Provinces of the Netherlands
Almost all Dutch provinces came from a medieval state, like a county or duchy. This is the same with the regions of Belgium. Their status changed once they came under the influence of a ruler. This single ruler then centralised their administration. They then became provinces of a larger state. In total there are 17 provinces today. From these unified Netherlands, seven northern provinces formed the Republic of the Seven United Provinces in the 16th century. These were Holland, Zeeland, Gelderland, Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel and Groningen. The Republic's lands also included Drenthe (one of the 17, but without the autonomous status of the others), and parts of Brabant, Limburg and Flanders, which were considered to be "conquered lands" and were governed directly by the Staten-Generaal, the parliament. From this came their name Generality Lands. They were called Staats-Brabant, Staats-Limburg and Staats-Vlaanderen, meaning "of the state". Each of these "Netherlands" had a high degree of autonomy. They co-operated with each other mainly on defense and on the international level in general. They kept to their own affairs elsewhere.