Provinces
The Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative regions, called provinces, each under a Governor, who is called Commissaris der Koningin (Commissioner of the Queen), except for the province Limburg where the commissioner is called Gouverneur (Governor) which underlines the more "non-Dutch" mentality.
The provinces are:
- Drenthe - south of Groningen; capital and largest city (proper) Assen
- Flevoland - central, north of Utrecht; capital Lelystad, largest city Almere
- Friesland - north west; capital and largest city Leeuwarden
- Gelderland - east central, south of Overijssel; capital Arnhem, largest city Nijmegen
- Groningen - north east; capital and largest city Groningen
- Limburg - south east; capital and largest city Maastricht
- North Brabant - (Noord-Brabant) south central; capital 's-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch), largest city Eindhoven
- North Holland - (Noord-Holland) north west; capital Haarlem, largest city (of the province and the country) Amsterdam
- Overijssel - east central, south of Drenthe; capital Zwolle, largest city Enschede
- South Holland - (Zuid-Holland) west central, south of North Holland; capital The Hague ('s-Gravenhage or Den Haag), largest city Rotterdam
- Utrecht - central; capital and largest city Utrecht
- Zeeland - south west; capital and largest city Middelburg
All provinces are divided into municipalities (gemeenten), 458 in total (1 January 2006). The country is also subdivided in water districts, governed by a water board (waterschap or hoogheemraadschap), each having authority in matters concerning water management. As of 1 January 2005 there are 27. The creation of water boards actually pre-dates that of the nation itself, the first appearing in 1196. In fact, the Dutch water boards are one of the oldest democratic entities in the world still in existence.
