Approximately 20 m² available per capita for sports practice
The total area in the Netherlands available for practising sports is 334 km², approximately 1 percent of the total land area, i.e. 20 m² per resident. Sports grounds are mainly situated inside residential nuclei and just under half are large or very large.
More sports grounds in urban areas
Proportionally, most sports grounds are available in urban areas, in particular in The Hague and the surrounding area. This region also includes Rijswijk, the municipality with the highest proportion of playing fields in the Netherlands. On the West Frisian Islands of Vlieland, Terschelling and Schiermonnikoog the proportion is only 0.1 percent.
Measured in hectares (ha), Amsterdam has the largest area of sports fields. With 723 ha, sports fields in the municipality of Amsterdam together comprise an area three times the size of the principality of Monaco.
Sports grounds per municipality
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Sports grounds in Flevoland often extensive
There are noticeable differences between the various Dutch provinces. Proportionally, Friesland has the smallest area of sports grounds, South Holland the largest.
Most large sports grounds are found in Flevoland: three quarters of sports grounds in this province cover more than 15 ha.
Sports grounds by area and province
Most sports grounds inside residential nuclei
Nearly 60 percent of sports grounds are located in residential nuclei. Very small as well as large sports grounds are predominantly found in residential nuclei. Only very extensive grounds, e.g. golf courses are often located outside residential areas.
As organised sports have developed in the course of time, very small sports grounds are found across nearly all residential areas. These locations are usually older.
Sports grounds by size and location
The largest contiguous sports ground in the Netherlands covers an area of more than 150 ha and is more than twice the size of theme park de Efteling. It consists of two adjacent golf courses located on the border between the municipalities of Amsterdam, Haarlemmerliede and Spaarnwoude.
Hans Visser