Gelderland

Gelderland, provincie (province), eastern and central Netherlands. It extends from the German border westward to the narrow Lake Veluwe (separating Gelderland from several polders of Flevoland province) between the provinces of Overijssel (north) and Noord-Brabant, Zuid-Holland, and Utrecht (south). The capital is Arnhem.

The province’s history began with the countship of Gelre, or Geldern, established in the 11th century around castles near Roermond and Geldern (now in Germany). The counts of Gelre acquired the Betuwe and Veluwe regions and, through marriage, the countship of Zutphen. Thus had the counts of Gelre 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 German king, Louis the Bavarian. After 1379 the duchy was ruled from Jülich and by the counts of Egmond and Cleves. The duchy resisted Burgundian domination, but William the Rich (duke of Jülich, Cleves, and Berg) was forced to cede it to Charles V in 1543, after which it formed part of the Burgundian-Habsburg hereditary lands. 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 “estates” of Gelderland, and the princes of Orange were stadholders. 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.

Gelderland is divided by the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) and the Oude (“Old”) IJssel rivers. The main portion north of this line is a formerly glaciated region with sandy soil; south is fertile clay alluvium. The northern portion is divided by the broad valley (Gelderse) of the IJssel into the Veluwe (“Bad Land”) region on the west and the Achterhoek on the east. The hill plateau of the Veluwe is covered with scantily cultivated heaths and some woods, of primarily fir and beech. There are two national parks (Hoge Veluwe and Veluwezoom) and a wildlife reserve. Much of the Veluwe is used for military purposes. In the south, the hills slope steeply along the Rhine, and the wooded part is residential, with some industry around Arnhem. The other large centre of the Veluwe is Apeldoorn along the eastern border. The Achterhoek is a well-watered and wooded pasture region supporting mixed farming, with dairy processing, meat-packing, and leather factories. The eastern part has textile works, and several foundries lie along the Oude IJssel. Zutphen and Doetinchem are the chief markets and have some industries. The valley of the IJssel, the Gelderse Valley (on the west along the Utrecht border), and the northern border of the Veluwe support mixed farming, especially poultry.

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The southern division of the province is watered by the Rhine, Waal, and Maas (Meuse) rivers. In the east are some isolated hills and a sandy, wooded stretch south of Nijmegen, the province’s largest town. The fertile marshy area of the Betuwe (“Good Land”), between the Rhine and the Waal, supports orchards (cherries and apples), market gardening, and mixed farming. Area 1,983 square miles (5,137 square km). Pop. (2009 est.) 1,991,062.