Netherlands elevation

Large parts of the Netherlands are below sea level. For centuries, the Dutch have been reclaiming land from the water. Areas reclaimed from the sea are called 'polders'. The technique to dry the land is relatively simple:

• The area is cut off from the sea by building a dike around it.
• The water is then pumped out.

The island of Flevoland, created in the 1950s and 1960s, was reclaimed from a body of water known as the IJsselmeer. It is the largest artificial island in the world.