Netherlands, True Colour Satellite Image With Mask

Netherlands, True colour satellite image of the Netherlands, with mask, also informally called Holland. North is at top. Water is blue, vegetation green and bare ground light brown. Germany (to the east) and Belgium (to the south) are paler in colour. The Ijsselmeer, a freshwater lake (upper centre), was created when part of the North Sea (upper left) was enclosed by two dams (upper centre) in 1932. Sand dunes (white) run around the Dutch coast. At upper right the dunes were overrun by the sea to create the West Frisian Islands (Waddeneilanden), with the tidal sea Waddenzee to their south. In the Zeeland region at lower left a delta of islands and rivers has been cut into the dunes. The image used data from LANDSAT 5 & 7 satellites.