Considering how much of the country is on. If you are dissatisfied with the website or any content or materials on it, your sole exclusive remedy is to discontinue your use of the website. Listen on Apple Podcasts. Emily grew up in South Africa but has also lived in Egypt, the UK, Canada and now the Netherlands. It turns out a combination of geography and land reclamation from the sea is the source of the ruler-straight horizon. The country is indeed low-lying and remarkably flat, with large expanses of lakes, rivers, and canals. Is the Netherlands doing enough to save itself from climate change? Along the coasts, land was reclaimed from the sea, and, in the interior, lakes and marshes were drained, especially alongside … The complete explainer, It turns out a combination of geography and, Most of the Netherlands consists of naturally flat plains of low-lying land — hence, lands. Immense damage was caused to areas in the provinces of South Holland, Zeeland, and North Brabant. Sometimes the people won, sometimes it was the sea. The Dutch have to devise the most ingenious ways of fighting the sea to survive. We noticed you have an ad blocker on. In order to create extra living space and agricultural land, a whole new province has been reclaimed from the water: Flevoland. You may have heard that much of the Netherlands is built on sinking ground, and unfortunately, this is true. Land reclamation in the Netherlands has a long history. Reclaiming land is nothing new in China. Terms of Service apply. © 2019 All Rights Reserved. Climate change is also contributing to the nation’s downward direction. Afterward, they might taste one of the many varieties of cheese for which the nation is famous. He says that requires digging out a 13-by-13-foot ditch, putting in posts, and making a platform. As the summers become increasingly warm, the clay-rich land dries faster and thus sinks faster. The seawater was then pumped out of the polders using windmills, and plants were used to stabilize the ground. The continuous drainage that is required to keep parts of the country dry — now done by pumping stations rather than windmills — is causing the land to sink up to seven millimetres per year. If you have found material on this website which is copyrighted by others, please contact the webmaster on this matter in order to have it removed. Once she convinced her neighbor to pay for a consultation, the contractor discovered the entire block would need to be reinforced within the next two years. In June, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management sent a letter to parliament requesting a “government-wide” approach to the problem. This piece was originally published in Undark and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. Most of the Netherlands consists of naturally flat plains of low-lying land — hence Nether-lands. And that has not always been the case! The Netherlands is mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders). More construction results in more pressing down of the peat — and more subsidence. We're constantly hunting for the latest, greatest, and most Dutch spots for our readers. About half of the land in the Netherlands is below sea level, but polders and dikes make more land available and less prone to flooding for the growing country. Land reclamation in the Netherlands has had a long history. For the past 2,000 years, the Dutch have employed ever-increasing ingenuity to not only hold back the sea, but to annex land from the North Sea. When I take a train from Belgium or Germany back into the Netherlands, I know I’m over the border when suddenly the horizon begins to stretch for hundreds of kilometers in front of me, completely undisturbed by hills or mountains. Unfortunately, you also need to consider depth. A whopping 17% of land in the Netherlands used to be under the sea with the fish! T ourists visiting the Netherlands often stop to take selfies in front of one of the country’s more than 1,000 windmills. Immense damage was caused to areas in the provinces of South Holland, Zeeland, and North Brabant. Aparthotel Adagio — have a long-stay in luxury (at an affordable price), The Dutch curfew declaration form: all you need to know if you have to be out late, Dutch parliament passes curfew: here’s all you need to know about the “avondklok”. Around 500 B.C., inhabitants began constructing artificial hills, called terpen, which allowed the population to grow and settlements to become more permanent. The Netherlands is one of Europe's most densely populated countries, with more than one thousand people living on every square mile. But the Room for the Water project has received some scepticism too. If we go back some centuries, the Netherlands of that time looked completely different from the present day. As early as in the 14th century the first reclaimed land had been settled. It is estimated that 40% of the Netherlands lies below sea-level. Since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) sediments have been trapped from rivers or from the coast to make more land for farming, salt production, and aquaculture. In addition, the country has one of the highest population densities in Europe. In Vondelpark — Amsterdam’s answer to Central Park — municipal government workers measure tipping trees every day to predict when they are going to fall over as a result of sinking and rotting, says Geerten Kalter, a tree expert. These areas were called, . > Is the Netherlands still reclaiming land? Researchers, including Erkens, will undertake a five-year nationwide study to determine how fast the land is sinking. Some 2,500 square miles (6,500 square km) of the Netherlands consist of reclaimed land, the result of a process of careful water management dating back to medieval times. The western region is also the most densely populated, with an estimated 9 million people, or more than half the country’s population. Last year, the Dutch announced their first overall assessment of the issue. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. Surinamese food in the Netherlands: have you tried these dishes? If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2021 demands. In the southeast, the land is higher and there are some hills. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. Coming from a mountainous country, the very sight of it makes the cogs in my brain twitch — how is the Netherlands so flat!? So, after puzzling for days, I went and found out. If those pilings become exposed to air, they rot. But the Room for the Water project has received some scepticism too. On a national level, at least four ministries are involved. Four major rivers (the Rhine, the Meuse, the Scheldt and the Eems) flow into the Netherlands and drain into the Wadden and North Seas via the Dutch coastline. In the first century AD, Pliny the Elder described inland farmers constructing dams in tidal creeks to protect their land against high water. Elsewhere in the world, reclamation has been done out of the increasing shortage of urban land. Homes were demolished and people displaced, and some fear that with rising sea levels, this will be the fate of many Dutch areas in the future. Despite this disruption of the land, the Netherlands still has an extraordinary archaeological and historical record. The participants include a few of the most impacted cities in the country, as well as national insurance companies and banks. All material on this website (DutchReview) is strictly copyright and all rights reserved. At a certain point, building foundations begin to crack, sinkholes appear, roads destabilize, and the risk of flooding increases. “The Netherlands has been building here for 1,000 years,” says Niezen. Polder ground is rich in clay, fertile, and yes, very flat. It was caused by a storm from the North Sea and killed over 2,100 people. From a magnitude perspective, that comparison actually makes it seem feasible. But most are unaware that these two icons of the Netherlands are responsible for causing the nation’s land to sink. In the last century gaining land from water peaked with the IJsselmeerpolders, made possible by technical innovations. Learn how your comment data is processed. This includes major cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Delft. The surface area of Macau has been increased 1,000% with artificial land. By 1250, the country had created a connected system of sea and river dikes. Now, that is true that The Netherlands is famous for reclaiming land, and the reason lies in its name (Netherlands = “low lands”). Concerns have arisen over how sustainable the Room for the Water strategy really is. Older houses were built on wooden piling which is now rotting, often costing millions of euros to replace. The name Holland is also frequently used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Crossref. Considering how much of the country is on polder land, the nation sure is pumping a lot of money, brainpower and water into keeping its cities dry. Making Holland a safe country was not easy: the Dutch had to fight for almost every square metre of land. skills when it comes to water. What do you need to know about the Netherlands? By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. Floods are catastrophic events that make the evening news and require government inquiries, but the slow drop of the ground level doesn’t draw the same attention. So now you know: the Netherlands is flat because of both natural geography and land reclamation. Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency predicts around €5.2 billion will be needed to restore weak foundations by 2050. Inexpensive, too! How the Dutch reclaimed land from the sea. The three border region of Vaals, where the Netherlands meets Germany and Belgium, is the highest point of the country — but it’s still only 323 meters high. Hong Kong has been reclaiming land since the 1860s. Some of the houses needed entirely new foundations, and the project ended up costing $1.3 million at current exchange rates. All Rights Reserved. Regionally, water management is controlled by water boards, which are elected bodies. The Dutch have gas fields in the northern part of the country, and gas extraction has been responsible for problems such as earthquakes. Around 17% of the country’s current land area has been reclaimed from the sea or lakes. “We can’t just keep building higher levees, because we will end up living behind 10-metre walls,” senior government advisor Harold van Waveren told the New York Times. In this way, the Dutch hope to continue to do what they have always done best — that is, to live with water rather than fight against it. Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. , once a thriving farm region in the southwest of the Netherlands, is now only a watery marshland after it was designated as a flood-catchment zone for the project. In June 2018, the Dutch government released a draft climate agreement, as required to meet the goals of the 2016 United Nations Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Generally, this occurs for three reasons: extraction of natural resources like water or gas; added weight from the construction of buildings and roads; and ground water drainage, which in the Netherlands exposes the peat to air and causes it to break down through oxidation. “Then you can plant the tree on top,” he says. A report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency predicts around €5.2 billion will be needed to restore weak foundations by 2050. More than 40 years ago, the Dutch government planned to reclaim land from the Markermeer through this dredging process to increase Flevoland’s habitable … It was caused by a storm from the North Sea and killed over 2,100 people. Almost the entire province of Flevoland was created by the Dutch by reclaiming the land from the sea! The continuous drainage that is required to keep parts of the country dry — now done by pumping stations rather than windmills — is causing the land to sink up to, This can cause huge problems for Dutch infrastructure, like cracking foundations, destabilized roads, sinkholes and an increased risk of flooding. Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $12. It's us but for your ears. land, the nation sure is pumping a lot of money, brainpower and water into keeping its cities dry. But so far, further action hasn’t been taken. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. That disaster led to the development of the Delta Works, a hugely successful series of national construction projects that created the world’s largest storm barrier. “We don’t know who takes the lead,” says van den Born, noting that the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality has more recently begun taking responsibility. While the system keeps Dutch feet dry, as the local saying goes, there has been much less focus on keeping the land from sinking. These areas were called polders. Coevert herself owed approximately $52,000, none of which was covered by insurance. “Climate change was a game changer,” says van den Born. Over time, the Dutch have developed a sophisticated water management system to which the rest of the world regularly turns to address similar issues in their own countries. Older houses were built on wooden piling which is now rotting, often costing millions of euros to replace. It’s also why much of Holland is so flat. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and The sinking can occur naturally: Around 0.03 millimeters per year — roughly three times the thickness of a piece of paper — is a normal result of plate movement in most places, according to Gilles Erkens, a senior geologist and subsidence expert at Deltares, a research institute focusing on water management. How exactly the Dutch achieved this is truly impressive. It is called Maasvlakte 2 . The Dutch agreement aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 49 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. “There’s a limit to how low you can go,” says Niezen. In this way, the Dutch hope to continue to do what they have always done best — that is, to live with water rather than fight against it. Already, a few old canals and quays in Amsterdam have collapsed. *. Three stages in the history of land reclamation in the Netherlands ... Yun Yuan, Evacuating offshore working barges from a land reclamation site in storm emergencies, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 10.1016/j.tre.2020.101902, 137, (101902), (2020). Four major rivers (the, Rhine, the Meuse, the Scheldt and the Eems). A crazy 21% of the 17-million Netherlanders reside quite blissfully in what used to be water. Stealing this land back to build entire cities is one of the many reasons the. The Netherlands is known for its very low lying topography and reclaimed land called polders. The website may provide links to other websites on the Internet, the content of which is not in our control. Are you impressed by amazing Dutch innovation? It’s also why much of Holland is so flat. Unlike some politicians with *cough* bleached cats for toupees *cough*, the Dutch government does not ignore, “We can’t just keep building higher levees, because we will end up living behind 10-metre walls,” senior government advisor, Harold van Waveren told the New York Times, . “If people may no longer live in their house due to safety reasons, they still have to pay their mortgage,” she says. The following video has some great animations to show you this process: You’ll wet your pants if you think about this too much but yes, 27% of the country lies below sea level (meaning about 10% of the Netherlands was already below sea level before land reclamation). It’s also unclear who is ultimately responsible. Many buildings constructed before 1975 were built on wooden pilings beneath their brick foundations. The lowest point in the country currently sits at nearly 22 feet below sea level. The Netherlands uses the empoldering method to reclaim land. The area of. Building on the city hall in Gouda started in 1448. We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget. You can see a gif of this process below: And here’s a map showing during what time period each area was reclaimed: Here are a few more facts about land area of the Netherlands: 26% of its area is … Holland is a region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. It's been said that the highest things in The Netherlands are the cows! The Delta Works in the southwest of the country are one of the largest systems of dikes, locks, and storm barriers built to protect the Netherlands. indicating areaswon from the sea since 1200 AD and from drained lakes since 1600 AD. At the moment, however, it is unclear which government agency is responsible for preventing further subsidence. You may have heard that much of the Netherlands is built on sinking ground, and unfortunately, this is true. We haven’t done any mitigation of land subsidence.”. flow into the Netherlands and drain into the Wadden and North Seas via the Dutch coastline. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for omissions and errors. Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in September 2020 and was fully updated in December 2020 for your reading pleasure. Although the Netherlands are known as “Holland” around the world, Southern and Northern Holland are actually two of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. That accounts for a large part of overall CO2 emissions in the agricultural sector. ground is rich in clay, fertile, and yes, very flat. What’s the difference between Holland and the Netherlands? Now working on land subsidence issues for the city, Coevert says “there are around 20,000 houses in Rotterdam that will likely need this work done in the next 10 to 15 years.” Costs can reach as high as $111,000, per home. Partly in response to Coevert’s advocacy, the government temporarily reinstated more favorable terms for the loan program. “In 100 years, sea level rise as a result of climate change is a bigger problem for the Netherlands,” says Erkens. Afterward, they might taste one of the many varieties of cheese for which the nation is famous. Stealing this land back to build entire cities is one of the many reasons the Dutch are renowned for their engineering skills when it comes to water. Here are 5 great Dutch novels — that are fully translated in English! In 1953, the Netherlands experienced a flood that killed more than 1,800 people. And with the … For centuries, the Netherlands has been battling with water: with dikes, waterworks and reclamation projects. Older houses are especially vulnerable. However, if not for the extensive waterworks, 65 percent of the Netherlands would be flooded permanently. The Netherlands has a centuries-long tradition of reclaiming land. But now more people are noticing. It constitutes the flat, low-lying northwestern portion of the modern country. If you’ve ever found yourself looking to the Dutch horizon wondering how on earth the Netherlands is so flat, you’re not alone. Brainpower and water management is controlled by water boards, which are to. Time I comment what ’ is the netherlands still reclaiming land also why much of the many varieties of cheese for which the nation is! Out a 13-by-13-foot ditch, putting in posts, and North Seas via the by... Stand up to 4,634 metres above sea level for agricultural use catch in. Reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget predicts around €5.2 billion be! Would be flooded permanently investigative journalism called polders this website ( DutchReview ) strictly. Far there has been reclaimed from the sea Dutch announced their first overall Assessment of the has. 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