Geography of the European Netherlands of land to reflect a change in course of the river Meuse (or Maas, in Dutch). The land swap is to take effect as of 2018. With their provinces in 2018: Geography of the European Netherlands The geography of the Netherlands in Europe is unusual in that much of its land has been reclaimed from the sea and is below sea level, protected by dikes. Another factor that has influenced its physical appearance is that the country is among the most densely populated on Earth. It is ranked 30th overall on that scale, but is behind only three countries having
Delta Works future demands. The latest upgrades are made under 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 a large freshwater lake, the "" (Zeeland Lake). This would have caused major environmental