Historical map of the Netherlands (1658) with De Zuyder Zee'

The Zuiderzee (pronounced /ˌzaɪdɚ ˈzeɪ]/, Dutch: Zuiderzee, pronounced [ˈzœydərzeː]) was a shallow inlet of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 meters and a coastline of about 300 km. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water often leading to an enclosed body of water such as a sound, bay, The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands It covered 5,000 km². (2,000 square miles). Its name means "southern sea" in Dutch, indicating that the origin of the name can be found in Friesland to the north of the Zuiderzee (also see North Sea). Friesland ( West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea (leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea) and the salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake called the IJsselmeer (IJssel-lake) after the river that drains into it. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The Wadden Sea ( Vadehavet, Waddenzee, Wattenmeer, Low German: Wattensee, West Frisian: Waadsee IJsselmeer (sometimes translated as Lake IJssel, alternative international spelling Lake Yssel) is a shallow lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands River IJssel (ˈɛi̯səl sometimes called Gelderse IJssel (" Gelderland IJssel" to avoid confusion with its Hollandse IJssel namesake The river IJssel is an estuary branch of the river Rhine (Dutch: Rijn). The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge

History and disasters

Approximate landscape in North Holland during the 1st century AD (left) and the 10th century AD (right)

In classical times there was already a body of water in this location, called Lacus Flevo ("Flevo Lake") by Roman authors. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial It was much smaller than its later forms and its connection to the main sea was much narrower; it may have been a complex of lakes and marshes and channels, rather than one lake. Over time these lakes gradually eroded their soft peat shores and spread. Peat is an accumulation of partially Decayed Vegetation matter. The word waterwolf is a Dutch word for the tendency of Lakes in low-lying peaty land to enlarge by flooding and eroding their shores aided sometimes by men digging Some part of this area of water was later called the Vlie; it probably flowed into the sea through what is now the Vliestroom channel between the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. Vlieland ( Flylân is a Municipality in the northern Netherlands. Terschelling ( Skylge Terschelling dialect: Schylge) is a Municipality and an Island in the northern Netherlands, one The Marsdiep was once a river (fluvium Maresdeop) which may have been a distributary of the Vlie. The Marsdiep is a deep tide-race between Den Helder and Texel in the Netherlands, and running southwards between Sandbanks That gap connects A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a Stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. During the early Middle Ages this began to change as rising sea levels and storms started to eat away at the coastal areas which consisted mainly of peatlands. This is a chronological list of floods that have occurred in the Netherlands, till 1500 most parts of the Netherlands were in Frisia. In this period the inlet was referred to as the Almere, indicating it was still more of a lake, but when the mouth and size of the inlet were much widened in the 12th century and es pecially after a disastrous flood in 1282 broke through the barrier dunes near Texel, the name "Zuiderzee"' came into general usage. Texel is a municipality and an Island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The disaster was the making of the little village of Amsterdam, for sea-going traffic could now make it a rendezvous for the Baltic trade. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude.

The size of this inland sea remained largely stable from the 15th century onwards due to improvements in dikes, but when storms pushed North Sea water into the inlet, the Zuiderzee became a volatile cauldron of water, frequently resulting in flooding and the loss of ships. LeveeEmbankmentDitch A dike (or dyke) levee, levée, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial For example, on November 18, 1421, a seawall at the Zuider Zee dike broke, which flooded 72 villages and killed about 10,000 people. Events 326 - The old St Peter's Basilica is consecrated 1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull A seawall is a form of hard and strong Coastal defence constructed on the inland part of a Coast to reduce the effects of strong Waves. This was the Second St. Elizabeth's Flood: see Sint-Elisabethsvloed (1421). The St Elizabeth's flood of 1421 was a Flooding of an area in what is now the Netherlands. An even more massive flood occurred December 14, 1287, when the seawalls broke during a storm, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in the fifth largest flood in recorded history: see St. Lucia's flood. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people St Lucia's flood ( Sint-Luciavloed) was a massive Flood that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287

Geography and development

Landsat photo

Around the Zuiderzee many fishing villages grew up and several developed into walled towns with extensive trade connections, in particular Kampen, a town in Overijssel, and later also towns in Holland such as Amsterdam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen. Kampen is a Municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. Overijssel (Transiselania is a Province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. A maritime and economic power in the 17th century Holland today consists of the Dutch provinces of Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west Hoorn ( West Frisian: Hoorn) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Enkhuizen ( West Frisian: Inghúze is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region These towns traded at first with ports on the Baltic Sea, in England, and in the Hanseatic League, but later also with the rest of the world, when the Netherlands established its colonial empire. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hansa) was an alliance of trading cities and their Guilds that established and maintained trade The Dutch Empire was the territories controlled by The Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century When that lucrative trade diminished, most of the towns fell back on fishing and some industry until the 20th century when tourism became the major source of income. Trade is the willing exchange of goods, services, or both Trade is also called Commerce. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Contained within the Zuiderzee were four small islands, the remains of what were once larger islands or peninsulas connected to the mainland. A peninsula is a piece of land that is nearly surrounded by Water but connected to Mainland via an Isthmus. Mainland is usually the Continental part of a region as opposed to the Islands nearby These were Wieringen, Urk, Schokland, and Marken. Wieringen is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Urk ( is a Municipality and a Town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Schokland (mun Noordoostpolder) is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee. Marken ( pop 1846 in 2004 is a peninsula in the IJsselmeer, the Netherlands, located in the municipality Waterland in the province North Holland The inhabitants of these islands also subsisted mainly on fishing and related industries and still do in the case of Urk and Wieringen. All of these islands are now part of the mainland or connected to it.

Map of the Zuiderzeeworks in the Netherlands

The construction in the early 20th century of a large enclosing dam (the Afsluitdijk) tamed the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee Works (Zuiderzeewerken are a human-made system of Dams Land reclamation and water drainage works and the largest Hydraulic engineering The Afsluitdijk ( English: Closure Dike Frisian: Ofslútdyk is a major dike in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and The creation of this dam was a response to the flood of January 1916. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Plans for closing the Zuiderzee had been made over thirty years earlier but had not yet passed in parliament. The States-General ( Staten-Generaal) is the Parliament of the Netherlands. With the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the Zuiderzee became the IJsselmeer, and large areas of water could be reclaimed for farming and housing. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. IJsselmeer (sometimes translated as Lake IJssel, alternative international spelling Lake Yssel) is a shallow lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands These areas, known as polders, were respectively the Wieringermeer, the Noordoostpolder, and Flevoland. A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity meaning it has no connection with Wieringermeer is a municipality and a Polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Noordoostpolder ( is a Municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on This enormous project under the direction of Cornelis Lely, called the Zuiderzeeworks, ran from 1919 to 1986, culminating in the creation of the new province of Flevoland. Cornelis Lely ( September 23 1854, Amsterdam - January 22 1929, The Hague) was a Dutch civil Engineer The Zuiderzee Works (Zuiderzeewerken are a human-made system of Dams Land reclamation and water drainage works and the largest Hydraulic engineering Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on The reclamation project was originally intended to reclaim the former southwestern portion of the Zuiderzee, a body of water now known as the Markermeer, but this final stage of the reclamation project was indefinitely postponed in the 1980s. The Markermeer is a 700 km² Lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland and its larger sibling the IJsselmeer

External links

• The Zuiderzee Museum (www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl), dedicated to the history and culture of the former Zuiderzee.

Multimedia

• CBC Archives Matthew Halton of CBC Radio (April 19th 1945) reports on German destruction of the sea walls. Matthew Henry Halton ( September 7, 1904 - December 3, 1956) was a Canadian television journalist most famous as a foreign correspondent

Coordinates: 52°50′N 5°20′E / 52.833, 5.333 donal o h