THE DEMOGRAPHY OF THE LOW COUNTRIES 1500-1990: FACTS AND FIGURES
THE PRESENT SPECIAL ISSUE OF TIIE CJNS contains essays on economy, history, philosophy, music, painting and sculpture covering almost four cen~es. In examining, as editor, these varied contents, the following questions began to sU8gest themselves: What is actually known of the size and population taking part in the economic and cultural activities described? How was this population divided over the different provinces and regions of the country? And what was the proportion between rural and urban areas? The sources for the following data are derived not only from historical surveys and atlases, but also from travel guides, calendars, journals and newspapers. They are of varied quality, but together they do give a fairly coherent picture. For the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries not many population sources were available. The Southern Netherlands, moreover, could unfortunately not be considered at all. In the past, Randers and Brabant always were more densely populated than Holland. With regard to the East Indies (present­ day Indonesia), most of the available sources cover the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Because of the importance of the East, their inclusion seemed essential. At present, the Netherlands covers an area of 41,864 square kilometers, with a i population of 15.1 million. Before ca. 800 A.D., the Dutch delta was actually larger than it is now. As the result of a series of floods during the Middle Ages, the landmass diminished considerably. The most noteworthy of these inundations was the St. Elisabeth Rood of November 18-19, 1421. In Holland and Zeeland many villages disappeared and the Biesbosch came into existence. As to the Dutch population, until the latter half of the last century it was only a fraction of its present size. Much emphasis has been placed on the study of the Golden Age, ca. 1600-1675. This era covers less than one fifth of the entire period considered in this issue. The economic and artistic flowering as~ociated with the Golden Age took place in a limited geographical area and benefitted a relatively small population (cf. the article by Peter Ford). Around 1500, twenty-nine percent of the Dutch lived in the county (Graajschap) of Holland. By 1650 this percentage had risen to forty-eight. Here less than half of the inhabitants lived in the countryside - even for European standards an unusual degree of urbanization. Holland was very much a region of small and medium-sized towns and villages, with the exception of Amsterdam. The urban centers were surrounded by intensively cultivated agricultural lands, providing food and other crops used in a variety of industries. The indispensable supplies of wheat and wood depended largely on the Baltic and Russian trade. Wood was essential for construction and for the huge shipbuilding industries. It has been generally accepted that during the Golden Age most of the activities in manufacturing, shipbuilding, trade and commerce to the Baltic, the Mediterranean, South