overijssel

Overijssel

provincie (province), northeastern Netherlands, extending northward "beyond the IJssel," a distributary of the Rhine, from the provinces of Gelderland to Drenthe and Friesland and lying between Germany (east) and Flevoland Province (west). Drained by the IJssel, Vecht, Zwarte Water, and Regge rivers and the Twente, Overijssel, and numerous smaller canals, it occupies an area of 1,289 square miles (3,339 square km). Its capital is Zwolle. First known as the lordship of Oversticht, a part of the secular domain of the bishops of Utrecht, it was sold to Charles V in 1527 and was incorporated in the Dutch dominions of the Habsburgs. Overijssel was one of the seven original United Provinces of the Netherlands. In medieval times its Hanseatic towns-Kampen, Deventer, and Zwolle-were among the most important in the Netherlands, until the ascendancy of Amsterdam c. 1500.

Learn more about Overijssel with a free trial on Britannica.com.