Salland



Salland is a historical dominion in the west and north of the present Dutch province of Overijssel. It is probably named after the Salian Franks, who are thought to originate from Salland. Nowadays Salland is usually used to indicate a region corresponding to the part of the former dominion more or less to the west of Twente.

History
The history of Salland goes back to the early Middle Ages, when the four quarters of Oversticht (Salland, Twente, Land van Vollenhove and Drenthe) were acquired by the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht. When the Archbishop of Utrecht sold his domains to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1527, Salland became one of the three constituent parts of the new dominion of Overijssel, which in turn became one of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic in 1581 (Drenthe became a dominion in its own right).

Salland (and nearby areas) may have been the early seat of the Salian Franks, the founders of the early mediaeval empire of the Franks.

Geography
The borders of Salland are not well defined, but the largest area which may be indicated by Salland, corresponding to the historical dominion, is bound to the west by the provincial border with Gelderland, which is partly formed by river IJssel; to the north by the Meppelerdiep stream and the provincial border with Drente, which partly consists of the Reest stream; to the east by the borders with the German state of Lower Saxony and the eastern Overijssel region of Twente; and to the south by the border with the Gelderland region of Achterhoek, part of which is formed by the Schipbeek stream, with other words Salland is all of Overijssel with the exception of Twente and the region known in Dutch as "Kop van Overijssel".

Geologically, most of Salland's landscape consists of a lowland covered with river sediment. To the east, large moors have been drained to provide pastures. These moors, together with the hilly Holterberg region, were the natural border with Twente. On the Holterberg, stretches of the originally vast heathland have been preserved. In the northwest, reclaimed boglands used for peat digging have resulted in low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding, pre-1932 (in that year, the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea to become the IJsselmeer lake).

Salland is a low-lying area dominated by a number of rivers and streams, which have deposited rich layers of river clay. The most important of these waterways is of course river IJssel; others include the Zwarte Water and (Overijsselse) Vecht rivers; the Regge stream, which flows through Twente to spend its last few kilometers in Salland before ending in the Vecht near Ommen; the Schipbeek stream; and the Soestwetering stream, which merges with a number of lesser streams near Zwolle to form river Zwarte Water.

Three of Overijssel's major cities, Deventer, Kampen and the province's capital, Zwolle, lie within Salland, if the definition ascribing the largest area to Salland, is used. Other places of import include Ommen and Hardenberg, which are both quite often described as being in the "Vechtstreek" (Vecht Region) or "Vechtdal" (Vecht Valley), named after the river, rather than in Salland.

Nowadays however, Salland is usually used to indicate the rural area in between Deventer, Zwolle, Ommen and Rijssen-Holten, with Raalte being in the centre of that era and thus having been able to become the "unofficial capital" of Salland. The Salland tourism board describes Salland as the land in between the river IJssel and the hills, and agrees thus on a much smaller Salland than the historical dominion of that name.

Municipal reforms and the boundary with Twente
Intra-Overijssel municipal reforms of the early twenty-first century have somewhat blurred the boundary between Salland and Twente, as municipalities historically associated with Salland have merged with Twente municipalities (and now form part of the Twente Region as defined by the Dutch government). Specifically, this regards Holten (now part of the Rijssen-Holten municipality) and Den Ham (now part of the Twenterand municipality). Industrial and commercial ties with Twente and its location east of the Holterberg hill ridge caused the municipality of Hellendoorn to switch association earlier in the twentieth century.

Extreme points of Salland



 * Northernmost Point — northern edge of the municipality of Staphorst
 * Southernmost Point — southern edge of the municipality of Deventer
 * Westernmost Point — mouth of river IJssel, municipality of Kampen
 * Easternmost Point — eastern edge of Hardenberg municipality


 * Highest Point — Archemerberg hill near Lemele in the municipality of Dalfsen (77 m above sea level)
 * Lowest point — Mastenbroek polder, municipality of Kampen (2 m below sea level)

(The boundary changes mentioned in the previous paragraph have no effect on the location of the extreme points of Salland.)