Editing Provinces of the Netherlands (section)

== History ==
[[File:Flags of Dutch Provinces The Hague.jpg|thumb|[[Flags of provinces of the Netherlands|Flags of the provinces]] near the [[Hofvijver]] in [[The Hague]]]]

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{{Main|Seventeen Provinces}}

Nearly all Dutch provinces can trace their origin to a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[county]] or [[duchy]], as can the [[provinces of regions in Belgium]]. Their status changed when they came under a single ruler who centralised their administration, reducing their powers. There were 17 in total: from these unified Netherlands, seven northern provinces from 1588 formed the [[Republic of the Seven United Provinces]], namely [[Holland]], [[Zeeland]], [[Gelderland]], [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]], [[Friesland]], [[Overijssel]] and [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]].

The Republic's lands also included [[Drenthe]] (one of the 17, but without the autonomous status of the others), and parts of the [[Duchy of Brabant]], [[Duchy of Limburg]] and [[County of Flanders]], which were considered to be "conquered lands" and were governed directly by the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]], hence their name [[Generality Lands]]. They were called ''Staats-Brabant'', ''Staats-Limburg'' and ''Staats-Vlaanderen'', meaning "governed by the States General".

Each of these "Netherlands" had a high degree of [[Autonomous entity|autonomy]], cooperating with each other mainly on defense and foreign relations, but otherwise keeping to their own affairs.

On 1 January 1796, under the [[Batavian Republic]], Drenthe and Staats-Brabant became the eighth and ninth provinces of the Netherlands. The latter, which had been known as Bataafs Brabant (English: Batavian Brabant), changed its name to Noord-Brabant, North Brabant, in 1815 when it became part of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]], which also contained (then) South Brabant, a province now in [[Belgium]]. This new unified state featured the provinces in their modern form, as non-autonomous subdivisions of the national state, and again numbering 17, though they were not all the same as the 16th century ones. In 1839, following the separation of Belgium, the province of Limburg was divided between the two countries, each now having a province called Limburg. A year later, Holland, the largest and most populous of the Dutch provinces, was also split into two provinces, for a total of 11. The 12th province to be created was [[Flevoland]], consisting almost entirely of [[reclaimed land]], established on 1 January 1986.

===French period===
During the Batavian Republic, the Netherlands was from 1798 to 1801 completely reorganised into eight new departments, most named after rivers, inspired by the [[France|French]] revolutionary example, in an attempt to do away with the old semi-autonomous status of the provinces. They are listed below, with their capitals and the territory of the former provinces that they mostly incorporated:

{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="font-size:95%; margin:auto;"
|+ Batavian Departments
|- 
! English name
! Dutch name
! Capital
! Territory contained
|-
| Department of the [[Ems (river)|Ems]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Eems}}
| [[Leeuwarden]]
| Northern Friesland, Groningen
|-
| Department of the Old [[IJssel]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Oude IJssel}}
| [[Zwolle]]
| Southern Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel, Northern Gelderland
|-
| Department of the [[Rhine]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Rijn}}
| [[Arnhem]]
| Central Gelderland, Eastern Utrecht
|-
| Department of the [[Amstel]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Amstel}}
| [[Amsterdam]]
| Area around Amsterdam
|-
| Department of [[Texel]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van Texel}}
| [[Alkmaar]]
| Northern Holland minus Amsterdam, Northwestern Utrecht
|-
| Department of the [[Delft]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Delft}}
| [[Delft]]
| Southern Holland up to the Meuse, Southwestern Utrecht
|-
| Department of the [[Dommel]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Dommel}}
| [['s-Hertogenbosch]]
| Eastern Batavian Brabant, Southern Gelderland
|-
| Department of the [[Scheldt]] and [[Meuse]]
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Schelde en Maas}}
| [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]]
| Zeeland, Southern Holland under the Meuse and Western Batavian Brabant
|}
 
After only three years, following a [[coup d'état]], the borders of the former provinces were restored, though not their autonomous status. They were now also called "departments" and Drenthe was added to Overijssel. In 1806 the [[Kingdom of Holland]] replaced the republic to further French interests. It was during this administration that Holland was first split in two, with the department of {{lang|nl|Amstelland}} to the north and that of {{lang|nl|Maasland}} to the south. [[East Frisia]], then as now in [[Germany]], was added to the kingdom as a department in 1807 and Drenthe split off again making a total of 11 departments.

When the Netherlands finally did become fully part of France in 1810, the departments of the kingdom and their borders were largely maintained, with some joined. They were however nearly all renamed, again mainly after rivers, though the names differed from their Batavian counterparts. Following are their names and the modern day province they mostly correspond to:

[[File:Netherlands during French administration 1810-1814.png|thumb|right|Map of the subdivisions of the Netherlands during French administration; East Frisia is not included in this later map]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="font-size:95%; margin:auto;"
|+ French departments in the Netherlands
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! English name
! French name
! Dutch name
! Modern territory
|-
| Department of the [[Zuiderzee]]
| {{lang|fr|[[Département]] du [[Zuyderzée]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Zuiderzee}}
| North Holland and Utrecht
|-
| Department of the Mouths of the Meuse
| {{lang|fr|Département des [[Bouches-de-la-Meuse]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Monden van de Maas}}
| South Holland
|-
| Department of the Mouths of the Scheldt
| {{lang|fr|Département des [[Bouches-de-l'Escaut]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Monden van de Schelde}}
| Zeeland
|-
| Department of the Two Nethes
| {{lang|fr|Département des [[Deux-Nèthes]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Twee Nethen}}
| Western North Brabant and [[Antwerp (province)|Antwerp]]
|-
| Department of the Mouths of the Rhine
| {{lang|fr|Département des [[Bouches-du-Rhin]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Monden van de Rijn}}
| Eastern North Brabant and southern Gelderland
|-
| Department of the Upper IJssel
| {{lang|fr|Département de l'[[Yssel-Supérieur]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Boven IJssel}}
| Northern Gelderland
|-
| Department of the Mouths of the IJssel
| {{lang|fr|Département des [[Bouches-de-l'Yssel]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Monden van de IJssel}}
| Overijssel
|-
| Department of Frisia
| {{lang|fr|Département de la [[Frise (department)|Frise]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement Friesland}}
| Friesland
|-
| Department of the Western Ems
| {{lang|fr|Département de l'[[Ems-Occidental]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Wester Eems}}
| Groningen and Drenthe
|-
| Department of the Eastern Ems
| {{lang|fr|Département de l'[[Ems-Oriental]]}}
| {{lang|nl|Departement van de Ooster Eems}}
| East Frisia
|}
 
With the defeat and withdrawal of the French in 1813, the old provinces and their names were re-established, Holland was reunited and East-Frisia went its separate way. The 17 provinces of the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] were for a significant part based on the former French departments and their borders, in particular in what would later become Belgium.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

There is continuous discussion within the Netherlands about the future of the provinces. Before 2014, the national government was planning to merge the provinces Flevoland, North Holland and Utrecht into a single province {{ill|Noordvleugelprovincie|nl}}. Due to significant protest the plan was abandoned.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=nu.nl |title=Superprovincie gaat definitief niet door |date=20 June 2014 |url=https://www.nu.nl/politiek/3807729/superprovincie-gaat-definitief-niet.html |access-date=26 October 2019 |language=nl-NL }}</ref>