The name ''Rijnland'' (alternative historical spellings: ''Rhijnland'', ''Rhynland'', ''Rynland''; Latin ''Rhenolandia'') means "Rhineland" in Dutch. When referring to the Rhine in Germany, "Rijnland" has the same meaning as "Rhineland" in English or "Rheinland" in German. However, "Rijnland" has a specific, different meaning in a Dutch context - the area along the Oude Rijn.

Special Dutch sense

When used in the specific Dutch context, "Rijnland" generally refers to the area around the Oude Rijn, the lower reaches of a minor branch of the Rhine river in the Netherlands. This river is referred to as "Rijn" (Rhine) in the Netherlands for historical reasons. This small, heavily-canalised and remote branch of the Rhine was, in fact, the river that the Romans used to call the Rhine and the northern limit of the Roman Empire in this area. The term "Rijnland" is itself ancient.

Relationship between Rhine, Rijn and Rijnland

Today, when the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

river enters the Netherlands from Germany, most of it becomes the river Waal and is no longer called the Rhine. However, some of it flows north (through a canal) after which it splits into the

Nederrijn 300px, Course of the Nederrijn Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine ben ...

(Lower Rhine) and the

IJssel The IJssel (; nds-nl, 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 harbo ...

. The Nederrijn eventually becomes the Lek, but a branch of it flows through a canal to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

where it is further canalised and directed west. The names for this minor waterway as it flows through the provinces of

and

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

change, but all the names still include the name "Rijn" and it is not unusual for it to be referred to as the "Rijn". Its varying names are

Kromme Rijn The Kromme Rijn () ("Crooked Rhine", for its many bends) is a river in the central Netherlands. In Roman times, this northernmost branch of the Rhine delta was the main distributary of this major European river. Along its banks the Romans bu ...

("Crooked Rhine"),

Leidse Rijn The Leidse Rijn (Dutch for "Leiden's Rhine") is a canal in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. It was dug since the Middle Ages when the meandering old Rhine course silted up. The Leidse Rijn has a length of 13 km. Towns along the Leidse Rijn ...

("Leiden Rhine") and Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine"). The Oude Rijn ends as it flows into a sluice at

Katwijk aan Zee Katwijk aan Zee (literally, ''Katwijk-upon-Sea'') is a seaside resort located on the North Sea at the mouth of the Oude Rijn. It is situated in the municipality of Katwijk and the province of South Holland. History The Origin till the Gold ...

, where its waters can be discharged into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. It is the area around the Oude Rijn that is referred to as "Rijnland".

Usage

The name "Rijnland" is the name of several administrative areas, both current and historical, and it can also be used in a more vaguely defined sense: * the area along the Oude Rijn, extending roughly from around Utrecht to

; * the region around

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

; * the jurisdiction of the '' Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland'' (Rijnland District Water Control Board), a Dutch water board based in Leiden; * the area covered by "Holland Rijnland", an administrative "regional collaboration" (''samenwerkingsverband'') of various municipalities in the

Duin- en Bollenstreek The Duin- en Bollenstreek (; Dutch for "Dune and Bulb Region") is a region in the Western Netherlands, that features coastal dunes and the cultivation of flower bulbs. Situated at the heart of historical Holland nearby the city of Leiden, South ...

and the

area; * Rijnland, a

gau Gau or GAU may refer to: People * Gaugericus (–626), Bishop of Cambrai * Gau Ming-Ho (born 1949), Chinese mountaineer * Franz Christian Gau (1790–1854), German architect and archaeologist * James Gau (born 1957), Papua New Guinean politi ...

(''gouw'') that was absorbed around 900 A.D. into the County of Holland, and that was (along with Schieland and Maasland) at the heart of the medieval County of Holland.Antheun Janse, "Een in zichzelf verdeeld rijk", ''Geschiedenis van Holland'' (Deel 1: tot 1572), pp. 71-72 The word "Rijnland" is also used in several historical Dutch units of measurement: * units of length called the "''Rijnlandse roede''" (Rijnland rod) and "''Rijnlandse voet''" (Rijnland foot); * units of surface area called the "''Rijnlandse Roede''" (Rijnland square rod) and the "''Rijnlandse voet''" (Rijnland square foot).

Notes

{{coord missing, Netherlands Regions of the Netherlands Regions of South Holland