Gelderland
Gelderland exhibits hub-and-spoke network topology like river deltas: controlling Rhine-Maas-Waal-IJssel convergence made medieval Guelders dominant and modern Gelderland prosperous.
Gelderland's power derives from controlling where rivers converge. The Rhine, Waal, Maas, and IJssel all enter the Netherlands through this province, creating a network node that connected Rotterdam's port to the German Ruhr industrial heartland since medieval times. This geography made the medieval Duchy of Guelders—established in the 11th century—one of the most strategically important territories in the Low Countries, controlling trade flows the way a hub species controls nutrient distribution in an ecosystem.
The province exhibits hub-and-spoke network topology in both hydrology and economy. Modern Gelderland translates river control into a knowledge economy: 11 higher education institutions, Health Valley around Radboud University in Nijmegen, and headquarters for NXP semiconductors and AstraZeneca. GDP per capita reaches 110% of the EU average, reflecting the value-add from controlling network connections. As the largest Dutch province by land area (5,136 km²), it combines urban density along rivers with extensive forest in the Veluwe.
The Veluwe demonstrates ecological succession shaped by centuries of human land use. This 1,000 km² region—the largest continuous heathland in Western Europe—was once forested, then stripped for timber and iron during medieval times. Intensive sheep grazing and peat extraction created sandy heaths that persisted until 20th-century reforestation. De Hoge Veluwe National Park, established in 1909 as a private hunting estate, now preserves this anthropogenic landscape with red deer, wild boar, and the Kröller-Müller Museum housing Van Gogh masterpieces in a forest setting.