Zwin

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Sea lavender blossoms in August-September
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Sea lavender blossoms in August-September

The Zwin is a natural reserve with an area of 1.75 square kilometres, founded in 1953. It has 1.5 square kilometres on the eastern Belgian coast in Knokke-Heist and the rest in the municipality of Sluis, Zeeuws Vlaanderen, Zeeland, Netherlands.

It is famous for its large variety in salt-resistant flora, such as Sea-lavender. It is also popular with bird watchers. There is a small zoo with some major domestic birds and it is one of the few places in Belgium with a population of white storks.

In the middle ages what is now land was a substantial arm of the North Sea that stretched to Sluis, from where canal navigation was possible to Bruges.

Another waterway of this name, the Groot Zwin, forms the canal from Bruges to Oostende.

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