![Noordoostpolder by Sentinel-2, 2018-06-30](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Noordoostpolder_by_Sentinel-2%2C_2018-06-30.jpg)
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial
hydrological
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...
entity, enclosed by embankments known as
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
. The three types of polder are:
#
Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the
seabed
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'.
The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...
#
Flood plains
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
separated from the sea or river by a dike
#
Marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es separated from the surrounding water by a dike and subsequently drained; these are also known as ''
koog
A ''koog'' (plural: ''köge'') or ''groden'' is a type of polder found on the North Sea coast of Germany that is established by the construction of dykes enclosing the land which is then drained to form marshland. This type of land reclamation is ...
s'', especially in Germany
The ground level in drained marshes
subsides over time. All polders will eventually be below the surrounding water level some or all of the time. Water enters the low-lying polder through
infiltration
Infiltration may refer to:
Science, medicine, and engineering
*Infiltration (hydrology), downward movement of water into soil
*Infiltration (HVAC), a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning term for air leakage into buildings
*Infiltration (me ...
and water pressure of
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
, or rainfall, or transport of water by rivers and canals. This usually means that the polder has an excess of water, which is pumped out or drained by opening
sluices at
low tide. Care must be taken not to set the internal water level too low. Polder land made up of
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
(former marshland) will sink in relation to its previous level, because of peat decomposing when exposed to oxygen from the air.
Polders are at risk from flooding at all times, and care must be taken to protect the surrounding dikes. Dikes are typically built with locally available materials, and each material has its own risks: sand is prone to collapse owing to saturation by water; dry peat is lighter than water and potentially unable to retain water in very dry seasons. Some animals dig tunnels in the barrier, allowing water to infiltrate the structure; the
muskrat is known for this activity and hunted in certain European countries because of it. Polders are most commonly, though not exclusively, found in river deltas, former
fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...
lands, and coastal areas.
Flooding of polders has also been used as a military tactic in the past. One example is the flooding of the polders along the
Yser
The Yser ( , ; nl, IJzer ) is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the '' Ganzepoot'' and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.
The source of the Ys ...
River during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Opening the sluices at high tide and closing them at low tide turned the polders into an inaccessible swamp, which allowed the
Allied armies to stop the German army.
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 ...
has a large area of polders: as much as 20% of the land area has at some point in the past been reclaimed from the sea, thus contributing to the development of the country.
IJsselmeer is the most famous polder project of the Netherlands. Some other countries which have polders are
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Some examples of Dutch polder projects are
Beemster
Beemster () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beem ...
,
Schermer
Schermer () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The name came from "''skir mere''", which means "bright lake" (ref. Groenedijk, 2000). Since 2015 it has been a part of Alkmaar.
The municipality of Sche ...
,
Flevopolder
The Flevopolder is an island polder forming the bulk of Flevoland, a province of the Netherlands. Created by land reclamation, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.
Boundaries
Unlike other major p ...
and
Noordoostpolder.
Etymology
The
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
word ''polder'' derives successively from
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
''polre'', from
Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from aroun ...
''polra'', and ultimately from ''pol-'', a piece of land elevated above its surroundings, with the
augmentative suffix ''-er'' and
epenthetical '' -d-''. The word has been adopted in thirty-six languages.
Netherlands
![Gemaal de Leyens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Gemaal_de_Leyens.jpg)
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 ...
is frequently associated with polders, as its engineers became noted for developing techniques to drain wetlands and make them usable for agriculture and other development. This is illustrated by the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands".
The
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
have a long history of reclamation of marshes and fenland, resulting in some 3,000 ''polders'' nationwide. By 1961, about half of the country's land, , was reclaimed from the sea.
About half the total surface area of ''polders'' in north-west Europe is in the Netherlands. The first
embankments in Europe were constructed in Roman times. The first polders were constructed in the 11th century. The oldest extant polder is the
Achtermeer
The Achtermeer polder, south of Alkmaar in the Dutch province of North Holland, is the first known polder in the Netherlands.
History
In 1532, Emperor Charles V granted the permit to drain the forty-hectare lake. The draining was completed in 15 ...
polder, from 1533.
As a result of flooding disasters,
water board
A water board is a regional or national organisation that has very different functions from one country to another. The functions range from flood control and water resources management at the regional or local level (the Netherlands, Germany), w ...
s called ''waterschap'' (when situated more inland) or ''hoogheemraadschap'' (near the sea, mainly used in the
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
region) were set up to maintain the integrity of the water defences around polders, maintain the waterways inside a polder, and control the various water levels inside and outside the polder. Water boards hold separate elections, levy taxes, and function independently from other government bodies. Their function is basically unchanged even today. As such, they are the oldest democratic institutions in the country. The necessary cooperation among all ranks to maintain polder integrity gave its name to the Dutch version of
third-way politics—the ''
Polder Model''.
The
1953 flood disaster prompted a new approach to the design of dikes and other water-retaining structures, based on an acceptable probability of overflowing. Risk is defined as the product of probability and consequences. The potential damage in lives, property, and rebuilding costs is compared with the potential cost of water defences. From these calculations follows an acceptable flood risk from the sea at one in 4,000–10,000 years, while it is one in 100–2,500 years for a river flood. The particular established policy guides the Dutch government to improve flood defences as new data on threat levels become available.
Major Dutch polders and the years they were laid dry include
Beemster
Beemster () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beem ...
(1609–1612),
Schermer
Schermer () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The name came from "''skir mere''", which means "bright lake" (ref. Groenedijk, 2000). Since 2015 it has been a part of Alkmaar.
The municipality of Sche ...
(1633–1635), and
Haarlemmermeerpolder
Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...
(1852). Polders created as part of the
Zuiderzee Works
The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proj ...
include
Wieringermeerpolder
Wieringermeer () is a former municipality and a polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon.
Population centres
The former municipality of W ...
(1930),
Noordoostpolder (1942) and
Flevopolder
The Flevopolder is an island polder forming the bulk of Flevoland, a province of the Netherlands. Created by land reclamation, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.
Boundaries
Unlike other major p ...
(1956–1968)
Examples of polders
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
has 139 polders, of which 49 are sea-facing, while the rest are along the numerous
distributaries
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River delta. These were constructed in the 1960s to protect the coast from tidal flooding and reduce salinity incursion. They reduce long-term flooding and waterlogging following
storm surges from
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s. They are also cultivated for agriculture.
Belgium
![Diksmuide - Polders - IJzer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Diksmuide_-_Polders_-_IJzer.jpg)
* De Moeren, near
Veurne
Veurne (; french: Furnes, italic=no, ) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , , , , Houtem, , , Wulveringem, and .
History
Origins up ...
in
West Flanders
)
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg
, shield_size =
, image_map ...
* Polders along the
Yser
The Yser ( , ; nl, IJzer ) is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the '' Ganzepoot'' and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.
The source of the Ys ...
river between
Nieuwpoort and
Diksmuide
* Polders of Muisbroek and Ettenhoven, in
Ekeren
Ekeren () is a northern district of the municipality of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The suburb celebrated its 850th birthday in 2005; the name of the town was first mentioned in 1155, as "Hecerna".
The name possibly originates from ...
and
Hoevenen
:''Georgetown, Guyana was known as Stabroek prior to 1812.''
Stabroek () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of and Stabroek proper. In 2021, Stabroek had a total population of 18,68 ...
* Polder of Stabroek, in
Stabroek
:''Georgetown, Guyana was known as Stabroek prior to 1812.''
Stabroek () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of and Stabroek proper. In 2021, Stabroek had a total population of 18,6 ...
* Kabeljauwpolder, in
Zandvliet
Zandvliet () is a former Belgian town forming part of the Antwerp district of Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo. The place dates back to 1135 when it was known as ''Santflit'', meaning "a navigable passage through sand".
In 1622 the Spaniard Ambrog ...
* Scheldepolders on the left bank of
the Scheldt
* Uitkerkse polders, near Blankenberge in West Flanders
* Prosperpolder, near Doel, Antwerp and Kieldrecht.
Canada
*
Tantramar Marshes
The Tantramar Marshes, also known as the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area, is a tidal saltmarsh around the Bay of Fundy on the Isthmus of Chignecto. The area borders between Route 940, Route 16 and Route 2 near Sackville, New Brunswick. The go ...
*
Holland Marsh
The Holland Marsh is a wetland and agricultural area in Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. It lies entirely within the valley of the Holland River, stretching from the northern edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine near Schomberg to the river mo ...
*
Pitt Polder Ecological Reserve
Pitt most commonly refers to:
*The University of Pittsburgh, commonly known as Pitt, a university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
**Pitt Panthers, the athletic teams of the University of Pittsburgh
* Pitt (surname), a surname o ...
*
Grand Pré, Nova Scotia
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
*
Minas Basin
, image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff
, image_bathymetry =
, alt_bathymetry =
, ca ...
China
* The city of
Kunshan
Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou.
Name
There is a strong p ...
has over 100 polders.
History
The
Jiangnan
Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...
region, at the
Yangtze River Delta
The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan reg ...
, has a long history of constructing polders. Most of these projects were performed between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Chinese government also assisted local communities in constructing dikes for swampland water drainage. The Lijia (里甲) self-monitoring system of 110 households under a ''lizhang'' (里长) headman was used for the purposes of service administration and tax collection in the polder, with a ''liangzhang'' (粮长, grain chief) responsible for maintaining the water system and a ''tangzhang'' (塘长, dike chief)for polder maintenance.
Denmark
* Filsø
*
Lammefjorden The Lammefjord is a polder in Denmark at the base of the Odsherred peninsula. Previously a deeply branched arm of the sea leading west from the Isefjord, most of it is now reclaimed as agricultural land. The eastern third, outside the dyke at Avdeb ...
Finland
*
Söderfjärden
*
Munsmo
* Two polders ( in total) near
Vassor in
Korsholm
Korsholm (; fi, Mustasaari) is a municipality of Finland. The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscap ...
France
*
Marais Poitevin
The Marais Poitevin () or Poitevin Marsh is a large area of marshland in western France. The name means "Poitou's Marsh" or the "Marsh of the Poitou region".
It is a remnant of what was the former . The western zone near the sea (about two-thi ...
*
Les Moëres, adjacent to the Flemish polder ''De Moeren'' in Belgium.
Germany
![Luftaufnahmen Nordseekueste 2012-05-by-RaBoe-355](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Luftaufnahmen_Nordseekueste_2012-05-by-RaBoe-355.jpg)
In Germany, land reclaimed by diking is called a ''koog''. The German ''Deichgraf'' system was similar to the Dutch and is widely known from
Theodor Storm
Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (; 14 September 18174 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German writer. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism.
Life
Storm was born in the small town of Husum, on the ...
's novella ''
The Rider on the White Horse
''The Rider on the White Horse'' (German: ''Der Schimmelreiter'') is a novella by German writer Theodor Storm. It is his last complete work, first published in 1888, the year of his death. The novella is Storm's best remembered and most widely read ...
''.
* Altes Land near Hamburg
*
Blockland and Hollerland near Bremen
*
Nordstrand, Germany
( North Frisian: ''di Ströön'') is a peninsula and former island in North Frisia on the North Sea coast of Germany. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Its area is 50 km² and its populati ...
* Bormerkoog and Meggerkoog near
Friedrichstadt
Friedrichstadt (; da, Frederiksstad) is a town in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider approx. 12 km south of Husum.
History
The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Du ...
* 36 ''koogs'' in the district of
Nordfriesland
* 12 ''koogs'' in the district of
Dithmarschen
Dithmarschen (, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schle ...
In southern Germany, the term ''polder'' is used for
retention basin
A retention basin, sometimes called a wet pond, wet detention basin, or stormwater management pond (SWMP), is an artificial pond with vegetation around the perimeter and a permanent pool of water in its design. It is used to manage stormwater r ...
s recreated by opening dikes during river
floodplain restoration, a meaning somewhat opposite to that in coastal context.
Guyana
* Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice.
India
*
Kuttanad
Kuttanad ( ml, കുട്ടനാട്) is a region covering the Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta Districts, in the state of Kerala, India, well known for its vast paddy fields and geographical peculiarities. The region has the lo ...
Region,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
Ireland
*
Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glacial fjords ...
, Co.
Donegal. Near
Inch Island and
Newtowncunningham
Newtown Cunningham, usually spelled Newtowncunningham or abbreviated to Newton (), is a village and townland in the Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, Ireland, located on the N13 road east of Letterkenny and west of Derry. At the ...
.
Italy
* Delta of the river
Po, such as Bonifica Valle del Mezzano
Japan
* Around the
Ariake Sea
The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters (165 ft) deep, and ...
in Kyushu, mainly in
Saga but also in
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
and
Kumamoto
is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.
had a population of 1,461,000, ...
Prefectures
Lithuania
*
Rusnė Island
Netherlands
![The Netherlands below sealevel and protected from floods](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/The_Netherlands_below_sealevel_and_protected_from_floods.png)
*
Achtermeer
The Achtermeer polder, south of Alkmaar in the Dutch province of North Holland, is the first known polder in the Netherlands.
History
In 1532, Emperor Charles V granted the permit to drain the forty-hectare lake. The draining was completed in 15 ...
, the oldest polder, from 1533
*
Alblasserwaard
The Alblasserwaard () is a polder in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part.
History
The first human inhabita ...
, containing the windmills of
Kinderdijk
Kinderdijk () is a village in the municipality of Molenlanden, in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located about east of Rotterdam.
Kinderdijk is situated in the Alblasserwaard polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord riv ...
, a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
*
Alkmaar
*
Andijk
Andijk (; fy, Andìk) is a former municipality and a village bordering Lake IJssel in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. Since 1 January 2011 Andijk has been part of Medemblik municipality.
The nam ...
*
Anna Paulownapolder
*
Beemster
Beemster () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted from the lake by windmills. The Beem ...
, a World Heritage Site
*
Bijlmermeer
The Bijlmermeer (), or colloquially Bijlmer (), is one of the neighbourhoods that form the Amsterdam-Zuidoost borough (Dutch: ''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. To many people, the Bijlmer designation is used to refer to Amsterdam Zuidoost ...
*
Flevopolder
The Flevopolder is an island polder forming the bulk of Flevoland, a province of the Netherlands. Created by land reclamation, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.
Boundaries
Unlike other major p ...
, the largest
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 th ...
in the world, youngest polder, last part drained in 1968
*
's-Gravesloot
*
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of w ...
, containing
Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
airport
*
Krimpenerwaard
*
Lauwersmeer
*
Mastenbroek
Mastenbroek is a polder in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It lies north of the city of Zwolle. "Mastenbroek" is also the name of an hamlet, built around a church in the middle of the polder.
The polder is part of three municipalities: the w ...
*
Noordoostpolder
*
Prins Alexander
Prins Alexander is a borough in the northeast of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Prins Alexander has 7 neighbourhoods:
* Het Lage Land
* Kralingseveer
* Nesselande
*Ommoord
*Oosterflank
*Prinsenland
*Zevenkamp
Public transportation
Prins Alexander is ...
polder
*
Purmer
Purmer is a polder and reclaimed lake in the Netherlands province of North Holland, located between the towns of Purmerend and Edam-Volendam. It is also a village located in the municipalities of Waterland and Edam-Volendam.
Purmer polder
Wind ...
*
Schermer
Schermer () is a former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The name came from "''skir mere''", which means "bright lake" (ref. Groenedijk, 2000). Since 2015 it has been a part of Alkmaar.
The municipality of Sche ...
*
Watergraafsmeer
The Watergraafsmeer is a polder in the Netherlands. It was reclaimed in 1629. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were many buitenplaatsen in the Watergraafsmeer, though nowadays only one, Frankendael, remains.
Since 1921, the Watergraafsmee ...
*
Wieringermeer
Wieringermeer () is a former municipality and a polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon.
Population centres
The former municipality of Wie ...
*
Wieringerwaard
*
Wijdewormer
Wijdewormer is a hamlet in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in the municipality of Wormerland, about 5 km east of the town of Wormer, in the polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydr ...
* Zestienhoven, home of the
Rotterdam The Hague Airport
Rotterdam The Hague Airport (formerly ''Rotterdam Airport'', ''Vliegveld Zestienhoven'' in Dutch), is a minor international airport serving Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second largest city, and The Hague, its administrative and royal capital. I ...
(
Overschie
Overschie is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands, formerly a separate village with its own municipality.
The village of Overschie was located on the intersection of four rivers called "Schie": the Delftsche Schie, Schiedamsche Schie, Delfs ...
), in the city of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
.
*
Zuidplaspolder
The Zuidplaspolder is a polder in the western Netherlands, located northeast of Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, neighbouring settlements such as Zuidplas, Zevenhuizen, Waddinxveen, Moerkapelle, Gouda, Moordrecht, and Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel. It re ...
, along with
Lammefjord The Lammefjord is a polder in Denmark at the base of the Odsherred peninsula. Previously a deeply branched arm of the sea leading west from the Isefjord, most of it is now reclaimed as agricultural land. The eastern third, outside the dyke at Avde ...
in Denmark the lowest point of the European Union
Poland
*
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
delta near
Elbląg and
Nowy Dwór Gdański
Nowy Dwor Gdanski (; ; formerly german: Tiegenhof) is a town in Poland on the Tuja river in the Żuławy Wiślane region, capital of Nowy Dwór Gdański County, located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, with 10,171 inhabitants (2012).
History
The s ...
*
Warta
The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...
delta near
Kostrzyn nad Odrą
Kostrzyn nad Odrą (literally Kostrzyn upon Oder) (; german: Küstrin ) is a town in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship in western Poland, close to the border with Germany.
Geography
The town is situated within the historic Lubusz Land (''Ziemia ...
Singapore
* Parts of
Pulau Tekong
Pulau may refer to:
*Pulau virus (PuV), a novel strain of Nelson Bay orthoreovirus species
*Pulau River, a river of West Papua and Papua New Guinea
See also
*List of islands of Malaysia – "Pulau" means "island" in the Malay language
*Pulao (di ...
Slovenia
* The
Ankaran/Ancarano Polder ( sl, Ankaranska bonifika),
Semedela Polder (), and Škocjan Polder () in reclaimed land around
Koper/Capodistria.
South Korea
* Parts of the coast of
Ganghwa Island
Ganghwa Island (Hangul ; Hanja ), also known by its native name Ganghwado, is a South Korean island in the estuary of the Han River. It is in the Yellow Sea, off Korea's west coast. The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainlan ...
, adjacent to the river
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
in
Incheon
* Delta of the river
Nakdong
The Nakdonggang River or Nakdonggang () is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Korea's Three Kingdoms Er ...
in
Busan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
*
Saemangeum
Saemangeum is an estuary, estuarine tidal flat on the coast of the Yellow Sea in South Korea. It was dammed by the government of South Korea's Saemangeum Seawall, Saemangeum Seawall Project, completed on April 27, 2010, after a long fight betw ...
in
North Jeolla Province
North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwes ...
Spain
* Parts of
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
were built on reclaimed land
United Kingdom
*
Traeth Mawr
Traeth Mawr (Welsh for "large beach") is a polder near Porthmadog in Gwynedd in Wales. The area was formerly the large tidal estuary of the Afon Glaslyn. It was created after large-scale land reclamation occurred in the late 18th century and the ...
*
Sunk Island, on the north shore of the
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...
east of
Hull
*
Caldicot and Wentloog Levels
The Caldicot and Wentloog Levels are two areas of low-lying estuarine alluvial wetland and intertidal mudflats adjoining the north bank of the Severn Estuary, either side of the River Usk estuary near Newport in south east Wales. They are als ...
along the
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
in South Wales
* Parts of
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
**
Branston Island, by the
River Witham
The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...
outside the conventional area of the fens but connected to them.
* Parts of the coast of
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
* Some land along the
River Plym
The River Plym is a river in Devon, England. It runs from Dartmoor in the centre of the county southwest to meet the River Meavy, then south towards Plymouth Sound. The river is popular with canoeists, and the Plym Valley Railway runs alongsi ...
in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
* Some land around
Meathop
Meathop is a village in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in Westmorland, it is located north east of Grange over Sands, between the confluence of the River Kent estuary and the River Winster on the edge of Morec ...
east of
Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2011 ...
, reclaimed as a side-effect of building a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
embankment
Embankment may refer to:
Geology and geography
* A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea
* Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...
* The
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...
and
North Somerset Levels
The North Somerset Levels is a coastal plain, an expanse of low-lying flat ground, which occupies an area between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol in North Somerset, England. The River Banwell, River Kenn, River Yeo and Land Yeo are the three prin ...
*
Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...
*
Sealand, Flintshire
Sealand (Welsh: Gwlad-y-Môr) is a community in Flintshire and electoral ward, north-east Wales, on the edge of the Wirral peninsula. It is west of the city of Chester, England, and is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England borde ...
*
Humberhead Levels
The Humberhead Levels is a national character area covering a large expanse of flat, low-lying land towards the western end of the Humber estuary in northern England. The levels occupy the former Glacial Lake Humber, an area bounded to the east ...
United States
*
*
Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta
See also
*
Afsluitdijk
The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...
*
Flood control in the Netherlands
Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands, as due to its low elevation, approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding, while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes, dams, and flo ...
*
Land reclamation
*
Windpump
A windpump is a type of windmill which is used for pumping water.
Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. The use of wind pumps became widespread across the Muslim world an ...
References
Further reading
* Derex, Jean-Michel, Franco Cazzola (eds.) 2004. 2nd ed. 2013. ''Eau et développement dans l'Europe moderne''. Paris, Maison des Sciences De L'Homme
* Farjon, J.M.J., J. Dirkx, A. Koomen, J. Vervloet & W. Lammers. 2001. ''Neder-landschap Internationaal: bouwstenen voor een selectie van gebieden landschapsbehoud.'' Alterra, Wageningen
Rapport 358
* Stenak, Morten. 2005. ''De inddæmmede Landskaber – En historisk geografi.'' Landbohistorik Selskab.
*
Polders of the World. Keynotes International Symposium'. 1982. Lelystad, The Netherlands
* Ven, G.P. van de (ed.) 1993, 4th ed. 2004. ''Man-made Lowlands. History of Water Management and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands'', Matrijs, Utrecht.
* Wagret, Paul. 1972. ''Polderlands.'' London: Methuen.
External links
– ''in a northwest European and a landmark context''.
{{Authority control
Artificial landforms
Land reclamation
Environmental soil science
Riparian zone
Coastal construction
Freshwater ecology