Netherlands - April 18th, 2010
Several bodies of water are visible near the coast of the Netherlands: the Markermeer (bright green), the IJsselmeer (dark blue) and the Wadden Sea (green, closest to the open ocean).
The Markermeer is a 700 km² lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland and its larger sibling, the IJsselmeer. A shallow lake at some 3 to 5 m in depth, it is named after the small former island, now peninsula, of Marken that lies within it.
IJsselmeer (sometimes translated as Lake IJssel, alternative international spelling: Lake Yssel) is a shallow lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. It is named after the IJssel river that drains into it via a smaller lake, the Ketelmeer. The IJsselmeer is the largest lake in Western Europe.
The Wadden Sea (Dutch: Waddenzee) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands.
