Territorial changes in the Netherlands

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The overview of territorial changes in the Netherlands gives an overview of the most important administrative territorial changes that were carried out in the area of ​​what is now the Netherlands from 1812 until today .

Provinces

On the history of the provinces

Departments

In 1812 - with the beginning of the parish lists - the area of ​​what is now the Netherlands was divided into départements:

Dutch province name Department (s); Remarks
Drenthe Southern part of the Ems-Occidental department
Fryslân Frize department
Gelderland Yssel-Supérieur department
South of the Waals : Bouches-du-Rhin department
Groningen Northern part of the Ems-Occidental department
Limburg Northern part: Département de la Roer.
Southern part: Département Meuse-Inférieure
North Brabant Department Bouches-du-Rhin
Western part: Department Deux-Nèthes
North Holland Northern part of the Zuyderzée department
Overijssel Bouches-de-l'Yssel department
Utrecht South-eastern part of the Zuyderzée department
Zeeland Département Bouches-de-l'Escaut
Zeeuws Vlaanderen : Département Escaut
South Holland Bouches-de-la-Meuse department

At that time, there were some reclassifications, especially in the area of ​​today's province of North Brabant, including the new department of Meuse-et-Ourthe .

Number of provinces

In the Basic Law of March 1814, the (re) formation of 9 provinces was announced with effect from May 1, 1814. In the constitution of August 1815 , a total of 19 provinces were named after the addition of the area that later became an independent state of Belgium . Of these 10 belonged to the area of ​​today's Netherlands. The province of Limburg was formed on October 9, 1815.

The province of Holland was officially divided into the new provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland in 1840. In both areas, however, there had been independent, independent administrations since 1814. From 1840 onwards there were 11 provinces in the Netherlands until Flevoland was added in 1986 and resulted in the current number of 12 provinces.

Names of the provinces

  • Drenthe: The name was initially unofficially Drente written.
  • Fryslân: In the basic laws of 1814, 1815 and 1840 the name was given as Vriesland . In the Basic Law of 1848 it appears for the first time with the spelling Friesland . This spelling was in place until January 1, 1997, when the name of the province was officially changed to Fryslân .
  • Limburg: The name of the province was officially called Hertogdom Limburg until it was changed to Limburg in the Basic Law of 1887 . Official publications bore the provincial designation Hertogdom Limburg until 1906 .
  • Noord-Brabant: In the constitution of 1814, the province is called Braband . This name was changed to Noord-Braband in the constitution of August 1815 , as there was also a province in the Belgian part of the then national territory, which was called Zuid-Braband . In the Basic Law of 1848, the spelling was changed to Noordbrabant . The province itself wrote its name Noord-Brabant . This notation was used more and more throughout the Netherlands, but was not officially confirmed until the Provincial Law of 1962. The attempt to change the province name to Brabant, started in October 2001 , failed.
  • Noord-Holland: When the province of Holland was divided up in 1840, the spelling of the province of Noord-Holland was . In the Basic Law of 1848, the spelling was changed to Noordholland . The province only adopted this spelling in 1865. In the provincial law of 1962, the spelling was changed to Noord-Holland .
  • Overijssel: The name was also unofficially spelled Overijsel in the beginning .
  • Zuid-Holland: When the province of Holland was divided up in 1840, the spelling of the province was Zuid-Holland . In the Basic Law of 1848, the spelling was changed to Zuidholland . The province never adopted this spelling. In the provincial law of 1962, the spelling was changed to Zuid-Holland .

Dutch and German names of the Dutch provinces

Dutch province name German province name
Drenthe Drenthe
Flevoland (from 1986) Flevoland
Friesland (until 1996) Friesland
Fryslân (from 1997) Friesland
Gelderland Gelderland
Groningen Groningen
Limburg Limburg
North Brabant North Brabant
North Holland North Holland
Overijssel Overijssel, Oberissel or Obere Issel
Utrecht Utrecht
Zeeland Zeeland or Zealand
South Holland South Holland

Communities

1812 and the following years

While in France and also in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in the Federal Republic of Germany, the number of municipalities has not particularly decreased over the past two centuries, efforts are being made in the Netherlands to drastically reduce this number and form municipalities as large as possible.

The division of the municipal areas, which came to an end on January 1, 1812, goes back to the influence of the French. While in Holland and Utrecht the number of previous municipalities was roughly halved, the very large municipal areas in Friesland and parts of Gelderland were redistributed, so that the total number of municipalities there grew in some cases considerably. There were no particular changes in the other areas.

When the Netherlands became an independent state again towards the end of 1813, many of the legal provisions and regulations issued by the French were repealed. So the unified congregations became urban and rural communities again. The special rights of the nobility were also respected again. For example, two parishes without a single inhabitant (Tempel and De Vennip) were newly formed because nobles promised to take care of the administration of these areas. So those whose own communities could not be denied. Municipal areas could only be changed by a royal resolution. The changes to the French zoning took place at different times in the various provinces.

province Date of the royal decision Effective
date 		Number of parishes before the change Change in the number of municipalities
Drenthe 11/14/1815 07/13/1819 29 + 4
Friesland 03/09/1815 10/01/1816 43 - 48
Gelderland 02/11/1817 01/01/1818 144 - 22
Groningen 12/24/1818 no change. 62 ± 0
Holland (North) 12/13/1815 05/01/1817 105 + 44
Holland (Zuid) 03/07/1816 04/01/1817 154 + 101
Limburg 04/18/1818 01/01/1821 125 + 1
North Brabant 05/08/1819 01/01/1821 189 - 3
Overijssel 11/24/1815 07/01/1818 52 + 10
Utrecht 11/14/1815 01/01/1818 55 + 43
Zeeland 11/24/1815 01/01/1816 135 - 18th

Parish names

In the Netherlands there is no body that determines the official spelling of the names of the municipalities. Over the years there has never been a law or a resolution on the legally correct spelling of names. However, in individual cases, community names have been changed by law. There is still no list with the official spelling of all community names. Over the years, however, there were lists of municipal names established by law in the years 1828, 1877 and 1933 as well as the redistribution of municipalities in the years 1852, 1859, 1878 and 1896. Also, municipality names in a particular spelling were added in the publications stated in the censuses. But the spelling did not stay constant over the years. The municipalities were called Rhijnsburg next to Rijnsburg , both Katwijken en het Zand next to Katwijk , Rucphen next to Sprundel and Ooster- en Westerblokker next to Blokker . In contrast, the communities Borsele and Borssele are different communities that existed or exist at different times.

In earlier times, communities that consisted of several villages had a name made up of the names of these villages. Examples are:

  • Westwoud, Binnenwijzend en Oudijk, later Westwoud
  • Duist, de Haar en Zevenhuizen, later Duist
  • Both Katwijken het Het Zand, later Katwijk

These names were mainly found in Holland, Zeeland and Noord-Brabant, and more rarely in Utrecht and Gelderland. Their number was about 200. Most multiple names were eliminated around 1850. In the census of 1849, the spelling ca (with appendix, Latin: cum annexis ) was often chosen after the main name. North Brabant was the only province in which, in many cases, the multiple names were retained until modern times. Until 1908 there was even a quadruple name of a municipality (Drongelen, Haagoord, Gansoijen en Doeveren), which was changed to Drongelen in the same year . For the remaining multiple names, the spellings ca and cs were used in lists. The municipality of Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland , although this was the official name of the municipality, chose the name Kollumerland ca in daily use

In the second half of the 19th century there were lists of parish names that should apply in the future, e.g. B. Alfen instead of Alphen and Zon instead of Son , which the CBS used when presenting the December 31, 1920 census results.

In 1934 the Dutch Ministry of Education published a list of community names. This was not mandatory.

In 1936 the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap issued a list of 40,000 geographical names. This was based on linguistic principles with a historical derivation. This led to names such as Zieriksee instead of Zierikzee , Ouwerschie instead of Overschie , Adeward instead of Aduard , Gorkum instead of Gorinchem , Deutekom instead of Doetinchem and Goeree instead of Goedereede . All multiple names have also been simplified: Bleskensgraaf en Hofwegen became Bleskensgraaf , Nieuw- en Sint Joosland became Sint Joosland , etc. The names on the list usually did not get through.

In 1947 the Ministry of the Interior set up a commission to determine the names of the Dutch municipalities, but the list of names never came about. In North Brabant, a list of proposals has been drawn up for defining the names of 54 municipalities in this province. This list has been rejected. The 55th edition of the Kleine Bosatlas (a school atlas) used the proposals of the Darmsteegt commission from 1974. After strong criticism, a second edition of the 55th edition was published with the classic names.

There have been several parishes over the years that wanted to officially change their name. In 1905, for example, the name Ost- en West-Barendrecht was officially changed to Barendrecht, and in 1932 the name Rosendaal was changed to Rozendaal .

In the law on general regulations for restructuring measures (Dutch Wet Algemene Regels Herindeling (Wet-Arhi) ) from 1991, Article 53 states that a newly formed municipality has the right to change the municipality name at least one year after the relevant council decision has been taken . In 1994 the right to change names was also extended to the municipalities outside of reorganization areas. The first parishes to make use of this were the parishes of St. Anthonis (change to Sint Anthonis ) and Bergeyk (change to Bergeijk ).

Municipalities with the same name

In the Netherlands there were and are municipalities with the same name. They are:

Surname 1. Parish 2. Parish 3. Parish
Aalst Gelderland North Brabant
Achttienhoven Utrecht South Holland
Alphen Gelderland South Holland
Beek Gelderland Limburg North Brabant
Mountains Limburg North Holland
Hengelo Gelderland Overijssel
Heusden Gelderland North Brabant
Hoogeveen Drenthe Zuid-Holland,
Delfland		 Zuid-Holland,
Rijnland
boiler Limburg North Brabant
Laren Gelderland North Holland
Loen Gelderland Utrecht
Middelburg Zeeland South Holland
Naaldwijk Zuid-Holland,
Alblasserwaard		 Zuid-Holland,
Delfland
Nieuwland Zeeland South Holland
Oosterwolde Friesland Gelderland
Rijswijk North Brabant South Holland
Scharwoude Noord-Holland,
near Hoorn		 North Holland,
Langedijk
Serooskerke Zeeland,
Schouwen		 Zeeland,
Walcheren
Sloten Friesland North Holland
stone Limburg South Holland
Tienhoven Utrecht South Holland
Valkenburg Limburg South Holland
Valkenisse Zeeland,
Walcheren		 Zeeland,
Zuid-Beveland
Velp Gelderland North Brabant
Zuidbroek Groningen South Holland

Communities that still exist are highlighted in color.

Number of parishes

province 1812 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2011 2016
Drenthe 29 33 33 33 33 34 34 34 34 34 12 12 12
Flevoland 6th 6th 6th
Friesland 93 43 43 43 43 43 43 42 44 44 31 27 24
Gelderland 136 120 118 116 116 116 115 112 105 95 77 56 54
Groningen 62 62 57 57 57 57 57 57 56 50 25th 23 23
Limburg 125 126 125 125 124 123 121 121 110 104 54 33 33
North Brabant 189 189 185 185 184 184 179 152 141 131 70 67 66
North Holland 111 149 147 136 134 134 134 125 119 81 70 58 48
Overijssel 52 62 62 61 61 61 60 54 53 47 44 25th 25th
Utrecht 56 97 92 72 72 72 72 71 58 48 36 26th 26th
Zeeland 143 117 116 113 111 109 109 106 101 30th 17th 13 13
South Holland 148 251 241 197 192 188 186 179 169 144 95 72 60
not classified 2
Public corporation 1 4th 1 3 3
Netherlands 1144 1249 1219 1138 1127 1121 1110 1054 994 811 537 421 393

The figures reflect the status on January 1st of the specified year. For 1812 the numbers of the departments from which the provinces emerged were given.

Size of the parishes

Smallest and largest municipalities in the provinces by area

province date Number of parishes Municipality with the smallest land surface Land
surface in km 2 		Municipality with the largest land surface Land
surface in km 2
Drenthe 01/01/1830 33 Meppel 10.59 Emmen 288.45
01/01/2011 12 Meppel 55.66 Midden-Drenthe 340.98
Flevoland 01/01/2011 6th Document 11.53 Noordoostpolder 460.32
Friesland 01/01/1830 43 Dokkum 0.32 Opsterland 230.58
Fryslân 01/01/2011 27 Harlingen 25.04 Southwest Fryslân 432.20
Gelderland 01/01/1830 119 Inhibit 2.63 Apeldoorn 339.53
01/01/2011 56 Westervoort 7.09 Apeldoorn 339.87
Groningen 01/01/1830 57 Nieuweschans 7.73 Vlagtwedde 154.77
01/01/2011 23 Appingedam 23.80 Oldambt 227.85
Limburg 01/01/1830 123 Valkenburg 0.42 Venray 145.70
01/01/2011 33 Simpelveld 16.03 Horst aan de Maas 188.60
North Brabant 01/01/1830 185 Ravenstein 0.41 Deurne 103.29
01/01/2011 67 Waalre 22.44 Moerdijk 159.10
North Holland 01/01/1830 148 Egmond aan Zee 0.11 Texel 184.51
01/01/2011 58 Bussum 8.04 Wieringermeer 194.93
Overijssel 01/01/1830 62 Blokzijl 0.18 Ambt Ommen 191.19
01/01/2011 25th Oldenzaal 21.59 Hardenberg 312.85
Utrecht 01/01/1830 92 Portengen 0.87 Zeist 49.91
01/01/2011 26th Renswoude 18.43 Utrechtse Heuvelrug 132.16
Zeeland 01/01/1830 117 Veere 1.56 Wissenkerke 44.94
01/01/2011 13 Vlissingen 34.15 Sluis 279.79
South Holland 01/01/1830 249 Cillaarshoek 0.09 Strijen 54.83
01/01/2011 72 Schoonhoven 6.27 Rotterdam 208.84
Netherlands 01/01/1830 1228 Cillaarshoek 0.09 Apeldoorn 339.53
01/01/2011 418 Schoonhoven 6.27 Noordoostpolder 460.32

Smallest municipalities in the provinces in terms of population

The average number of inhabitants per municipality in the provinces is also given. The population for 2011 is that of 2010.

Drenthe
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 29 Odoorn 650 1,603
01/01/1849 33 Oosterhesselen 885 2,507
01/01/1899 34 Nijeveen 1,257 4,369
01/01/1947 34 Nijeveen 1,562 7,997
01/01/2011 12 Westerveld 19,342 40,915
Flevoland
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/2011 6th Document 18,310 64,647
Friesland

2011: Fryslân

date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 91 Willum 895 1,940
01/01/1849 43 Stavoren 642 6,033
01/01/1899 43 Schiermonnikoog 700 7,913
01/01/1947 44 Vlieland 629 10,440
01/01/2011 27 Schiermonnikoog 942 23,937
Gelderland
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 141 Weurt 283 1,806
01/01/1849 118 Loen 117 3,039
01/01/1899 116 Inhibit 214 4,884
01/01/1947 112 Inhibit 205 9,180
01/01/2011 56 Rozendaal 1,495 35,695
Groningen
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 62 Nieuweschans 692 2,188
01/01/1849 57 Nieuweschans 967 3,306
01/01/1899 57 Oldekerk 1,275 5,256
01/01/1947 57 Adorp 1,594 7,892
01/01/2011 23 Ten Boer 7,427 25,072
Limburg
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 125 Vaesrade 120 1,243
01/01/1849 125 Rijckholt 200 1,624
01/01/1899 123 Mesch 244 2,292
01/01/1947 111 Bemelen 292 6.163
01/01/2011 33 Mook en Middelaar 8,049 34,021
North Brabant
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 177 Bokhoven 191 1,654
01/01/1849 185 Bokhoven 220 2.143
01/01/1899 184 Bokhoven 237 3,873
01/01/1947 143 To water 619 8,253
01/01/2011 67 Baarle-Nassau 6.703 36,480
North Holland
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 105 Vlieland 551 3,400
01/01/1849 145 Shardam 41 3,290
01/01/1899 134 Katwoude 244 7,245
01/01/1947 121 Katwoude 258 14,663
01/01/2011 58 Katwoude 5,360 46,019
Overijssel
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 52 Grafhorst 261 2,839
01/01/1849 62 Blankenham 329 3,996
01/01/1899 61 Blankenham 549 5,465
01/01/1947 52 Blankenham 559 12,285
01/01/2011 25th Staphorst 16,153 45.214
Utrecht
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 55 Cothen 521 1,958
01/01/1849 91 Portengen 58 1,660
01/01/1899 72 Laag-Nieuwkoop 402 3,487
01/01/1947 67 Tull en 't Waal 495 8,202
01/01/2011 26th Renswoude 4,602 46,958
Zeeland
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 135 Ost- en Middelzwake 42 834
01/01/1849 116 Gaping 194 1,382
01/01/1899 109 Serooskerke [Schouwen] 321 1,984
01/01/1947 101 Serooskerke [Schouwen] 232 2,582
01/01/2011 13 North Beveland 7,397 29,339
South Holland
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1817 166 Wieldrecht 145 2,359
01/01/1849 234 temple 0 2,408
01/01/1899 188 Tienhoven 332 6,087
01/01/1947 173 Peursum 370 16,671
01/01/2011 72 Zoeterwoude 8,118 48,689
Netherlands
date Number of Community
to 		Community with the lowest number of inhabitants Number of
inhabitants 		throughput
-average Einwoh-
nerzahl
01/01/1815 1,138 Ost- en Middelzwake 42 1.914
01/01/1849 1,209 temple 0 2,528
01/01/1899 1,121 Inhibit 214 4,553
01/01/1947 1,016 Bemelen 292 9,474
01/01/2011 418 Schiermonnikoog 997 39,653

The public bodies Bonaire , Saba and Sint Eustatius were not included.

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