Neeltje Jans () is an

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

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 ...

in the province of

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

, halfway between

Noord-Beveland Noord-Beveland (; "North Beveland") is a municipality and region in the southwestern Netherlands and a former island, now part of the Walcheren-Zuid-Beveland-Noord-Beveland peninsula. Noord-Beveland is enclosed by the Oosterschelde estuary to the ...

and

Schouwen-Duiveland Schouwen-Duiveland () is a municipality and an island in the southwestern Netherlands province of Zeeland. The municipality has 33,737 inhabitants (1 January 2016) and covers an area of (of which is water). The northside of the island has two fi ...

in the

Oosterschelde The Eastern Scheldt ( nl, Oosterschelde) is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It also features the largest national ...

. It was constructed to facilitate the construction of the

Oosterscheldedam The Oosterscheldekering ( English: Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier), between the islands Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, is the largest of the Delta Works, a series of dams and storm surge barriers, designed to protect the Netherlands ...

. After the construction, a fun park with attractions and other various expositions were built on the island, which are now connected to the shore through the dam. Another addition of the island is a nature reserve. The

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 island ...

was named after a nearby

sand bank In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

. The name of this sandbank has two possible origins: * It could be named after a boat with the name Neeltje Jans, stranded on the sandbank. Neeltje is a Dutch first name (a diminutive from Cornelia or Neelie like in

Neelie Kroes Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014. Kroes studied Economics at t ...

). Jans is a familiar surname (meaning a son or daughter of Jan). *It could be named after a goddess of the sea,

Nehalennia Nehalennia (spelled variously) is a goddess of unclear origin, perhaps Germanic or Celtic. She is attested on and depicted upon numerous votive altars discovered around what is now the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, where the Schelde River ...

. The second stage of the

2015 Tour de France The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 4 July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and concluding on 26 July with the Champs-Élysées stage ...

finished on Neeltje Jans on 5 July 2015.

Gallery

File:Neeltje-Jans-Zeeland-2020-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Low altitude aerial view File:Oosterscheldekering (1).jpg, High altitude aerial view

References

External links

*
Official web site
* Artificial islands of the Netherlands Islands of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Islands of Zeeland Veere Walcheren {{zeeland-geo-stub