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The IJsselmeer [a] (Dutch: [ˌɛisəlˈmeːr] ⓘ; West Frisian: Iselmar, Dutch Low Saxon: Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, [3] is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland.
The IJssel (Dutch: ⓘ; Dutch Low Saxon: Iessel(t)) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour.
All of the Netherlands is drained into the North Sea, partly via the IJsselmeer lake. In the list below, rivers that flow into the sea are sorted following the North Sea coast (including IJsselmeer) from the Belgian border near Knokke to the German border near Emden. Rivers that flow into other rivers are sorted by the proximity of their points ...
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 km 2 (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.
Periodically discharging the lake is necessary since it is continually fed by rivers and streams (most notably the IJssel River, for which the lake is named) and polders draining excess water into the IJsselmeer. The Afsluitdijk was opened 25 September 1933, with a monument marking the spot where the dam was finished.
Various tributaries can sometimes add water to the total flow of the river, for example the Berkel and the Schipbeek. The IJssel river is the only branch of the Rhine delta that consumes tributary rivers instead of giving birth to distributary rivers. The latter only happens at the last part of the river, where the small IJssel Delta is created.
The town of Edam was founded around a dam crossing the river E or IJe close by the Zuiderzee, now known as the IJsselmeer. Around 1230 the channel was dammed. At the dam goods had to be transferred to other vessels and the inhabitants of Edam could levy a toll. This enabled Edam to grow as a trade town.
The Hollandse or Hollandsche IJssel (pronounced [ˌɦɔlɑntsə ˈʔɛisəl]; "Holland IJssel", as opposed to the 'regular' or Gelderland IJssel) is a branch of the Rhine delta that flows westward from Nieuwegein on river Lek through IJsselstein, Gouda and Capelle aan den IJssel to Krimpen aan den IJssel, where it ends in the Nieuwe Maas.