Zeeland and Noord Brabant

The province of Zeeland, in the south west of the Netherlands, is made up, apart from the region called "Zeeuws Vlaanderen" in the south along the Belgian border, of a number of peninsulas and islands in the estuary where the Rijn (Rhine), Schelde and Mass (Meuse) rivers meet the North Sea. The province was under constant threat from flooding and after the devastating floods of February 1953 that killed 1800 people, the "Deltaplan", an ambitious project aimed to protect the region, was instigated. It took 30 years to complete the project that closes off all the sea arms forming the delta of the Rhine and Schelde rivers and consists of 62 movable steel flood gates hung between 65 concrete piers. It is a wonder of engineering. Its motto is "Luctor et emergo" (I struggle and emerge victorious), adopted after Zeeland fought itself free from Spain with the help of the English in 1585.

Zeeland (Sea-land) has a total area of 2684 square km and a population of 380000 and it has an illustrious history. It has played a major role in commerce from the 8th century onwards and its seafaring sons were among the most daring and dashing during the Netherlands' Golden Age. The wealth generated in those days is still apparent in the provincial capital Middelburg and towns like Zierikzee, Sluis, Goes and Veere. The province even has a country named after it - New Zealand.

Noord Brabant was, until the 17th Century, part of the Duchy of Brabant, of which nowadays the larger part belongs to Belgium. In the 14th and 15th Century the Duchy experienced a Golden Age and this is still visible in the cities of 's-Hertogenbosch (the provincial capital) , Breda and, now across the border in Belgium, Antwerpen and Leuven. Brabant was disputed territory, after the Union of Utrecht was signed in 1579, between the Protestant Republic of the Seven Provinces and Catholic Spain, that occupied the southern Netherlands. The northern part eventually became part of the Batavian Republic in 1796 and when in 1830 Belgium separated from the Netherlands, the southern part became part of it and the Netherlands region was named Noord Brabant.

The province of Noord Brabant has an area of 5082 square km and a population of almost 2.5 million. It shares a border with the provinces of Zeeland, Zuid Holland, Gelderland and Limburg and its southern frontier is with Belgium. Traditionally the inhabitants of Brabant have the reputation of a relaxed and fun loving life style, but the province has also become the high-tech centre of the country, with both the electronics company Philips and the truck manufacturer DAF based in the city of Eindhoven. The old towns of Breda and Bergen-op-Zoom, in the west of the province, have a lot of historical buildings, as has the capital 's-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch), dominated by the glorious St. Janskathedraal. But there are also beautiful nature reserves, like the Biesbosch, a unique freshwater delta in the north west, only accessible by boat.

	Church of Dreischor	Dreischor	Tower of Zierikzee	Town Hall of Veere
	Looking over Westkapelle	Bergen op Zoom	City Hall, Bergen op Zoom	Markiezenhof, Bergen o. Z.
	Basilica, Oudenbosch	Cathedral, Den Bosch	Market square, Den Bosch	Old city, Den Bosch

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