The Flevopolder 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 island ...

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 ...

forming the bulk of

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

, a

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

of 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 ...

. Created by

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

, its northeastern part was drained in 1955 and the remainder—the southwest—in 1968.

Boundaries

Unlike other major polders, such as

Noordoostpolder Noordoostpolder (; en, "North-East Polder") is a polder and municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called '' Urker Land''. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the heart of the Noord ...

and

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 ...

, the Flevopolder is surrounded by

bordering lakes In the Netherlands, the bordering lakes (in Dutch: ''Randmeren'') are a chain of lakes which separate the Flevopolder and Noordoostpolder from the ancient lands of the provinces of Gelderland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Friesland.''Wateralmanak 2009 ...

or below-sea-level channels. These are the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

, the

Veluwemeer The Veluwemeer (Dutch) or Lake Veluwe is a bordering lake in the Netherlands, between the provinces of Flevoland on the west side and Gelderland on the east side. It is a narrow lake that stretches from south-west to north-east. South of Harderwijk ...

Ketelmeer The Ketelmeer is the tongue of the IJsselmeer into which the River IJssel drains, it is situated between the polders Noordoostpolder (North-east Polder) and Oostelijk Flevoland (East Flevoland), and connects the river IJssel to the IJsselmeer. I ...

, and

Gooimeer The Gooimeer (Gooi Lake) is a bordering lake in the Netherlands between the southeastern part of North Holland (the Gooi) and Flevoland. There is a railroad bridge over the narrow west side, between Weesp and Almere Muziekwijk, with a parallel ...

. It is 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 tha ...

in the world.

History

Reclamation of its land

Levees and dikes were first built around the polder. However, unlike similar projects, the internal

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

was then drained by diesel and electric pumps.

Etymology

Its name refers to the ancient

Lake Flevo Lake Flevo was a lake in what is now the Netherlands, which existed in Roman times and the early Middle Ages. Some geographers believe that this lake was not really a single lake, rather a set of several lakes connected to each other. From the ...

Geography

{{main, Flevoland The Flevopolder together with the Noordoostpolder forms the

, the most recent

to be added to the

. Its southwestern point is close to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and its opposite end is close to

Kampen, Overijssel Kampen () is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. A member of the former Hanseatic League, it is located at the lower reaches of the river IJssel. The municipality of Kampen had a population of in and covers an are ...

. It has three highly dominant settlements in terms of distribution of population.

References

Artificial islands of the Netherlands Regions of Flevoland Regions of the Netherlands Polders of Flevoland