The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk that made the reclamation possible.

About 6,500 years ago, this wetland was above high tide level and inhabited; the Netherlands have steadily subsided since.

Due to rising water levels and storms, the peatlands were washed away, and the Lacus Flevo (in Roman times) grew to be the Almere (Middle Ages) and became the Zuiderzee.

Due to the many shipwrecks in Flevoland, Lelystad now houses the National Centre for Maritime History, with a museum and the shipyard that has built the Batavia replica.

Source:[5] Lelystad has a large population of Surinamese origin (5,225); most residents of a non-Western background live in the east of the city.

On the Midland Circuit many motor, kart and stock car racing events and several autoclub meetings are held.

Lelystad Airport has undergone major expansion, including the construction of a passenger terminal for commercial flights, as well as an extension of the runway.

[9] Lelystad has a small inland port, several marinas, and a canal system which also functions to aid in managing the water levels in the rest of the polder.

There are three on-ramps connecting this motorway to Lelystad, allowing traffic to travel northbound to Emmeloord and the province of Friesland, or southbound to Almere and the Randstad region.

The honeycomb grid in the arms of Lelystad represents the dykes, built with six-edged concrete or basalt blocks.