Dutch provinces
| Provinces of the Netherlands Provincies van Nederland (Dutch) |
|
|---|---|
| Category | Unitary unit |
| Location | Netherlands |
| Number | 12 Provinces |
| Populations | 380,783 (Zeeland) – 3,575,451 (South Holland) |
| Areas | 1,450 km2 (559 sq mi) (Utrecht) - 5,700 km2 (2,220 sq mi) (Fryslân) |
| Government | Provincial government, National government |
| Subdivisions | Municipality |
The Netherlands has 12 provinces (Dutch: provincies) representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance.
The most populous province is South Holland, with over 3.5 million inhabitants in 2009. With approximately 381,000 inhabitants, Zeeland has the smallest population. In terms of area, Friesland is the largest province with a total area of 5,749 km2. If water is excluded, Gelderland is the largest province in terms of area at 4,972 km2. Utrecht is the smallest at 1,449 km2. In total about 13,000 people were employed by the provincial administrations in 2009.
The provinces of the Netherlands are joined in the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands (IPO). This organisation promotes the common interests of the provinces in the national government of the Netherlands in The Hague and within the EU in Brussels.
The government of each province consists of three major parts:
The members of the States-Provincial are elected every four years in direct elections. To a large extent, the same political parties are enlisted in these elections in the national elections. The chosen provincial legislators elect the members of the national Senate within three months after the provincial elections. The elections for the water boards take place on the same date as the provincial elections.
The last three provincial elections were held in 2007, 2011 and in 2015.
The provinces of the Netherlands have 7 core tasks:
To a large extent, the provinces of the Netherlands are financed by the national government. Also, provinces have income from a part of the Vehicle Excise Duty. Several provinces have made a large profit in the past from privatising utility companies originally owned or partly owned by the provinces. An example is Essent, which was originally owned by six provinces and more than a hundred municipalities and was sold for around 9.3 billion euros.
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