As a result of these demographic characteristics, the Netherlands has had to plan its land use strictly. Since 1946 the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment has been occupied with the national coordination of land use. Because of its high population density the Netherlands has also reclaimed land from the sea by poldering. Between 1927 and 1968 an entire province, Flevoland was created. It currently (2015) houses more than 400,000 people. Because of these policies, the Dutch have been able to combine high levels of population density with extremely high levels of agricultural production.