IJsselmeer : Ask Biography

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IJsselmeer (-nlˌɛi̯səlˈmeːr; sometimes translated as Lake Ĳssel, alternative international spelling: Lake Yssel) is a shallow artificial lake of 1100 km2 in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. It is named after the Ĳssel river that drains into it via a smaller lake, the Ketelmeer. The Ĳsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe.

The internal capitalization in the spelling is because IJ is a digraph in Dutch, possibly a ligature, and sometimes considered a single letter (see IJ (letter)).

The Ĳsselmeer was created in 1932 when an inland sea, the Zuiderzee, was closed by a 32 km dam, the Afsluitdijk. This was part of a major hydraulic engineering project known as the Zuiderzee Works, that years later led to the reclaiming of land from the Ĳsselmeer, thereby diminishing the size of the lake. In 1975 the Ĳsselmeer was further split in two by the completion of the Houtribdijk, now also called Markerwaarddijk, which runs from Enkhuizen southeast to Lelystad. This former southern part of the Ĳsselmeer is now the hydrologically separate Markermeer.

The Ĳsselmeer functions as a major fresh water reserve, serving as a source for agriculture and drinking water. It also offers plenty of opportunities for various recreational activities.

The province of Flevoland was created in 1986 from the polders reclaimed from the Ĳsselmeer.