The Hoekse Waard (; pre-1947 spelling: Hoeksche Waard) is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

between the

Oude Maas The Oude Maas (; en, Old Meuse) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noo ...

, Dordtsche Kil,

Hollands Diep Hollands Diep ( pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a wide river in the Netherlands and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp. The Bergse Maas river and the N ...

Haringvliet The Haringvliet is a large inlet of the North Sea, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is an important estuary of the Rhine-Meuse delta. Near Numansdorp, the Hollands Diep splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak e ...

and

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

s in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The island, part of the namesake municipality of

Hoeksche Waard The Hoekse Waard (; pre-1947 spelling: Hoeksche Waard) is an island between the Oude Maas, Dordtsche Kil, Hollands Diep, Haringvliet and Spui rivers in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The island, part of the namesake muni ...

, is a mostly

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

region, south of the outskirts of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

. The Hoeksche Waard consists of reclaimed land (

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

s): after the Saint Elisabeth flood of 1421 most of the area was flooded. The land has been reclaimed gradually in the following centuries.

Former municipalities

The Hoeksche Waard formerly consisted of the following

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

until these were merged on 1 January 2019: *

Binnenmaas Binnenmaas () was a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. It is named after the lake of the same name. The municipality wa ...

(villages

Blaaksedijk Blaaksedijk is a hamlet on a dike in the Dutch province of South Holland. The village lies in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard (formerly Binnenmaas). Blaaksedijk lies between Puttershoek, Mijnsheerenland and Heinenoord. Blaaksedijk is consider ...

Heinenoord Heinenoord is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland on the island Hoekse Waard. It is located about 10 km south of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard.Goidschalxoord,

Maasdam Maasdam is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 14 km south of the city of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, on the rural Hoeksche Waard island. From the 14th Century until around 1800, Maa ...

Mijnsheerenland Mijnsheerenland is a village and a former municipality on the Hoeksche Waard island in the Dutch province of South Holland with 4,435 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2006). It is located on the shores of the ''Binnenbedijkte Maas'' (Lake Binnenmaas ...

Puttershoek Puttershoek is a village and former municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located on the banks of the Oude Maas, on the island Hoeksche Waard, in the province of South Holland. On 1 January 1984, the municipality of Puttershoek was merg ...

Westmaas Westmaas () is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 14 km south of the city of Rotterdam, next to Mijnsheerenland in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard.'s-Gravendeel s-Gravendeel () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. 's-Gravendeel is on the eastern side of Hoeksche Waard Island on the river Dordtsche Kil. It is connected to Dordrecht by means of th ...

) *

Cromstrijen Cromstrijen (; ''Cromstrien'' in local dialect) was a municipality on the Hoeksche Waard Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It was formed on 1 January 1984, ...

(villages

Klaaswaal Klaaswaal is a village and former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is centrally located on one of the island Hoeksche Waard. Klaaswaal was a separate municipality until 1984, when it was merged with Numansdorp to form the ...

and

Numansdorp Numansdorp is a town and former municipality in the province South Holland in the Netherlands and is located on the island Hoeksche Waard near the Hollands Diep. On 1 January 1984, the municipalities Numansdorp and Klaaswaal were merged into on ...

) *

Korendijk Korendijk () was a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of of which was water. With the municipal reorganization of the Hoeksche Waard on 1 January 1984, the municipality o ...

(villages

Goudswaard Goudswaard is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland, located on the westernmost tip of the Hoeksche Waard, approximately 6 km south-west of Spijkenisse. Goudswaard was a separate municipality from 1817 until 1984, when it was merged ...

Nieuw-Beijerland Nieuw-Beijerland is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, and lies about 3 km south of Spijkenisse. History The village was first mentioned in 1773 as Nieuw Beierland, and is n ...

Piershil Piershil is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, and lies about 5 km south of Spijkenisse. History The village was first mentioned in 1452 as "vidimus Piershille", and mean ...

and

Zuid-Beijerland Zuid-Beijerland is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard, and lies about 10 km south of Spijkenisse. The village was originally called Den Hitsert. The current name was first use ...

, and the island of

Tiengemeten Tiengemeten is an island in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard and lies about south of Spijkenisse. Before 1984 the island was administratively split between Goudswaard and Zuid-Beijerland, and ...

) *

Oud-Beijerland Oud-Beijerland () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, now a part of the Hoeksche Waard municipality. With a population of 24,575 in 2020, it is the most populous town of the Hoeksche Waar ...

Strijen Strijen () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality, covering an area of of which is water, is located on the Hoeksche Waard island along the Hollands Diep estuary. On 1 Ja ...

(villages Cillaarshoek,

Mookhoek Mookhoek is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland and is part of the municipality of Hoeksche Waard. Mookhoek lies 2.5 km from the town Strijen. Until 1984 Mookhoek belonged to the former municipality Maasdam Maasdam is a vill ...

, Strijen and

Strijensas Strijensas is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 12 km southwest of the city of Dordrecht, in the municipality of Hoeksche Waard. The village was first mentioned in 1617 as "'t Sas van Stryen", and means "t ...

)

Surrounding waters

The Hoeksche Waard is separated: *from IJsselmonde island on the north by the

(tunnel) *from

Voorne-Putten Voorne-Putten is an island between the North Sea, the Brielse Meer and the rivers Oude Maas, Spui and Haringvliet in the province of South Holland. Voorne-Putten consists of the two former islands Voorne (the larger, western part) and Pu ...

island on the west by the

(ferry) *from the island of

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after ...

on the east by the Dordtsche Kil (tunnel) *from

Goeree-Overflakkee Goeree-Overflakkee () is the southernmost delta island of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is separated from Voorne-Putten and Hoeksche Waard by the Haringvliet, from the mainland of North Brabant by the Volkerak, and from Schou ...

island on the southwest by the

(bridge) *from the Province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to t ...

on the southeast by the

(bridge)

References

External link

{{Coord, 51.78, 4.35, display=title * Islands of South Holland Islands of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Regions of South Holland Regions of the Netherlands