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
Flood control in the Netherlands these waters. The Zuiderzee Works (Zuiderzeewerken) are a system of dams, land reclamation, and water drainage works. The basis of the project was the damming off of the Zuiderzee, a large shallow inlet of the North Sea. This dam, called the Afsluitdijk, was built in 1932–33, separating the Zuiderzee from the North Sea. As result, the Zuider "sea" became the IJsselmeer—IJssel lake. Following the damming, large areas of land were reclaimed in the newly freshwater lake body by means of polders. The works were performed in several steps from 1920 to 1975. Engineer Cornelis Lely played a major part in