Gelderland
Province of the Netherlands
Flag of Gelderland
Flag
Coat of arms of Gelderland
Coat of arms
Anthem: "Ons Gelderland"
"Our Gelderland"
Location of Gelderland in the Netherlands
Location of Gelderland in the Netherlands
Coordinates: 52°04′N 5°57′E / 52.06°N 5.95°E / 52.06; 5.95
CountryNetherlands
CapitalArnhem
Largest cityNijmegen
Government
 • King's CommissionerJohn Berends (CDA)
 • CouncilStates of Gelderland
Area
 (2017)[1]
 • Total5,136 km2 (1,983 sq mi)
 • Land4,964 km2 (1,917 sq mi)
 • Water173 km2 (67 sq mi)
 • Rank2nd
Population
 (1 November 2019)[2]
 • Total2,084,478
 • Rank4th
 • Density420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
  • Rank6th
GDP
[3]
 • Total€86.736 billion
 • Per capita€42,100
ISO 3166 codeNL-GE
Religion (2015)46% Not religious, 23% Protestant, 22% Catholic
HDI (2019)0.933[4]
very high · 5th of 12
Websitewww.gelderland.nl

Gelderland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣɛldərlɑnt] ⓘ), also known as Guelders (/ˈɡɛldərz/)[5] in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of 5,136 km2 (1,983 sq mi) of which 173 km2 (67 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 2,084,478 as of November 2019.[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

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 named the city, who fought and killed a dragon in 878 AD. They 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 Jülich and by the counts of Egmond and Cleves. The duchy resisted Burgundian domination, but William, Duke of Jülich-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

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 Kröller-Müller 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

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

Clickable map of Gelderland

In 2020, the 51 municipalities in Gelderland were divided into four COROPs:

Abolished municipalities

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:

Municipalities of Gelderland (2019)

Economy

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

Religion in Gelderland (2015)[11]

  Not religious (46.3%)
  Protestant Church in the Netherlands (23.2%)
  Catholicism (21.6%)
  Other (5.3%)
  Islam (3.6%)

Cultural references

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

  1. ↑ "Oppervlakte".
  2. 1 2 "CBS Statline". opendata.cbs.nl.
  3. ↑ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Guelders". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Regionale kerncijfers Nederland" [Regional key figures Netherlands]. CBS Statline (in Dutch). CBS. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "CBS Statline". opendata.cbs.nl.
  8. ↑ Geldersche volksalmanak Volumes 21-22; Nijhoff & son; 1855
  9. 1 2 "Gelderland". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  11. ↑ Helft Nederlanders is kerkelijk of religieus, CBS, 22 December 2016
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