Why this site about Dutch islands? Well, because a site about mountains in the Netherlands would not make much sense! There are no mountains in our flat little country. But we do have islands! Of course that's not the real point. There's another reason.

Islands have something special. As a result of their prolonged isolation their atmosphere is different from the mainland. On an island you feel somewhat detached from the rest of the world. You can't get off any moment you like. And other people cannot easily reach you there. That's why people living on an island are different from 'mainlanders'. They are more thrown together, more concerned with their own small community than with the wide 'outside world'. 

Islands have always fascinated people. A well-known example of that is the Dutch author Boudewijn Büch (1948 - 2002). As a boy he dreamt of the remote islands that he saw on the world map. Later, as a maker of travel programs on TV, he had the opportunity to actually visit them. From St. Helena to Devil's Island, and from Mauritius to the Falklands.   About his trips and about the 'island feeling' he wrote a series of books that are still read by many.

In some respects Büch has been my inspiration for creating this site. Although, for practical reasons, I will stay closer to home than he used to do and will confine myself to the islands situated within the borders of the Dutch territory. It's my intention to have visited and photographed them all once in the future. 

The simple definition 'a piece of land that is fully surrounded by water' is too wide for my purpose. In order to rule out all sandbanks in the sea and the thousands of nameless snippets of land in rivers, lakes and garden ponds, from my point of view island must have a name, must be publicly accessible and must be -or at least have been- inhabited.

On the other hand, I will not consider this definition in the most narrow sense of the word. Also islands that nowadays are connected to or even fully embedded in the mainland may qualify for this site. Provided that they have retained enough of their specific character and 'island feeling'.

Click the image to view the geographic positions of all islands

To conclude...

Please do not expect a sound and solidly built historiography of the islands, nor a comprehensive description of their landscape, population and nature. Neither expect exalted poetic wordings, nor pretentious photographs. These are just my personal impressions, an attempt in words and pictures to get a bit of each of the islands' unique atmosphere across.

Hope you like it. Have a good time!

If you like to contact me please do so via the Guestbook.

Ruud Bijlsma