We suggest that the land-use history of large portions of The Netherlands has had
great influence on the local names (Schonfeld, 1980). This influence included not
only the initial clearing of most of the forests (riverine and swamp forest in addition
to forest on the sandy soils), but also the reclamation of natural lakes and certain
areas in the coastal zone by empoldering and drainage (polder development) and the
excavation of the high and low moors in the eastern, central and western parts of
the country to provide fuel for the growing population and industry. In order to