Schokland () is a former island in the Dutch

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

, in the municipality of

Noordoostpolder Noordoostpolder (; ) is a polder and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called ''Urk, Urker Land''. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the hea ...

. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just a slightly elevated part of the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

, with a still partly intact

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

of the waterfront of Middelbuurt. On 1 April 2014, it had 8 inhabitants, but according to

Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often a ...

there are five people living on the former island.

History

Schokland was an attractive settlement area in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

when it was much larger. By the 19th century, it was under continuous threat of flooding due to the rise in sea level. By then the Schoklanders had retreated to the three most elevated parts: Emmeloord, Molenbuurt, and Middelbuurt. A major flood in 1825 brought massive destruction, and in 1859 the government decided to end permanent settlement on Schokland. The former municipality of Schokland was joined to Kampen on the mainland. Today Schokland is a popular archeological site and host to the . Schokland was the first

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Public transportation

The nearest railway stations are in Kampen and

Dronten Dronten () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Flevoland. It had a population of in . History Plans for the municipality of Dronten were made in the early half of the ...

. Bus service 682 operates from Kampen and serves Schokland. File:Schokland1.jpg, Church of Schokland at Middelbuurt File:Schokland2.jpg, Church with sea wall File:Schokland_-_Church.jpg, Church File:Schokland, zwerfsteen bij ingang museum-restaurant foto6 2013-04-28 13.02.jpg,

Glacial erratic A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...

. The label on the left stone shows the Dutch for "Stones from Norway". File:Schokland, ruïne van de kerk foto6 2013-04-28 13.20.jpg, Church ruins at Ens File:Schokland luchtfoto.jpg, Schokland seen from the north File:Schokland Museum Houses.jpg, houses

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Ghost towns in Europe World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands Former islands of the Netherlands Former populated places in the Netherlands Archaeological sites in the Netherlands Open-air museums in the Netherlands Archaeological museums in the Netherlands Former municipalities of Overijssel Geography of Flevoland History of Flevoland Museums in Flevoland Noordoostpolder