Zeeland
- For the U.S. towns of the same name see Zeeland, Michigan and Zeeland, North Dakota respectively.
Zeeland is a province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands (hence its name 'Sealand' or (old) Zealand) and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. Its population is about 380,000 and its area is about 2930 kmē, of which almost 1140 kmē is water.
Large parts of Zeeland are below sealevel. The last great flooding of the area was in 1953.
Tourism is an important economic activity. Its sunny beaches make it a popular holiday destination in the summer. Most tourists are Germans. In some areas, the population quadruples in the summer.
Constituent parts
From north to south, it consists of The former island of Walcheren The former island of Zuid-Beveland The former island of Noord-Beveland The island of Tholen The former island of Sint-Philipsland The former island of Schouwen-Duiveland Part of the former island of Goeree-Overflakkee (province of South Holland) The mainland, part of the province of North Brabant Part of the region of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
- River Scheldt (in Belgium, near Antwerp)
- The Westerschelde estuary
- The Braakman bay (now dammed off)
- The Ghent-Terneuzen Canal
- The Sloe strait which once separated Walcheren from Zuid-Beveland (now the port area of Flushing)
- The Veerse Meer (Lake Veere)
- The Zandkreek strait
- The Scheldt-Rhine Canal
- The Oosterschelde estuary, once a branch of River Scheldt; in the west Neeltje-Jans
- The Eendracht, once a branch of River Scheldt, now a section of the Scheldt-Rhine Canal
- The Keeten-Mastgat strait
- The Krabbenkreek strait
- The Krammer strait
- Lake Grevelingen
- The North Sea
Municipalities
A list of the municipalities, with links to maps: See also:Delta Works There is one passenger railway, line 12, here with municipalities and official station abbreviations:
Vlissingen (vs, vss) - Middelburg (mdb, arn) - Goes (gs) - Kapelle (bzl) - Reimerswaal (krg, kbd, rb) - connecting to Bergen op Zoom (bgn) (Noord-Brabant). Bus connections (of Connexxion, except # 395) include: bus 133: Vlissingen - Middelburg - Vrouwenpolder - Oosterscheldedam - Renesse - Zierikzee - Grevelingendam - connecting to Oude-Tonge, Rotterdam-ZuidpleinInterliner Express bus 395: Zierikzee - (Grevelingendam) - connecting to Rotterdam-Zuidpleinbus 104: Renesse - Brouwersdam - connecting to Ouddorp - Spijkenissebus 20 and 50: see Westerschelde.
Zeeland and New Zealand
The country of New Zealand was originally
named Nieuw-Zeeland after this province by the Dutch.
The country is at least one order of magnitude larger than the province and has about 10 times the population. The name "New Zealand" is only one
letter away from the literal translation to English: New Sealand. The Z was
possibly retained to partially preserve the Dutch pronuncation. Note. Not to be confused with Zealand, Denmark.
External links (note the years, there have been changes as of January 2003!)
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