Dutch provinces

The Dutch government consists of three tiers: the central government, the provinces and the local municipalities. The provinces are the “middle tier” of public administration. Currently, there are 12 Dutch provinces, which are divided into 380 municipalities.

The role of the province in the Netherlands

The province in the Netherlands represents an administrative layer between the national government and the local government, taking care of matters of regional importance. 

The provincial government

Each provincial government in the Netherlands consists of three major parts:

1. The provincial coucil (Provinciale Staten)
2. The provincial executive (Gedeputeerde Staten)
3. The King's Commissioner (Commissaris van de Koning) 

The Provincial Council (Provinciale Staten)

The Provincial Council is a provincial parliament, whose members are directly elected every four years. They are tasked with directing provincial policy and monitoring the Provincial Executive. The Provincial Council also elects members of the Senate (Eerste Kamer); this happens just after the election of the new Provincial Council members.

The number of Provincial Council members varies per province and depends on the size of the province. Flevoland and Zeeland have the least members with 39, whilst North Brabant, North Holland and South Holland have the most with 55. Being a member is a part-time job, and members get compensation instead of a salary.

The Provincial Executive (Gedeputeerde Staten)

The Provincial Executive is a collegial body that prepares and implements the decisions of the Provincial Council. It also carries out a large number of the national government’s laws and regulations, supervises the local municipal authorities, and appoints and dismisses civil servants.

You can’t be a member of both the Provincial Executive and the Provincial Council. This ensures that the tasks of both are being kept separate. This is especially important, as the Provincial Council holds the Provincial Executive college to account. The presiding member of the Provincial Executive is the King’s Commissioner.

The college’s members (gedeputeerden) are elected once every four years by the members of the Provincial Council. Per province, there are a minimum of three and a maximum of seven representatives, each with their own portfolio.

The King’s Commissioner (Commissaris van de Koning)

The King’s Commissioner is the government’s representative at a provincial level. Commissioners preside over the Provincial Executive, as well as the Provincial Council. They are also a member of the Provincial Executive. The King’s Commissioner is appointed by royal decree for a term of six years.

The King’s Commissioner:

• Ensures the correct procedures are followed when mayors are appointed or reappointed.
• Oversees the quality of the provincial policymaking and decision-making practices of both the Provincial Council and the Provincial Executive.
• Encourages cooperation between the province’s numerous organisations and institutions.

Tasks of a Dutch province

Dutch provincial authorities are responsible for a number of things, such as:

• Overseeing the local municipalities
• Overseeing the 21 regional water authorities
• Ensuring that an ambulance is able to reach any destination in the province within 15 minutes
• Deciding where roads, railway tracks, shipping routes and areas for nature, recreation, industry and farms are to be situated
• Deciding whether cities or villages may expand and where business parks may be constructed
• Being responsible for the construction and maintenance of bridges, cycle paths and provincial roads
• Ensuring that recreational waters are clean and creating safe routes for trucks carrying dangerous substances
• Overseeing compliance with environmental laws on air, soil and water quality
• Creating new nature areas and maintaining existing areas

The 12 Dutch provinces

There are 12 different provinces in the Netherlands, each with their own individual characteristics when it comes to habits, local cuisine and regional quirks. 

The map below shows the Netherlands divided up into the 12 Dutch provinces, with their capital cities labelled:

Here is a brief overview of the 12 different Dutch provinces: 

Drenthe 

Located in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands, Drenthe is bordered by Overijssel, Friesland, Groningen and Germany. Although archeological evidence shows that it has been inhabited by humans for at least 15.000 years, Drenthe has one of the lowest population densities of any Dutch province. It is a predominately rural area, with many forests and landscapes turned over to agriculture. Its capital is the city of Assen. 

Flevoland

Flevoland was established on January 1, 1986, making it the 12th and newest province in the Netherlands. It is situated in the centre of the country, in the former inland lake the Zuiderzee, on land that was reclaimed in the 1950s and 1960s. In terms of land area, it is the smallest province in the Netherlands, because so much of its surface is covered by water. Its capital is Lelystad and its largest city is Almere. 

Friesland

Situated in the northern part of the Netherlands, and named after the people who inhabit it, the Frisians, Friesland is the largest province in the Netherlands, if you count the water as well. A rural province made up of grassland and lakes, Friesland is also home to four of the Netherlands' national parks, and four West Frisian Islands: Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. 

Gelderland

Gelderland is located in the central eastern part of the Netherlands. If you don't count water, it is the largest province of the country, with a land area measuring almost 5.000 square kilometres. Its largest cities are Nijmegen and Apeldoorn, but the capital of the province is actually Arnhem. Gelderland is home to the Netherlands' largest forest region, is crossed by the Rhine and other major rivers, and boasts a proud collection of high-calibre museums, theatres and concert halls. 

Groningen 

The northernmost province of the Netherlands, Groningen has a population of nearly 600.000 people, of which roughly a third lives in the city with which the province shares its name, Groningen. Originally, the largest part of the province spoke Frisian, which has impacted the current West Low German dialect spoken in Groningen. It is a province of agriculture, and is also home to the Groningen gas field, one of the largest in the world. 

Limburg

Limburg is the southernmost province of the Netherlands, bordered by Gelderland to the north and North Brabant to the west, and Germany to the east. It is home to the Vaalserberg (“mountain” of Vaals), a hill with a height of 322.4 metres, making it the highest point in the Dutch mainland. This “mountain” is also the location of the tripoint between the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Its provincial capital is Maastricht, and other major cities in Limburg include Venlo and Heerlen. 

North Brabant

(Confusingly) located in the south of the Netherlands, North Brabant is also called Brabant by many of its inhabitants. It is home to three national parks (De Biesbosch, De Loonse en Drunense Duinen and De Grote Peel) and one cross-border park with Belgium called De Zoom-Kalmthoutse Heide. It's also home to some major Dutch cities, including Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, and its provincial capital Den Bosch. 

North Holland

North Holland is situated in the north-western part of the Netherlands. Whilst its largest city and municipality is the country’s capital, Amsterdam, the provincial capital is Haarlem. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, North Holland was part of a larger province known as "Holland", which in 1840 was split into the two provinces of North and South Holland. North Holland is one of the most densely-populated Dutch provinces, home to around one in six Dutch people. Five of its 47 municipalities have more than 100.000 inhabitants. 

Overijssel

Overijssel is situated in the east of the Netherlands, bordering Germany, the Achterhoek region, the Veluwe region and the former moors of Drenthe. Its capital city is Zwolle, but its largest city is Enschede. It is a more rural province, covered in grasslands and forests. 

South Holland

South Holland is the Netherlands’ most populous province and one of the world’s most densely populated areas with over 3,8 million people living on roughly 3.403 square kilometres. Whilst the largest city of the province is Rotterdam, the provincial capital is The Hague. Europe's busiest seaport, the Port of Rotterdam, is also located in South Holland.

Utrecht

Situated in the middle of the Netherlands, Utrecht is the smallest of the provinces with an area of roughly 1.400 square kilometres. It is divided into 26 local municipalities, and its largest cities are Utrecht, Amersfoort, Veenendaal, Zeist and Nieuwegein. Utrecht Centraal, which is located in the province, is the busiest railway station in the Netherlands. 

Zeeland

The westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands is Zeeland with just under 400.000 inhabitants. Zeeland consists of several islands and peninsulas and its beaches are a big hit with tourists, especially ones from Germany. Large parts of the province are below sea level, but it hasn't suffered a major flood since 1953. Interesting fact: the country New Zealand was named after Zeeland by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.