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EUROPE PAGE
NETHERLANDS PAGE
NETHERLANDS: 
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Landforms
Landforms
The Netherlands is a very flat country with almost 25% of its land at, or below sea level.
Low rolling hills cover some of the central area, and in the far south, the land rises into the foothills of the Ardennes Mountains. Vaalserberg, the country's highest point is located there, rising to 322 m (1,053 ft).
Over many centuries severe floods devastated the Netherlands, killing tens of thousands. Determined to save their homeland and reclaim it from the sea, the Dutch used countless windmills to pump water out of low-lying areas. They constructed man-made hills (polders), raising the level of farms and villages. In the early 1930's the damming off the sea efforts continued when the Afsluitdijk (dike) was built.
In 1953, extremely high water (once again) caused nearly 2,000 deaths, mostly in the southern reaches of the country (Zeeland). Subsequently the country needed a major change, and so began the Delta Project.
The plan (project) was to construct a large series of outer sea-dikes, and inner canal and river dikes to protect this fragile land from disastrous flooding brought on by the constant pressures applied to it by the North Sea. All would be supported by gigantic pumping stations designed to control and protect ground water levels.
Today nearly 50% of the land here remains just above sea level. The massive and costly Delta project and other engineering marvels have to date prevented the North Sea from doing any significant (additional) damage. However, climate change and rising waters could prove daunting to the Netherlands in the future.
Stretched along the northern coastline, the West Frisian Islands continue on to the northeast, becoming the German East Frisian Islands. These barrier islands, separated from the mainland by the Waddenzee, provide a small level of protection from the North Sea.
The Netherlands is crossed by hundreds of miles of navigable canals. One of the most important is the North Sea Canal, as it enables ocean-going ships to reach the port of Amsterdam. Satellite picture here!
Water, water everywhere, as the central and southern Netherlands are positioned at the delta of four major rivers, including the Rijn, Mass, Scheldt and Waal.
The countrys largest lakes, Ijsselmeer and Markermeer are both manmade, created by dikes.
Bodies of Water of Europe here!
Landforms of Europe here!
Rivers of Europe here!
Land Statistics convert (kilometers to miles, meters to feet) here Coastline 451 km
Land Area
(land) 33,883 sq km
(water) 7,643 sq km
(TOTAL) 41,526 sq km
Land Area (all countries)
here!
Horizontal Width 164 km - from The Hague, directly east to the German border
Vertical Length 262 km - from Leeuwarden directly south to Maastricht
Note: Length and width examples are point-to-point, straight-line measurements from a Mercator map projection, and will vary some using other map projections Bordering Countries (2) Belgium and Germany
Provinces (12)
The Netherlands is divided into 12 provinces, or administrative regions, including: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland and Zuid-Holland.
Map of Netherlands' Provinces here!
Province (largest by pop.) South Holland, 3,458,8752 Province (largest by size) Gelderland, 4,974 sq km
 Highest Point Vaalserberg, at 322 meters
 Lowest Point Zuidplaspolder, at -7 meters
Latitude and Longitude here!
Relative Location here!
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