Netherlands

Abstract

"In the country which is now known as the Netherlands, the human influence on the landscape has long been intense. It was not always so. The two most westerly provinces of the Netherlands derive their name from their once heavily wooded character (wood is 'holt' in old Dutch, hence `holt-land' - Holland). However, records show that even by the time of Charlemagne (742-814) most of the natural forest had been lost. By the thirteenth century, shortage of forest resources was severe, particularly in the north."