Zuiderzee

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Zuiderzee" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (Dutch: [ˌzœydərˈzeː] ^ⓘ; old spelling Zuyderzee or Zuyder Zee), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles). It covered 5,000 km² (1,900 sq mi). Its name is Dutch for "southern sea", indicating that the name originates in Friesland, to the north of the Zuiderzee (cf. North Sea).^{[citation needed]}

In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea by the construction of the Afsluitdijk, leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea. The salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake now called the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake) after the river that drains into it, and by means of drainage and polders, an area of some 1,500 km² (580 sq mi) was reclaimed as land. This land eventually became the province of Flevoland.^[1] Part of the IJsselmeer was also divided into the Markermeer.