Zealand

(Local Name: Zeeland) Provincial capital: Middelburg

Area: 303,900 hectares/750,600 acres

(land area 179,100 hectares/442,400

acres)

Population: 355,500

The Dutch region of Zeeland (in English Zealand), in the delta of the Rhine, the Maas and the Schelde, includes all the islands and peninsulas in the southwestern Netherlands (Walcheren, Zuid- and Noord-Beveland, Schouwen- Duiveland, Tholen, St Filipsland and Goeree-Overflakkee), together with Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Zealand Flanders), a narrow strip of the mainland between the Westerschelde and the Belgian frontier. With the exception of Goeree-Overflakkee (in Zuid-Holland) the Zeeland region coincides exactly with the province of the same name. Zeeland is predominantly an intensively farmed agricultural region. The villages and their arable land lie on the higher ground less exposed to flooding, while the lower-lying areas are occupied by pastures and meadowland. In the more recently poldered and less densely populated areas the holdings range in size between 20 and 50 hectares (50 and 125 acres); in the older areas on the islands they are considerably smaller. The main crops are grain, sugar-beet and potatoes.

The principal industrial areas are along the canal which runs through Zeeuws- Vlaanderen (Zealand Flanders) from Terneuzen to Ghent (coking plants, metalworking, chemicals, glassware, sugar-refining, textiles), the eastern part of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (textiles), Vlissingen (shipbuilding) on the island of Walcheren and the provincial capital Middelburg, now a thriving tourist center.