GRONINGEN - Geography and history
The province of Groningen is in the north-east of the Netherlands, and borders on the North Sea and Germany. In terms of area it is one of the smaller provinces, and has a low population density by Netherlands standards. At its centre lies the capital of the province, which is also called Groningen, and a large part of its population lives here. With its cultural, economic, medical and scientific amenities, the city of Groningen, the seventh largest in the Netherlands, is the centre not merely of the province, but of the whole of the northern Netherlands (consisting of the provinces of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe),
By far the largest part of the province is flat, with open views over extensive fields, bordered by rows of trees. In the eastern part there are a number of largish towns, such as Hoogezand-Sappemeer, Winschoten and Stadskanaal. There are canals in this area which at one time were used to transport potatoes and cardboard, but are now tourist attractions. In the north are the three ports of Lauwersoog, Eemshaven and Delfzijl. Underground there is one of the largest deposits of gas in the world. The first large gas reservoir was discovered at Slochteren in 1960, and many more are now being exploited.
Cities surrounded by countryside
The province is connected to the national motorway system and is also easily accessible by fast roads from Germany. There are good rail connections with the rest of the Netherlands and it has three seaports. In the old Hanseatic city of Groningen there are a large number of educational establishments, including the ancient University of Groningen - which also has technical faculties - and a science park. The range of other facilities is also equal to that in any large city. There are several museums and other cultural amenities, congress facilities and a wide variety of shops, which are concentrated in the old inner city, and outstanding medical centres. Eight kilometres out of town is the Eelde airfield. The city is surrounded by predominantly rural areas, which offer a pleasant and peaceful environment in which to live, work and play.
The other side of this particular coin is the tenuous economic structure, so that parts of the region have to contend with considerable unemployment. One of the reasons for the lack of sufficient economic activity is that the region is peripheral to the Netherlands. Now that connections with the Netherlands economic centres have been much improved and the country's borders are becoming less important for the economy, it may be expected that this poor situation will gradually improve. Increasing contacts across the international border, in the form of interregional co-operation with the German Länder of Lower Saxony and Bremen, may also help.
Scattered clusters of economic activity
Groningen may be divided roughly into three parts, the eastern portion, Delfzijl/Eemsmond, and the remainder, in which the provincial capital is situated. The services sector is also concentrated in this part.
East Groningen is one of the oldest industrial areas in the Netherlands, with a large agricultural industry, a shipbuilding industry and its suppliers in the metalworking and electrical engineering industries. The largest inland container terminal of the Netherlands railways is in Veendam, which makes the district an important transport centre also. In the past few years tourism has grown considerably in this area, and its attractions include the oldest cure centre in the Netherlands and many water-sports facilities.
The main feature of Defzijl is the sprawl of capital-intensive industrial units, such as chemical plants, while Eemshaven is more specialized in transhipment. To the west of the port there is an area with palatial farmhouses, bordering on one of the largest nature reserves in Europe, the Waddenzee.
There are great regional variations in per capita value-added, due to the gas extraction industry and other businesses which are capital-intensive to varying degrees. Unemployment is high particularly in 'overig Groningen'. On the other hand, large numbers of commuters come from the bordering region of Drenthe.
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