History of the Ij

The Ij is commonly known as Amsterdam’s waterfront. The Rijkswaterstaat considers the Ij to be a river, but many others consider the Ij to be more of a lake. The Ij is divided into two parts, the Binnen Ij (Inner Ij) which is to the west and the Buiten Ij (outer Ij) which is to the east. The origin of the name Ij comes from an old Dutch word meaning water which itself was derived from the West Frisian word ie meaning stream. The Ij itself was originally formed as part of the Rhine delta and has since then expanded greatly thanks to the emergence of the Zuiderzee. At the end of the middle ages the Ij brought about a time of worry for both the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam due to the increasing sand bars which barred many of the bigger ships from having access to Amsterdam, as well as the fact that the bay was slowly eating away at the farmlands of both Amsterdam and Haarlem and nearly connecting with the Haarlemermeer. The Haarlemermeer and the Ij were both then turned into Polders, in 1852, 1865 and 1876 respectively. To help revive the ailing port in Amsterdam the North sea canal was constructed. In more recent times an event called Sail, that occurs every 5 years takes place on the Ij, where many ships from all over the world dock and then act as exhibition pieces for people to enjoy.