Drenthe

Provincial capital: Assen

Area: 268,057 hectares/662,101 acres

(land area 265,568 hectares/655,953

acres)

The province of Drenthe is a region of mainly flat land lying between 10 and20m (35 and 70ft) above sea level in the extreme northeast of the Netherlands' great expanses of sandy heathland. The most conspicuous heights in Drenthe are the moraines, rising to 32m/105ft, of the Hondsrug, a range of hills formed during the second-last ice age (the Saale/Riss glacial) which extends for 50km/30mi from Emmen in the southeast to Groningen in the northwest. From here the land slopes almost imperceptibly down towards the west. It consists of marls laid down during the Saale/Riss glacial with deep overlying layers of sand deposited in later phases of the ice age. There were formerly great expanses of heath between the traditional farming villages of Drenthe outside the moorland area, but over the last 80 years these have been replaced partly by plantations of pines but mainly by fields of rye, oats and potatoes. Most of the holdings are of less than 20 hectares/50 acres, but in the high moorland areas holdings of 50 hectares/125 acres are by no means rare.

In Drenthe industry takes second place to agriculture. Only in the southeast of the province is there any significant amount of industry, for after the cutting of peat was abandoned in this area a large labor force became available for employment. In addition the extraction of oil around Schoonebeek and Meppel has become of increasing importance in recent years.