The fens region of Holland, in the northwest of the Netherlands, consists of the two provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland. It is bounded on the south by the Haringvliet, the Hollands Diep and the river Merwede, on the west by the North Sea, on the north by the Waddenzee and on the east by the IJsselmeer and a line from Hilversum by way of Utrecht to Gorinchem. Holland, with diked fenlands all lying below sea level, is sheltered from the North Sea by an almost uninterrupted belt of dunes.
The subsoil of Holland consists of layers of clay deposited by the North Sea as it slowly advanced from the Dogger Bank after the melting of the Ice Age glaciers, behind mighty coastal barriers of jetsam, rock detritus and sand thrown up by the tides.
Later the clay strata were overlaid by great expanses of bogland and thick layers of peat were formed. These have been preserved, however, only in central Holland, since later advances by the North Sea after the beginning of the Christian era covered the bogland in the far north and south of the region with a further layer of clay. The lakes of central Holland came into being as a result of peat cutting, which lowered the ground level, forming depressions which were quickly filled with water. Most of the lakes have since been drained and brought into cultivation.
Draining of the Fens
The history of human settlement in Holland is closely bound up with the technique of dike- building, which by the 12th and 13th centuries was sufficiently developed to convert the fens lying within the tidal area into habitable and fertile polders. The draining of the fenlands which had sunk below sea level as a result of peat cutting was a no less difficult task than the protection of the land from flooding. The lowering of the ground level was a gradual process over a long period of time, and at first all incoming water drained away at low tide. As the ground level continued to fall, however, it became necessary to pump the water out, with power provided by windmills. In view of the scale of the work involved the larger lakes were drained only at a very late stage - the Beemster in 1612 and the Haarlemmermeer not until 1852. These areas are known as droogmakerijen ("drainage areas").
There is a striking difference in the pattern of settlement between the older fenlands and the more recent droogmakerijen. On the older polders the villages consist of a string of farmsteads flanking canals and watercourses, with their small fields extending at right angles to them, while the droogmakerijen are characterized by a scattered pattern of settlement, with isolated farmsteads rather than villages.
The agricultural pattern is determined by the very different quality of the soil, depending on its age and origin. On the sandy soils within the coastal belt of dunes the main crops are vegetables, with bulb growing in some areas. The old polders are mainly pastures, with smaller areas devoted to market gardening and the growing of flowers and ornamental plants. Arable land predominates in the young polders (corn, potatoes, pulses and industrial plants), with a certain amount of pastoral farming
Holland is the economic and cultural heartland of the Netherlands. This has brought about a tremendous concentration of industries of all kinds, combined with one of the highest population densities in the world. The larger towns such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague, Delft, Gouda, Utrecht and Hilversum combine with others to form a concentration of industry and population which is known as "Randstad Holland".
Although, strictly speaking, the name of Holland should be applied only to the fens regions described above, it is commonly applied to the whole of the Netherlands; and even the Netherlands Bureau of Tourism uses the emblem with that name, with two symbolic tulips.
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