Why The Netherlands Need For Land Reclamation?

            No country in the world can claim to have more reclaimed land than the Netherlands. (Netherlands means lowland). Land reclamation began more than 700 years ago and is still going on today. Since the Netherlands faces the North Sea and is drained by three large rivers; the Rhine, the Meuse (mass) and the Scheldt, it has always been threatened by flooding. The Netherlands uses the empoldering method to reclaim land.

            It is estimated that 40% of the Netherlands lies below sea-level. The Dutch have to devise the most ingenious ways of fighting the sea to survive. They have to create land to farm and to live. The Dutch are so proud of their achievements in meeting their land demands that they always say, "God created the world, the Dutch created Holland" (the old name for the Netherlands).

            Today, two-fifths of Netherlands is made up of polder or polder land which was once covered by the sea or lakes or by swaps. They represent the most productive farmlands for dairying, horticulture and arable farming. The largest cities such as capital Amsterdam, the chief port Rotterdam and many others are all located in the polder land. The polders are some of the most densely populated parts of the world.