Map of the Week – Plan to drain the South Sea, 1891-1892

In 1891, Cornelis Lely came up with a plan to claim more land from the sea. His ambitious plan involved building a dike between North Holland and Friesland to close off the Zuiderzee [South Sea]. That would make it possible to reclaim large sections of land and create a fresh water lake, the IJsselmeer. This plan formed the basis of a major water engineering project carried out in the first half of the 1900s. In 1932, the dike was completed. The southern (Flevopolder) and eastern (Noordoost … [Read more...]

Flevoland

Flevoland is the youngest province of the Netherlands and consists almost entirely of land reclaimed from the sea. It borders on Friesland and Overijssel in the east, Gelderland and Utrecht in the south, Noord-Holland and the IJsselmeer in the west and the IJsselmeer in the north.The capital city of Flevoland is Lelystad. Other larger towns are:AlmereDrontenEmmeloord … [Read more...]