Bible Belt (Netherlands)

The Bible Belt (Dutch: bijbelgordel, biblebelt) is a strip of land in the Netherlands with the highest concentration of conservative orthodox Reformed Protestants in the country. Although the term is of recent origin (named by analogy after the Bible Belt of the United States) the Dutch Bible Belt has existed for many generations.

This Bible Belt stretches from Zeeland in the southwest, through the West-Betuwe and Veluwe in the center of the country, to parts of the province Overijssel in the northeast. Municipalities in this area include Yerseke, Tholen, Ouddorp, Opheusden, Kesteren, Barneveld, Nunspeet, Elspeet and Staphorst. The three biggest cities regarded to be part of the Bible Belt are Ede, Veenendaal and Kampen. In Overijssel, the Bible belt is more dispersed and not always contiguous from one municipality to the next. Pockets exist such as in Rijssen.

Some communities with strong conservative Reformed leanings are situated far outside the belt. For example, some municipalities of Friesland such as Dantumadiel have characteristics typical of the Bible Belt. Similarly Urk, considered by many as one of the most traditional communities in the country, is separated from the Bible Belt by the Noordoostpolder which is a polder created in 1942.

The various conservative orthodox Calvinist denominations, such as the Old-Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands, have a combined official membership of about 400,000 people, approximately 2.5% of the entire population, although other sources estimates their share at about 7%.^{[citation needed]}