Landscape with tulip fields in the Beemster polder, the Netherlands - stock photo

The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through 1612. Because of its historical relevance, and because the original structure of the area is still largely intact, the Beemster polder was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1999.