standard Dutch has merged them with etymological [eː] and [oː] . Finally, Zeelandic drops [h] . This table illustrates

2655-443: The new Water Law ( Waterwet ), effective from 22 December 2009. The Delta Project (of which the Delta Works are a part) has been designed with these guidelines in mind. All other primary defences have been upgraded to meet the norm. New data elevating the risk assessment on expected sea level rise due to global warming has identified ten 'weak points.' These have been upgraded to meet future demands. The latest upgrades are made under

2714-469: The next 190 years. The plans included drawing up worst-case scenarios for evacuations and included more than €100 billion, or $ 144 billion, in new spending through the year 2100 for measures, such as broadening coastal dunes and strengthening sea and river dikes . The commission said the country must plan for a rise in the North Sea of 1.3 meters by 2100 and 4 meters by 2200. The works that are part of

2773-422: The northern dialects (for example: beuter [bøtər] as opposed to boter [botər] . Within the island dialects themselves, dialectal differences also exist, and native speakers can frequently tell the village (at least on their own island) a person is from by the specific dialect that is spoken, even if the differences are inaudible to outsiders. For example, within the Tholen dialect, speakers from Poortvliet ,

2832-401: The occupying Germans. The catastrophic North Sea flood of 1953 , which killed over 1800 people in Zeeland, led to the construction of the protective Delta Works . The province of Zeeland is a large river delta situated at the mouth of several major rivers, namely Scheldt ('Schelde'), Rhine ('Rijn') and Meuse ('Maas'). Most of the province lies below sea level and was reclaimed from

2891-421: The population can be two to four times higher during the high summer season. The coat of arms of Zeeland shows a lion half-emerged from water, and the text luctor et emergo ( Latin for "I struggle and emerge"). The country of New Zealand was named after Zeeland after it was sighted by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman . Zeeland was a contested area between the counts of Holland and Flanders until 1299, when

2950-541: The regional daily newspapers in the province. The first westerners to sight New Zealand were captained by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman in 1642, although he did not land there. Tasman named it Staten Landt , believing it to be part of the land of that name off the coast of Argentina that is now known as Isla de los Estados . When that was shown not to be so, Dutch authorities named it Nova Zeelandia in Latin , Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch. The two major seafaring provinces of

3009-486: The reinforcements are designed in a way that they support formation of entire ecosystems. As part of the revision, the Room for the River projects, enabled nature to occupy space by lowering or widening the river bed. In order to establish this, agricultural flood plains are turned into natural parks, excavated farmland is used for wild vegetation and newly excavated lakes and bypasses create habitats for fish and birds. Along

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3068-427: The sea by inhabitants over time. What used to be a muddy landscape, flooding at high tide and reappearing at low tide, became a series of small man-made hills that stayed dry at all times. The people of the province would later connect the hills by creating dikes , which led to a chain of dry land that later grew into bigger islands and gave the province its current shape. The shape of the islands has changed over time at

3127-459: The south and west. It consists of a number of islands and peninsulas (hence its name, meaning "Sealand") and a strip bordering the Flemish provinces of East and West Flanders . Its capital is Middelburg with a population of 48,544 as of November 2019, although the largest municipality in Zeeland is Terneuzen (population 54,589). Zeeland has two seaports : Vlissingen and Terneuzen. Its area

3186-499: The town of Axel , but also used in other towns in this region to distinguish it from the West-Zeelandic-Flemish dialects spoken in the region surrounding Breskens ), or sometimes with the name of their own village, such as Wasschappels for Westkapelle . This practice stems from the idea that each village has their own dialect, which is markedly different even from the dialect in the adjacent village, and that there

3245-538: The vast Franco-Flemish Roman Catholic Diocese of Cambrai , Zeeland got its own bishopric, the Diocese of Middelburg , on 5 December 1559, which was suppressed in 1603, its territory being merged into the Apostolic Vicariate of Batavia , only to be 'restored' on 22 March 1803 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Breda , which was promoted to the present large (yet counting few faithful) Diocese of Breda, whose See

3304-578: The water systems. For example, the tides disappeared, which resulted in a less smooth transition from sea water into fresh water. Flora and fauna suffered from this noticeable change. In addition, rivers got covered up by polluted sludge, since there was no longer an open passage to the sea. The projects of the Delta Plan are financed with the Delta Fund. In 1958, when the Delta law was accepted under

3363-490: The western coastal region of Zeelandic-Flanders, locally referred to as Bressiaans , resemble the West-Flemish dialects spoken across the border more than the dialects spoken around Terneuzen and Axel, which preserve more Zeelandic features while also exhibiting West-Flemish features. Although these similarities are greater than those between Zeelandic and Hollandic dialects, there are some minor dialectal influences in

3422-547: The youngsters still speak Zeelandic. On the other hand, in several villages with much immigration, the local dialect is spoken only by adults, as children are no longer taught it. A lobby for recognising the Zeelandic regional language under the European Charter for Minority Languages was, as of 2005, unable to achieve that status. [REDACTED] Media related to Zeelandic language at Wikimedia Commons Delta Works The Delta Works ( Dutch : Deltawerken )

3481-778: Was to shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the number of dikes that had to be raised. Along with the Zuiderzee Works , the Delta Works have been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers . Due to indecision and the Second World War , little action was taken. In 1950 two small estuary mouths, the Brielse Gat near Brielle and

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