Groningen

Groningen

Groningen, provincie (province), northern Netherlands, drained by numerous short rivers and canals, including the Ems (Eems), the Hoen, the Reit, and the Winschoten canals. The province occupies the region between the Wadden Sea and the Ems Estuary (to the north and northeast), the German border (southeast), and the provinces of Drenthe and Friesland (south and west) and includes the Frisian island of Rottumeroog. The capital is the municipality of Groningen.

The early history of the province is chiefly one of almost continuous conflict between the town of Groningen and the surrounding districts known as the Ommelanden. Although Groningen acquired a dominant position in the region, the disputes persisted; the Ommelanden subscribed to the Union of Utrecht (1579) and the revolt against Spain, while the town of Groningen remained loyal to the Spanish king. After 1594 the two were united into one republic, but until the French occupation the Ommelanden kept their own government and sometimes their own army. Only in 1795 were the two merged into one province.

The sandy ridge of the Hondsrug extends from the Drenthe Plateau to the city of Groningen. The northern part of the province is flat and consists of marine and sandy clay, particularly in the estuaries reclaimed in the Middle Ages and the polders reclaimed later along the northern coast. This rich agricultural region produces wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar beets, oilseeds, and pastures for livestock (especially in the Ommelanden around the capital). Except for the sandy islands of the Westerwolde region, the southeastern part of the province was an extensive peat bog until the end of the 16th century. Reclamation and the transformation of the sandy subsoil by manuring and fertilizing created an agricultural region (Groninger Veenkolonien). The morass along the German border had long been considered a natural frontier and so was left in its impassable condition until the second half of the 19th century. Agriculture in this region has specialized in rye, oats, and potatoes for the starch industry; this type of agriculture has been adopted by the adjoining regions of Westerwolde and the Woldstreek. Intensive cultivation creates a large residue of straw, used in local strawboard factories. The southwest of the province (southern Westerkwartier) has mainly sandy soil that supports mixed farming and cattle raising. Horse breeding and equestrian sports are a favourite activity among the wealthy in many of the agricultural regions of the province.

Groningen, the only large city, has varied industries. The largest natural gas field in the Netherlands underlies most of the north-central part of the province. The Veenkolonien is the most industrialized district of the province, with potato flour mills; paper and cardboard factories; engineering, shipbuilding, chemical, and electrical industries; and textile and hosiery factories. There is sugar refining and dairy processing in the north, and Delfzijl, connected with Groningen by the Ems ship canal, is a busy port with chemical industries (salt). Winschoten is a marketing and shopping centre. Area 1,146 square miles (2,968 square km). Pop. (2009 est.) 574,092.