The Drentsche Aa National Landscape is a national park located in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Drenthe

Drenthe

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...

 on the west side of the Hondsrug

Hondsrug

thumb|300px|The Hoogstraatje in [[Groningen |Groningen]], the northernmost [[hill]] of the HondsrugThe Hondsrug is a Dutch ridge of sand that is mainly located in the province Drenthe and partly in the province Groningen...

. It consists of the cultural landscape surrounding the valley of the small river the Drentsche Aa

Drentsche Aa

The Drentsche Aa is a river rising in the Dutch province of Drenthe, flowing through the province of Groningen. It ends in the Schipsloot near Haren, which flows into the Noord-Willemskanaal, however originally it ended into the Selwerderdiep...

. The landscape is currently in approximately the same as it was in the mid 19th century, as the agricultural landscape reforms of the 20th century were not implemented in this area. Because of this hedges, heathlands and traditionally managed fields ('essen' in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

) were spared from transformation.