The IJ (pronounced [ɛi̯]; sometimes shown on old maps as Y or Ye) is a lake, formerly a bay, in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is known for being Amsterdam's waterfront. Some claim it is wrongly considered a river, but it is considered a river by the Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. Its name is an obsolete Dutch word meaning "water", derived from the West Frisian word ie "stream, small river" (from Germanic *ahwō "water") and is cognate with Dutch Aa/Ee names for bodies of water. The name consists of the digraph ij, which behaves like a single letter. Therefore, both letters are capitalized; cf.