Geography of the European Netherlands European part of the country can be split into two areas: the low and flat lands in the west and north, and the higher lands with minor hills in the east and south. The former, including the reclaimed polders and river deltas, make up about half of its surface area and are less than above sea level, much of it actually below sea level. An extensive range of seawalls and coastal dunes protect the Netherlands from the sea, and levees and dikes along the rivers protect against river flooding. The rest of the country is mostly flat; only in the
Land reclamation in Singapore after independence in 1965, Singapore benefitted from economic development programs, which both enabled and required significant land reclamation projects. Rapidly increasing demand for industrial, infrastructural, commercial, and residential land resulted in projects that reclaimed hundreds of hectares (acres) at a time. The Jurong Industrial Estate began development in the early 1960s to meet industrial land needs, and by 1968 already housed 153 factories, with another 46 under construction. The original landscape of the region was greatly changed and is now restricted to the areas around the Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan. Also in the early 1960s, Singapore's central business district