DRENTE, a province of Holland, bounded north and north east by Groningen, south-east by the Prussian province of Han over, south and south-west by Overysel, and north-west by Fries land; area, 5,028 sq.m. ; pop. (1926) 222,785. Drente is a sandy plateau forming the nucleus of the surrounding provinces. The sandy soil is covered with bleak moorland, patches of wood, and fen. This is only varied by the strip of fertile clay and grass-land which is found along the river banks, and by the areas of high fen in the south-eastern corner and on the western borders near Assen. The surface slopes from south-west to north-east, where it ends in the ridge the Hondsrug (Dog's Back) along the eastern border. The watershed runs from east to west, along the line of the Orange canal. The southern streams are all col lected at two points on the southern borders, namely, at Meppel and Koevorden, whence they communicate with the Zwarte Water and the Vecht respectively by means of the Meppeler Diep and the Koevorden canal. The Steenwyker Aa, however, enters the Zuider Zee independently. The northern rivers all flow into Groningen.
History.—The megalithic sepulchral mounds, the Hune bedden, particularly along the western edge of the Hondsrug suggest the early settlement of the region. In the 5th and 6th centuries the country was overrun by Saxon tribes, and later on was governed by counts under the Frankish and German kings. In io46 the emperor Henry III. gave the courtship to the bishop and chapter of Utrecht, who governed it through the burgrave, or chatelain, of Koevorden, a dignity which became hereditary after 1143 in. the family of Ludolf or Roelof, brother of Heribert of Bierum, bishop of Utrecht (1138-1 150) . After 1232 the count ship passed to Henry I. of Borculo (1232-1261). In 1395 Reinald IV. (d. 1410) of Borculo-Koevorden was deposed by Bishop Fred erick of Utrecht, and the country was henceforth administered by an episcopal official (amptman). With its popularly elected assembly of twenty-four Etten (jurati) Drente remained prac tically independent. In 1522 it was conquered by Duke Charles of Gelderland, from whom it was taken by the emperor Charles V. in 1536, and from that time it became part of the Habsburg dominions.
Drente took part in the revolt of the Netherlands, but owing to its poverty and sparse population, it had no separate repre sentation in the assembly of the states general. It was subdued by the Spaniards in 1580, but reconquered by Maurice of Nassau in 1594. Drente retained its local independence and had its own stadtholder. At the general assembly of 1651 Drente unsuccess fully claimed admission as a province. After the deaths of William II. (1650) and of William III. (1702) Drente remained for a time without a stadtholder, but in 1722 William Charles Henry, who had become prince of Orange, was elected. His descendants held the office, which was declared hereditary, until the French conquest in 1795. In 1796 Drente at length obtained representation in the states general. Between 1806 and 1813 Drente, with the rest of the Netherlands, was incorporated in the French empire, and, with part of Groningen, formed the department of Ems Occidental. With the accession of William I. as king of the Netherlands it was restored to its old position as a province of the new kingdom.
Two industries have for centuries been associated with the barren heaths and sodden fens so usually found together on the sand-grounds, namely, the cultivation of buckwheat and peat digging. The latter being directed also towards the draining of the land and its subsequent use for cultivation. The soil thus pre pared is, however, soon exhausted. Potatoes, rye, oats, beans and peas are cultivated. In connection with the cultivation of potatoes, the by-products (spirits, potato meal, etc.), are im portant. Furthermore, agriculture is accompanied on the sand grounds by the rearing of a poor type of sheep and cattle, which assist in fertilizing the soil. The breeding of pigs is also widely practised. Of the fen-colonies in Drente the best known are those of Frederiksoord and Veenhuizen.
Owing to the general condition of poverty which prevailed after the French evacuation early in the 19th century, attention was turned to the unreclaimed heath-lands in the eastern prov inces, and the Society of Charity began by establishing the free agricultural colony of Frederiksoord, about 1 o m. N. of Meppel. In addition, various industries, such as mat and rope making, and jute and cotton weaving were introduced. In later times forest culture was added, and the Gerard Adriaan van Swieten schools of forestry, agriculture and horticulture were established. To this colony were added those of Willemsoord and Kolonie VII. in Overysel, and Wilhelminasoord partly in Friesland. The colony of Veenhuizen lies about 7 m. N.W. of Assen, and was founded by the same society in 1823. In 1859, the Veenhuizen estates were sold to the government.
Owing to its geographical isolation, the development of Drente has remained behind that of the other provinces of the Nether lands, and the character and customs of the people likewise conservative. Assen is the chief town. In the south are Meppel and Koevorden. Hoogeveen, situated between these two, owes its origin to the fen reclamation which was begun here in 1625. Extensive fir woods have been laid out in the neighbourhood. Zuidlaren, at the northern end of the Hondsrug, has an important market. The railway from Amsterdam to Groningen traverses Drente ; branch lines connect Meppel with Leeuwarden and Assen with Delfzl.