Usually the province of Utrecht brings bad news

The Lofoten are slightly smaller than the province of Utrecht. The last European primeval forest is almost as large as the province of Utrecht. Zanzibar is slightly larger than the province of Utrecht.

The province of Utrecht is the chameleon of the equation. She pops up all over the world, always in different guises. With one recurring feature: its surface.

Usually the province of Utrecht brings bad news. Forest fires, breaking ice floes, locust swarms, monocultures. All as big as the province of Utrecht. Sometimes the province of Utrecht makes little impression. A small state as big as the province of Utrecht – it must be. But an ice floe the size of the province of Utrecht, wow! And such a plague of locusts, you’ll just end up in it! It becomes completely overwhelming when another measurement is added: the weight of such an ice floe in elephants, for example. Or the number of locusts in sugar granules. Although those sizes are more difficult than the province of Utrecht. Because who actually knows how heavy an elephant is or how many sugar grains are in a package?

The strength of the province of Utrecht is that you immediately get a picture of it. The comparison with Zeeland or North Holland is also sometimes made, but those provinces do not have their shape. It helps that Utrecht is a more or less massive lump. On closer inspection, the province looks more like a recumbent dromedary, but you can imagine more with the size of the province of Utrecht than with the capricious and water-rich Zeeland. Via the A12 you can drive through the province of Utrecht in just over half an hour. And while cycling over the Utrechtse Heuvelrug you can get from Rhenen to Eemnes in two and a half hours. That provides some guidance if you want to know how long it is fun on Lesbos or Gran Canaria. Although it is false security, because you will probably not find as many cycling and walking routes as in the province of Utrecht.

It immediately shows that comparisons with the province of Utrecht are only useful to a limited extent. The reference material preferably has more or less the same shape and no properties other than the surface area of ​​the hairs may be added. Just as many inhabitants, pigs or castles as in the province of Utrecht: that means nothing to anyone.

Also, the province should not be multiplied or divided too often. Half a province or twice the province: okay. But six times the province of Utrecht, like the American Yellowstone? Then rather Friesland and Drenthe together.

The more provinces of Utrecht, the more inaccurate it becomes. Especially if you assume 1,485 square kilometers of land area (Wikipedia). According to a spokesman for the province of Utrecht, it must be 1,560.1 square kilometers. (By the way, that multiplication also quickly goes wrong if you calculate in football fields, because not every football field is the same size.)

Finally, the comparison can only be used for a Dutch audience that is familiar with the province of Utrecht. In the United Kingdom, Wales – almost 14 times the size of the province of Utrecht, or half the Netherlands – seems to be the measure of things. And in Germany, Qatar is more than four times the size of Saarland (2,570 square km).

The province of Utrecht does not employ anyone who monitors and records comparisons with the province of Utrecht. They are probably too busy for that. Wind farms still need to be built and nature reserves the size of the province of Utrecht need to be protected. Fortunately not all in Utrecht, but often a bit.

It could also produce a Venn diagram: two equally sized circles: one is the province of Utrecht, the other shows what still needs to be done in an area as big as the province of Utrecht. And then see how those circles overlap.