Achterhoek - Graafschap

The northern part of the Achterhoek is known as the Graafschap ("County"). In this area with its extensive deciduous forests and thickets of rhododendrons there are many old castles and country houses, some of them still lived in, others used for a variety of purposes, such as offices or town halls. Between Vorden and Ruurlo there are no fewer than eight old houses of this kind.

Economy

The population's main source of income is agriculture, particularly from butter-making and poultry farming. This is a region of small villages, with small isolated farmsteads scattered about between them. Industry has been established mainly along the banks of the IJssel and the Oude IJssel, in the form of brickworks and iron foundries; there are also a number of hosiery factories and cotton- processing and woodworking plants.