Gelderland

Details

Category: 12 provinces

Gelderland is a province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country.

Historically, the province (area) dates from states of the Holy Roman Empire and takes its name from the nearby German city of Geldern.

The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn are very similarly sized, with the former having more inhabitants than Arnhem, the latter a few thousand fewer. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen, Wageningen, Zevenaar and Epe.

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands.

History
The current province of Gelderland covers about the area of three quarters of the historical Duchy of Guelders. Guelders was a county in the late 11th century and then a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire, including parts of the present-day Dutch province of Limburg and the German district of Kleve (Cleves). Geldern, the original seat of the dukes, today is in Kleve, Germany. In 1543, Gelderland became one of the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands, though not one of the richer or more densely-populated provinces. During World War II, it saw heavy fighting between Allied Paratroopers, British XXX Corps and the German II SS Panzer Corps, also known as the Battle of Arnhem.

Geography
Gelderland is geographically divided into three regions: the Veluwe in the north, the Betuwe in the southwest and the Achterhoek (literally meaning the "back corner") or Graafschap (which originally means earldom or county) in the east.

Currently (2011), the municipalities in Gelderland are as follows:

    Aalten
    Apeldoorn
    Arnhem
    Barneveld
    Berkelland
    Beuningen
    Bronckhorst
    Brummen
    Buren
    Culemborg
    Doesburg    

    Doetinchem
    Druten
    Duiven
    Ede
    Elburg
    Epe
    Ermelo
    Geldermalsen
    Groesbeek
    Harderwijk
    Hattem    

    Heerde
    Heumen
    Lingewaal
    Lingewaard
    Lochem
    Maasdriel
    Millingen aan de Rijn
    Montferland
    Neder-Betuwe
    Neerijnen
    Nijkerk    

    Nijmegen
    Nunspeet
    Oldebroek
    Oost Gelre
    Oude IJsselstreek
    Overbetuwe
    Putten
    Renkum
    Rheden
    Rijnwaarden
    Rozendaal    

    Scherpenzeel
    Tiel
    Ubbergen
    Voorst
    Wageningen
    West Maas en Waal
    Westervoort
    Wijchen
    Winterswijk
    Zaltbommel
    Zevenaar
    Zutphen