a province in the southwestern part of the Netherlands, mainly on the islands of the Scheldt River delta and mostly below sea level. Area, 1,700 sq km; population, 306,000 (1970). Its administrative center is the city of Middelburg. The proportion of the economically active population employed in industry is 36 percent; in agriculture, 20 percent. The region’s important industries include shipbuilding, machine building, chemicals, and petroleum refining. Grains, sugar beets, peas, flax, hops, livestock fodder, and fruits are raised. There is also a considerable oyster industry.
During the Middle Ages, the northern part of Zeeland belonged to Holland, and the central part was held jointly by Holland and Flanders, under Flemish suzerainty (according to the Treaty of Paris of 1323, Flanders renounced its claims to the area). The continental part of the province belonged to Flanders. In 1428–33, the region became a possession of the dukes of Burgundy; in 1477 (1482) it passed to the Hapsburgs, and in 1579, to the Union of Utrecht. From 1795 to 1806 it was part of the Batavian Republic; from 1806 to 1810 it belonged to the kingdom of Louis Bonaparte, and from 1810 to 1814 it was part of the French Empire. In 1814 it became a province of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.