Editing Zuiderzee (section)

=== Zuiderzee Works ===
[[Image:NL-Zuiderzeeworks.svg|thumb|Map of the [[Zuiderzee Works]] in the Netherlands|260x260px]]
{{Main|Zuiderzee Works}}
[[File:Annotated_Zuiderzee_area.png|thumb|Satellite view of the modern region, with parts of the Zuiderzee Works annotated]]
The construction between 1927 and 1932 of a 19-mile long dam (the [[Afsluitdijk]]), under plans originating from [[Cornelis Lely|Cornelius Lely]], enclosed the Zuiderzee. The creation of this dam was hastened by the [[Flood of 1916|Flood of January 1916]]. Plans for closing the Zuiderzee had been made over thirty years earlier but had not yet passed in [[States General of the Netherlands|parliament]].<ref>{{Cite EB1922|title=Zuider Zee|volume=32|pages=1143–1144 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.83474/page/n1189/mode/2up |last=Lely|first=Cornelius|author-link=Cornelis Lely}}</ref> With the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the Zuiderzee became the [[IJsselmeer]], and the outer portion of the Zuiderzee became the [[Wadden Sea]]. Large areas of land, mainly for agricultural use, were subsequently reclaimed from the water through the construction of [[Polder|polders]] with dams, pumping, and other hydrological technology. Four had been built by the early 1980s. They were the Wieringermeer Polder built in 1930; the Northeast (Noordoost) Polder, built in 1942; the East (Oostelijk) Flevoland Polder, built in 1957; and the South (Zuidelijk) Flevoland Polder, completed in 1968.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=IJsselmeer Polders |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/IJsselmeer-Polders |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> A fifth, [[Markerwaard]], began construction in 1963, and became partially complete, but was abandoned in the mid-1980s.<ref name=":2" /> Collectively, this system of dams, dikes, and polders is called the [[Zuiderzee Works]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-06 |title=Zuiderzee Works |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148799/zuiderzee-works |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=NASA Earth Observatory |publisher=NASA |language=en}}</ref>