The Kop van Overijssel (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Head of Overijssel'') is a region in the very northwestern part of 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 ...

province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

. It consists of the municipality of Steenwijkerland and matches the historical region of the Land van Vollenhove. In past times it comprised a wider area, the municipalities of Kampen,

Zwartewaterland Zwartewaterland () is a municipality in the province Overijssel in the eastern Netherlands. Geography This mainly rural municipality lies south of Steenwijkerland on the ''Zwarte Water'' (Black Water). This is a short tributary of the river IJ ...

and

Staphorst Staphorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. History The villages of Staphorst and its southern neighbour Rouveen came into existence as in the 13th century monks started to bring the bogs and swamps into culture. All ...

also belonging to it. The Kop van Overijssel has about 43,000 inhabitants and an area of about 322 km², of which a tenth is water. The 'capital' is Steenwijk. Other noteworthy places are

Blokzijl Blokzijl is a small city located southwest of Steenwijk in the province of Overijssel, the Netherlands. The city is a major tourist destination near the De Weerribben-Wieden National Park and attracts many water sports enthusiasts. Blokzijl was ...

Giethoorn Giethoorn () is a village in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands with a population of 2,795 in 2020. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, about 5 km southwest of Steenwijk. As a popular Dutch tourist destination bot ...

(a '

Venice of the North The following is an incomplete list of settlements nicknamed Venice of the North. The term ''Venice of the North'' refers to various cities in Northern Europe that contain canals, comparing them to Venice, Italy, which is renowned for its canals (s ...

') and

Vollenhove Vollenhove is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality of Steenwijkerland, southwest of Steenwijk. Until the Noordoostpolder was drained, it was located on the coast of the Zuiderzee. Vollenhove received cit ...

. The region is nearly surrounded by three provincial borders: in the west that of Flevoland ( Noordoostpolder region), in the north that of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

( Stellingwerven region) and in the east that of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

(the municipalities of

Westerveld Westerveld () is a municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The municipality Westerveld was established in 1998 out of the municipalities of Diever, Dwingeloo, Havelte, and Vledder. Westerveld is crossed by a channel, the ''Drentsche Hoofdva ...

and Meppel). In the south it borders on

Salland Salland (Low Saxon: ''Sallaand'') is a historical dominion in the west and north of the present Dutch province of Overijssel. Nowadays Salland is usually used to indicate a region corresponding to the part of the former dominion more or less to th ...

, another region of

. In the is a

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 ...

of about 60 km², '' Nationaal Park Weerribben-Wieden''. It is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Nationaal Park Weerribben-Wieden

Natuurmonumenten Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten in Nederland ( en, Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments in the Netherlands), also known as Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, is a Dutch nature conservation organization founded in 1905 by Jacobus Pi ...

that contains the lakes '' Beulakerwijde'' and '' Belterwijde''.

Gallery

File:Giethoorn 01.JPG, Canal in

File:De Wicher Weerribben.jpg, Windmill near Kalenberg File:Steenwijk centrum van boven.jpg, Steenwijk from above File:Blokzijl Havenkolk2.jpg, Harbor of

File:Beulakerwijde.jpg, Shore of the Beulakerwijde File:Grafheuvels in het Eeserveld.jpg, Barrows near Eesveen File:Hoofdstraat 96 Oldemarkt.jpg, Old houses in Oldemarkt File:Nederland (Overijssel).jpg, Hamlet of Nederland

References

External links

*
Tourist guide
Regions of Overijssel Regions of the Netherlands {{Overijssel-geo-stub