Province of the Netherlands
Province of the Netherlands
Province of Gelderland
Provincie Gelderland
(
Dutch
)
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![Coat of arms of Province of Gelderland](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Gelderland_wapen.svg/100px-Gelderland_wapen.svg.png) Coat of arms
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Anthem: "
Ons Gelderland
"
"Our Gelderland"
|
![Location of Gelderland in the Netherlands](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Gelderland_in_the_Netherlands.svg/250px-Gelderland_in_the_Netherlands.svg.png) Location of Gelderland in the Netherlands
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![Topography map of Gelderland](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Prov-Gelderland-OpenTopo.jpg/250px-Prov-Gelderland-OpenTopo.jpg) Topography map of Gelderland
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Coordinates:
52°04′N
5°57′E
/
52.06°N 5.95°E
/
52.06; 5.95
|
Country
| Netherlands
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Capital
| Arnhem
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Largest city
| Nijmegen
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|
?
King's Commissioner
| Henri Lenferink
(
PvdA
)
|
---|
? Council
| States of Gelderland
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? Total
| 5,136 km
2
(1,983 sq mi)
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? Land
| 4,960 km
2
(1,920 sq mi)
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? Water
| 176 km
2
(68 sq mi)
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? Rank
| 2nd
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|
? Total
| 2,133,708
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? Rank
| 4th
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? Density
| 430/km
2
(1,100/sq mi)
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? Rank
| 6th
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|
? Total
| €86.736 billion
|
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? Per capita
| €42,100
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ISO 3166 code
| NL-GE
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Religion
(2015)
| 46% Not religious, 23% Protestant, 22% Catholic
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HDI
(2021)
| 0.930
[4]
very high
·
5th of 12
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Website
| www.gelderland.nl
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Gelderland
(
Dutch pronunciation:
[???ld?rl?nt]
ⓘ
), also known as
Guelders
(
)
[5]
in English, is a
province
of the
Netherlands
, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of 5,136 km
2
(1,983 sq mi) of which 176 km
2
(68 sq mi) is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by total area.
[6]
Gelderland shares borders with six other provinces (
Flevoland
,
Limburg
,
North Brabant
,
Overijssel
,
South Holland
and
Utrecht
) and the
German
state of
North Rhine-Westphalia
.
The capital is
Arnhem
(pop. 159,265
[7]
); however,
Nijmegen
(pop. 176,731) and
Apeldoorn
(pop. 162,445) are both larger municipalities. Other major regional centres in Gelderland are
Ede
,
Doetinchem
,
Zutphen
,
Harderwijk
,
Tiel
,
Wageningen
,
Zevenaar
, and
Winterswijk
. Gelderland had a population of about 2,134,000 as of January 2023.
[2]
It contains the Netherlands's largest
forest
region (the
Veluwe
), the
Rhine
and other major rivers, and a significant amount of
orchards
in the south (
Betuwe
).
History
[
edit
]
Historically, the province dates from states of the
Holy Roman Empire
and takes its name from the nearby German city of
Geldern
. According to the Wichard saga, the Lords of Pont fought and killed a
dragon
in 878 AD, and named the town they founded after the death-rattle of the dragon: "
Gelre!
"
[8]
The County of
Guelders
arose out of the
Frankish
pagus
Hamaland
in the 11th century around castles near
Roermond
and
Geldern
. The counts of Gelre acquired the
Betuwe
and
Veluwe
regions and, through marriage, the
County of Zutphen
. Thus the counts of Guelders laid the foundation for a territorial power that, through control of the
Rhine
,
Waal
,
Meuse
and
IJssel
rivers, was to play an important role in the later
Middle Ages
. The geographical position of their territory dictated the external policy of the counts during the following centuries; they were committed to the interests of the
Holy Roman Empire
and to expansion south and west.
Further enlarged by the acquisition of the imperial city of Nijmegen in the 13th century, the countship was raised to a duchy in 1339 by the Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV
. After 1379, the duchy was ruled from
Julich
and by the counts of
Egmond
and
Cleves
. The duchy resisted
Burgundian
domination, but
William, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
was forced to cede it to
Charles V
in 1543, after which it formed part of the Burgundian-Habsburg hereditary lands.
[9]
The duchy revolted with the rest of the Netherlands against
Philip II of Spain
and joined the
Union of Utrecht
(1579). After the deposition of Philip II, its sovereignty was vested in the
States of Gelderland
, and the
princes of Orange
were
stadtholders
. In 1672, the province was temporarily occupied by
Louis XIV
and, in 1713, the southeastern part, including the ducal capital of Geldern, fell to
Prussia
. Part of the
Batavian Republic
(1795?1806), of
Louis Bonaparte
's
Kingdom of Holland
(1806?10), and of the
French Empire
(1810?13), Gelderland became a province of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815.
[9]
During the
Second World War
, it saw heavy fighting between
Allied Paratroopers, British XXX Corps and the German II SS Panzer Corps
, at the
Battle of Arnhem
.
Culture
[
edit
]
In Gelderland there are many museums, like the
Netherlands Open Air Museum
and
Museum Arnhem
in Arnhem,
Valkhof Museum
in Nijmegen, the
Het Loo Palace
in
Apeldoorn
and in
Otterlo
the
Kroller-Muller Museum
. There are several large theatres in Gelderland such as the Stadsschouwburg in Nijmegen, Stadstheater in Arnhem and Orpheus (theater) in Apeldoorn. Some cities are also equipped with large concert halls like MUSIS (formerly: Musis sacrum) in Arnhem and
Concertgebouw de Vereeniging
in Nijmegen. The known by a larger public pop-music venues are Luxor Live in Arnhem, Doornroosje in Nijmegen, Gigant in Apeldoorn and the
GelreDome
stadium in Arnhem. Every year the municipality
Renkum
and
Overbetuwe
receive a large amount of tourist visiting because of the
Battle of Arnhem
. Often historical locations are visited, like the
John Frost Bridge
and the
Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery
in
Oosterbeek
.
Geography
[
edit
]
Gelderland can roughly be divided into four geographical regions: the
Veluwe
in the north, the Rivierenland including the
Betuwe
in the southwest, the
Achterhoek
(literally meaning the "back corner") or Graafschap (which originally means
earldom
or county) in the east and the city-region of Arnhem and Nijmegen in the centre-south.
Municipalities
[
edit
]
Clickable map of Gelderland
In 2020, the 51
municipalities
in Gelderland were divided into four
COROPs
:
- Veluwe
COROP group
- South West Gelderland
COROP group
- Achterhoek
COROP group
- Arnhem & Nijmegen
COROP group
Abolished municipalities
[
edit
]
Veluwezoom National Park
Landscape near
Putten
View of
Dodewaard
These municipalities were merged with neighbouring ones:
These municipalities were merged and given a new name:
Economy
[
edit
]
The
gross domestic product
(GDP) of the region was €78.3 billion in 2018, accounting for 10.1% of the Netherlands' economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €33,000 or 110% of the
EU27
average in the same year.
[10]
Religion
[
edit
]
Religion in Gelderland (2015)
[11]
Not religious (46.3%)
Other (5.3%)
In 2015, 23.2% of the population belonged to the
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
, while 21.6% were
Roman Catholic
, 3.6% were
Muslim
, and 5.3% adhered to other churches or faiths. Close to half of the population (46.3%) identified as non-religious.
Cultural references
[
edit
]
In the 2001 movie
A Knight's Tale
, the protagonist, William Thatcher (played by
Heath Ledger
) pretends to be a knight known as "Ulrich von Lichtenstein from Gelderland".
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Gelderland
.
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| Map: Provinces of the Netherlands
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