Flevoland 4.54

Flevoland is the twelfth province of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the country, where the former Zuiderzee was.Flevoland was established on 1 January 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders were merged into one province. Almost all of the land belonging to the province was reclaimed only in the 1950s and 1960s.The province has about inhabitants and consists of 6 municipalities. Its capital is Lelystad.HistoryAfter a flood in 1916, it was decided that the Zuiderzee, an inland sea within the Netherlands, would be enclosed and reclaimed: the Zuiderzee Works started. Other sources indicate other times and reasons, but also agree that in 1932, the Afsluitdijk was completed, which closed off the sea completely. The Zuiderzee was subsequently called IJsselmeer (lake at the end of the river IJssel).The first part of the new lake that was reclaimed was the Noordoostpolder (Northeast polder) in 1939. This new land included the former islands of Urk and Schokland and it was included in the province of Overijssel. After this, other parts were reclaimed: the Southeastern part in 1957 and the Southwestern part in 1968. There was an important change in these post-war projects from the earlier Noordoostpolder reclamation: a narrow body of water was preserved along the old coast to stabilise the water table and to prevent coastal towns from losing their access to the sea. Thus Flevopolder became an artificial island joined to the mainland by bridges. The municipalities on the three parts voted to become a separate province, which happened in 1986.