Bible Belt (Netherlands)

The Bible Belt of the Netherlands, called Bijbelgordel in Dutch, is a strip of land running across the country where conservative orthodox Reformed Protestants are more concentrated than anywhere else in the Netherlands. The name is recent and was coined by analogy with the Bible Belt of the United States, but the pattern it describes is old and has persisted across many generations. The belt stretches from Zeeland and Goeree-Overflakkee in the southwest, through the eastern half of South Holland and the West-Betuwe and Veluwe in the centre, to parts of Overijssel in the northeast. Because of the traditions of the people who live there it is also treated as a cultural area of the country, and a few outlying communities in Friesland, along with Urk, share its strongly conservative character. Its boundaries are not fixed lines, and in Overijssel it is more scattered than continuous.