Overijssel
Overijssel (
Latin:
Transiselania) is a
province of the
Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The province's name in both
Dutch and Latin means "Lands across river
IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is
Zwolle.
Overijssel is bordered by
Germany to the east, the
Achterhoek region of
Gelderland to the south, the
Veluwe region of Gelderland and
Flevoland to the west, and
Friesland and the former moors of
Drenthe to the north. Overijssel is comprised of three regions:
Kop van Overijssel in the northwest,
Salland in the centre of the province, and
Twente in the east. Besides the capital Zwolle, the major cities are
Almelo,
Deventer,
Enschede, and
Hengelo.
To the southeast, the province's surface is mostly sandy, interspersed with small rivers, such as,
Regge and
Dinkel and brooks, in the northwest, the geology is dominated by sediments from the
Overijsselse Vecht and
clay. The northern parts were once covered by
veen (
bog), which separated the dryer and more arible south from
Drenthe which have been explaited as fuel to a large degree. Only small patchessurvive today (
Engbertsdijksvenen near
Tubbergen,
Witteveen (near
Haaksbergen), and the Aamsveen (near
Enschede). The extreme northwest is dominated by a system of lakes formed by former peat-mining, the
Weerribben, which is a valuable wetland.
The highest point in Overijssel is the
summit of the Tankenberg (85 m), a hill in the municipality of
Losser. The lowest point is in the Mastenbroek
Polder near
Kampen at 2 metres below
sea level.
Overijssel was formerly known as
Oversticht. In 1336 it was made part of
Guelders, though it was ceded to the
Bishopric of Utrecht in 1347 and was known as "het Sticht". The Bishops ceded the Oversticht to the Emperor
Charles V in 1528, who styled himself "Lord of Overijssel", thereby giving the province its modern name. The people joined with the other Dutch and rebelled against Charles' heir
Philip II. Overijssel became governed by the most powerful mayors and lords in the province.
After a brief occupation by the forces of the
Bishop of Münster (1672 - 1674), Overijssel received a new form of government which granted the
stadtholders more power. Widespread resistance against the increased power throughout the provinces eventually lead to the formation of the
Batavian Republic in 1795. A centralist government arose and the Netherlands was organised into a series of
départements, based on those used by revolutionary
France. At first organised into its own
département, it was merged with
Drenthe to form
Ouden Ijssel in 1798 which was renamed back to Overijssel in 1801.
The French annexed the Batavian Republic in 1810, and Overijssel was organised into the new French département of
Bouches-de-l'Yssel. After the defeat of
Napoleon in 1814, the kingdom of the Netherlands and the former province of Overijssel were recreated. Overijssel was briefly annexed by
Nazi Germany during
World War 2 from 1940 until liberated in 1945.
After the creation of the
Noordoostpolder, it became part of Overijssel in 1962, until
1986, when the province
Flevoland was formed, which contained all of the
polders.
*
Overijssel Website (in English)*
province map showing subdivision in municipalities, link for each municipality to basic data pagends-nl:Oaveriessel
