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Administrative divisions in Netherlands

Administrative divisions The Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative regions, called provinces, each under a Governor, who is called Commissaris van de Koningin (Commissioner of the Queen), except for the province Limburg where the commissioner is called Gouverneur (Governor).

All provinces are divided into municipalities (gemeenten), 430 in total (13 March 2010). The country is also subdivided in water districts, governed by a water board (waterschap or hoogheemraadschap), each having authority in matters concerning water management. As of 1 January 2005 there are 27. The creation of water boards actually pre-dates that of the nation itself, the first appearing in 1196. The Dutch water boards are among the oldest democratic entities in the world still in existence. The administrative structure on the 3 BES islands, also known as the Caribbean Netherlands, is different. These islands have the status of openbare lichamen (public bodies) and are generally referred to as special municipalities. They are not part of a province

Provinces of the Netherlands

Flag Province Capital Largest city Area
(km²)
Population
1-1-2010
Density
(per km²)
Total 33,751 16,574,989 491
Flag Drenthe.svg Drenthe Assen Assen 2,641 490,981 186
Flevolandflag.svg Flevoland Lelystad Almere 1,417 387,881 274
Frisian flag.svg Friesland Leeuwarden Leeuwarden 3,341 646,305 193
Gelderland-Flag.svg Gelderland Arnhem Nijmegen 4,971 1,998,936 402
Flag Groningen.svg Groningen Groningen Groningen 2,333 576,668 247
NL-LimburgVlag.svg Limburg Maastricht Maastricht 2,150 1,122,701 522
North Brabant-Flag.svg North Brabant 's-Hertogenbosch Eindhoven 4,916 2,444,158 497
Flag North-Holland, Netherlands.svg North Holland Haarlem Amsterdam 2,671 2,669,084 999
Flag of Overijssel.svg Overijssel Zwolle Enschede 3,325 1,130,345 340
Utrecht (province)-Flag.svg Utrecht Utrecht Utrecht 1,385 1,220,910 882
Flag of Zeeland.svg Zeeland Middelburg Middelburg 1,787 381,409 213
Flag Zuid-Holland.svg South Holland The Hague Rotterdam 2,814 3,505,611 1,246

Special municipalities of the Netherlands

Flag Name Capital Largest city Area
(km²)
Population
31-12-2010
Density
(per km²)
Total 328 21,133 64
Bonaire Bonaire Kralendijk Kralendijk 294 15,666 53
Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius Oranjestad Oranjestad 21 3,543 169
Saba Saba The Bottom The Bottom 13 1,824 140