The facts
Zeeland has highly skilled technicians, well-known science-institutes, well-educated young people, a lot of high-tech business, many talented artists and three restaurants with the world famous Michelin-stars.
Zeeland has so many vibrations in the air that the world famous painter Piet Mondriaan started his abstract painting here.
Zeeland has more than 10.000 relatively poor people, some of them with big, big debts.
Zeeland has the largest investment made this century by a foreign company in the Netherlands. The American giant Dow Chemicals has its most important non-Stateside plant in Terneuzen.
Zeeland has a modern culture. Internationally rather famous is our yearly Festival Nieuwe Muziek.
Zeeland has a very old culture too. Zeeland is one of the oldest pieces of Europe. We have some prehistorian sites and famous are our monumental buildings in Veere, Middelburg and Zierikzee.

Zeeland has a bit of Gaelic way of living. Our languages have that special melody. A lot of us feel also at home in Ireland, Scotland or Bretagne. We have a lot of sea in our blood and we don't give ourselves easily. But when we do, you have a friend for life.
Over the last fifteen years, revolutionary economic initiatives have opened up the whole province. The completion of the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier, in 1986, means that the hinterland is no longer in danger of flooding. The barrier, which can be closed at high tides and during storms is the largest in the world. It is admired worldwide for the ingenuity and brilliance of its construction.

The fishing industry
Zeeland has the event where great people of the earth meet in its capital Middelburg, for The Four Freedoms Awards. These awards are named after the former US-president Roosevelt. Among the people who got them, are the Daila Lama, the king of Spain, our former queen Juliana and lots'o other famous people.
Zeeland has more than thirty different regional languages, but most of the Zeeuwen have two languages, they speak default-Dutch too. A lot of them speak also English and German. At least they try.
Zeeland has a very modern infrastructure. At this moment we're building the longest tunnel Holland has ever seen. 6 Kilometer long and 60 meter beneath the surface of the Westerschelde. Can you dig that?
Zeeland has the bottom below (!) sea-level, so we're great in building dikes and fighting against the sea. 'God created the earth, but Zeeland was created by the Zeeuwen', that's what they say about us. But, in 1953, a big flood came over Zeeland. It killed 1835 people. And at this very moment, the national government is thinking of paying 600 million guilder more too improve the dikes. Research has pointed out that improving is necessary if we want to keep our feet dry in the next century. Read one of the best poems made on our big flood in '53.
Did you know that more than a third of Zeeland is water? Zeeland's centuries-old coat of arms depicts a lion emerging from the water. Underneath is the motto 'luctor et emergo': I struggle and will rise.
Zeeland has all the modern problems like drugs, rising crime, and pollution. And a lot of politicians, who don't understand what the people really want, but isn't that a global problem?
Zeeland has as a fact that the youngest girl who daily wears the traditional costume (klederdracht) is more than 60 years old.

Zeeland has the largest amount of sunshine of the Netherlands.
Zeeland has every year more modern white windmills of which we get our electricity from. Our newest is 77 (!) meter high. Our best-known female singer Anja Kopmels sings that the sound of those wings is 'like music in the ears'.
Zeeland has too many unemployed people. The regional economy depends too much on heavy industry, like our nucleair powerplant that is going to close in 2004. About 500 people are working there. What we need are a lot off new small and clean companies.

The facts of our country: The Netherlands
Zeeland knows a revival of the old regional languages and with it the Zeeuwse music. Important singers like Engel Reinhoudt, Peter Dieleman, the very popular pop band Surrender and of course Anja Kopmels, and choirs as Het Weskappels Dameskoor, support that trend very well. There's music in the streets here, much, much music.
Zeeland has visits from millions of tourists. Good for the economy, but al lot of people find it too busy in the coastal zones. 'Zeeland is vol', they shout. And the others shout back, so now and then it's pretty noisy over here. But if you don't mind the crowds en do like clean beaches and fresh seawater, you can have a pretty good holiday here.
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