Zealand
Zealand names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Zealand the largest and most important island of Denmark
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the largest and most important island of Denmark; lies between the Cattegat and the Baltic, and is separated by the Sound from Sweden and by the Great Belt from Fünen; length, 81 miles; extreme breadth, 67 miles; area, 2,670 square miles. The surface is nearly everywhere flat, except in the N. peninsulas; the coasts, which are rockbound on the S. E., are indented by bays and fiords, the chief of which is the Roeskilde-Isefiord in the N. The rivers are small, but there are numerous lakes, and all the waters abound in fish. The island contains several beech forests, is excedingly fruitful in corn (particularly barley and rye), and breeds excellent Agriculture and horses and cattle. cattle-breeding are the principal employments of the inhabitants. The chief place is Copenhagen on the E. coast; the next in rank and size are Elsinore in the N. and Korsör in the S. W.
Zealand the ince of the Netherlands
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the ince of the Netherlands, consists of portions of Flanders (East and West) and of the islands Walcheren, North Beveland, South Beveland, Schouwen, Duiveland, and Tholen; area 690 square miles, and a pop. about 235,000, about three- The provincial fourths Protestants. capital is Middelburg; Flushing is also in Walcheren. The greatest part of the soil, which is a rich clay, has been redeemed from the sea; and the number of polders or drained districts, is about 400. The neighboring seas abound with fish, and in Schouwen many eggs are collected, myriads of waterfowl resorting thither to form their nests. In 1866 a ship canal through the island of South Beveland was made to take the place of the Easter Scheldt. Hence came the name of New Zealand.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, both Zealands were islands in the literal sense: Denmark's Sjælland was reached from Fünen only across the Great Belt, and Dutch Zeeland was a scatter of islands behind 400 polders. Both have since been stitched to their neighbours by engineering — the Great Belt Fixed Link opened in 1998 and the Øresund bridge–tunnel to Sweden in 2000, so Copenhagen is now joined by road and rail to both Jutland and Malmö. In Zeeland the decisive event was the North Sea flood of 31 January–1 February 1953, which drowned more than 1,800 people in the Netherlands, most of them in Zeeland, and prompted the Delta Works; the Eastern Scheldt storm-surge barrier was completed in 1986 and the former islands are now linked by dams and bridges. Copenhagen remains the chief place on the Danish island, and Middelburg is still Zeeland's provincial capital, with the province's population now around 385,000 rather than 235,000.
Written for this edition, 2026.