Overijssel

Overijssel
Province of the Netherlands
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Aan de rand van Hollands gouwen
Location of Overijssel in the Netherlands
Country	Netherlands
Capital	Zwolle
Largest city	Enschede
Government
• King's Commissioner	Ank Bijleveld
Area
• Land	3,327 km2 (1,285 sq mi)
• Water	94 km2 (36 sq mi)
Area rank	4th
Population (2006)
• Land	1,113,529
• Rank	7th
• Density	330/km2 (870/sq mi)
• Density rank	7th
ISO 3166 code	NL-OV
Religion (2006)	Protestant 29% Catholic 26% Muslim 2% Others 6% Non-religious 37%
Website	www.overijssel.nl

Overijssel or Overissel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌoːvəˈrɛi̯səɫ] ( listen); Dutch Low Saxon: Oaveriessel [ˌoːvəˈrisəɫ]) is a province^[1] of the Netherlands in the central-eastern part of the country. The province's name means "Lands across the river Issel", from the perspective of southern Europe. The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede. The province has a population of 1,113,529 inhabitants.

Geography

Map of Overijssel (2012)

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 comprises 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 the Regge and Dinkel and other brooks. In the northwest, the geology is dominated by sediments from the Overijsselse Vecht and clay. The northern parts were once covered by veen (bogs) which separated the dryer and more arable south from Drenthe and which have been exploited as fuel to a large degree. Only small patches survive 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, a hill in the municipality of Losser, at 89 metres (295 ft). The lowest point is in the Mastenbroek Polder near Kampen at 2 metres (6 ft) below sea level.

History

Map of the Archbishopric of Utrecht around 1350, when present-day Overijssel was part of the region Oversticht

Oversticht

Overijssel was formerly known as Oversticht and also included most of the modern-day province of Drenthe. In 1336, it was made part of Guelders, though it was ceded to the Bishopric of Utrecht in 1347. 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 (1672–74), Overijssel received a new form of government which granted the stadtholders more power. Widespread resistance against the increased power throughout the provinces eventually led 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.

Overijssel

At first organised into its own département, it was merged with Drenthe in 1798 to form Ouden IJssel, which was renamed 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 occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II from May 1940 until its liberation in April 1945. The Noordoostpolder, a reclaimed territory which had been laid dry in 1942, was part of Overijssel from 1962 until 1986, when it became part of the newly created province of Flevoland.

Government

Diagram of the 2007 election results for the States-Provincial in Overijssel

The King's Commissioner of Overijssel is Ank Bijleveld. She is the chairwoman of the States-Deputed (executive branch) and the States-Provincial (elected parliament) of Overijssel.

Municipalities

The municipalities of Overijssel

Map of the Netherlands, linking to the province articles; red dots mark provincial capitals and black dots other notable cities or towns.

See also

• Overisel Township, Michigan, US was named after Overijssel
• Tanfana

References

External links

• Media related to Overijssel at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

	Friesland	Drenthe	Lower Saxony (DE)
	Flevoland
	Overijssel
		Gelderland	North Rhine-Westphalia (DE)

v t e    Provinces of the Netherlands Drenthe Flevoland Friesland Gelderland Groningen Limburg North Brabant North Holland Overijssel South Holland Utrecht Zeeland

v t e Burgundian Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire Seventeen Provinces of Habsburg Netherlands Seceded 1581 Drenthe Friesland Groningen Holland Overijssel Utrecht Zeeland Zutphen Remained Artois2 Brabant Flanders Guelders Hainaut Limburg Luxembourg Mechelen Namur County Burgundy3 Imperial City Besançon3 Dependent territories Antwerp Breda1 1 until 1648;    2 until 1659;   3 until 1678. Circles est. 1500: Bavarian, Swabian, Upper Rhenish, Lower Rhenish–Westphalian, Franconian, (Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512: Austrian, Burgundian, Upper Saxon, Electoral Rhenish     ·     Unencircled territories