Dordrecht in the context of "South Holland"

The Randstad (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɑntstɑt] ; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Netherlands' four biggest cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht), their suburbs, and many towns in between, that all grew and merged into each other. Among other things, it includes the Port of Rotterdam (the world's busiest seaport outside Asia), the Port of Amsterdam (Europe's fourth-busiest seaport), and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Europe's fourth-busiest airport). With a population of approximately 8.4 million people it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe, comparable in population size to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region or the San Francisco Bay Area, and covers an area of approximately 11,372 km (4,391 sq mi). The Randstad had a gross regional domestic product of €510 billion in 2022, making it the second most productive region in the European Union, only behind the Paris metropolitan area. It encompasses both the Amsterdam metropolitan area and Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area. It is part of the larger Blue Banana megalopolis.

The Randstad's main cities are Almere, Amsterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Haarlem, The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. Other cities and towns include Alkmaar, Alphen aan den Rijn, Amersfoort, Amstelveen, Capelle aan den IJssel, Gouda, Heerhugowaard, Hilversum, Hoofddorp, Hoorn, Lelystad, Nieuwegein, Purmerend, Rijswijk, Schiedam, Spijkenisse, Vlaardingen, Zaandam, Zeist, and Zoetermeer.

Zuidvleugel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzœytˌfløːɣəl], literally "south wing") is the band of cities and towns located along the southern wing of the Randstad in the Netherlands. It is that part of the Randstad that is located in the Province of South Holland. This developing conurbation extends around 60 kilometres from Dordrecht to Leiden. The two main focal points are the area around Rotterdam (called Rijnmond) and the area around The Hague (called Haaglanden).

With a population of around 3.5 million people, the Zuidvleugel is one of the largest urban areas in Europe.

The Oude Maas (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌʌudə ˈmaːs]; English: Old Meuse) is a distributary of the river Rhine, and a former distributary of the river Maas, in the Dutch province of South Holland. It begins at the city of Dordrecht where the Beneden Merwede river splits into the Noord and the Oude Maas. It ends when it joins the Nieuwe Maas to form Het Scheur.

The Beneden Merwede (Dutch pronunciation: [bəˌneːdə ˈmɛrʋeːdə]; "Lower Merwede") is a stretch of river in the Netherlands, mainly fed by the river Rhine. It starts as the continuation of the Boven Merwede after the branching-off of the Nieuwe Merwede ship canal. It flows from Hardinxveld-Giessendam to Dordrecht, where it splits into the Noord and Oude Maas rivers. Its length is 14.8 km. The river is part of the main shipping route between the port of Rotterdam and the industrial region of the Ruhr, Germany.

There is a road bridge and, more to the east, a railroad bridge between the railway stations Dordrecht Stadspolders and Hardinxveld-Giessendam on the line Dordrecht-Gorinchem.

The Nieuwe Merwede (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌniu.ə ˈmɛrʋeːdə]; "New Merwede") is a Dutch canal, mainly fed by the river Rhine, that was constructed in 1870 to form a branch in the Rhine–Meuse delta. It was dug along the general trajectories of a number of minor Biesbosch creeks to reduce the risk of flooding by diverting the water away from the Beneden Merwede, and to facilitate navigation and regulate river traffic in the increasingly silted-up delta.

It is one of several rivers called Merwede. The most upstream is the river Boven Merwede ("Upper Merwede"), itself the continuation of the Rhine-Waal river and, until 1904, the Meuse (now the closed-off Afgedamde Maas) as well. The Boven Merwede branches near the town of Hardinxveld-Giessendam into River Beneden Merwede ("Lower Merwede") to the northwest and the Nieuwe Merwede to the southwest. The Nieuwe Merwede joins River Bergse Maas near Lage Zwaluwe to form the Hollands Diep estuary, and separates the Island of Dordrecht from the Biesbosch National Park.

Nicolaes Maes (January 1634 – December 1693 (buried 24 December 1693)) was a Dutch painter known for his genre scenes, portraits, religious compositions and the occasional still life. A pupil of Rembrandt in Amsterdam, he returned to work in his native city of Dordrecht for 20 years. In the latter part of his career he returned to Amsterdam where he became the leading portrait painter of his time. Maes contributed to the development of genre painting in the Netherlands and was the most prominent portrait painter working in Amsterdam in the final three decades of the 17th century.

Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten (2 August 1627, in Dordrecht – 19 October 1678, in Dordrecht) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, who was also a poet and author on art theory.

Paulus Merula, or Paul van Merle (Dordrecht, 19 August 1558 - Rostock, 20 July 1607) was a Dutch jurist, classicist, historian, geographer and librarian.

In 1592 he was appointed professor of history at Leiden University, and was elevated to full professor in 1593. From 1597 until his death he was librarian to Leiden University Library, and in 1603 he was appointed rector magnificus of the university. He was friends with Janus Dousa and Daniël Heinsius, and was a Leiden contemporary of the humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger.

The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a European transnational Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on 13 November 1618 and the final meeting, the 154th, was on 9 May 1619. Voting representatives from eight foreign Reformed churches were also invited. Dort was a contemporary Dutch term for the town of Dordrecht (and it remains the local colloquial pronunciation).

In 2014, the first entire critical edition of the Acts and Documents of the Synod was published.