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Begijnhof in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Begijnhof in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The Begijnhof is a group of historic buildings and one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam.
Image: Dietmar Rabich
 
Flag of Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands
Location map of Netherlands. Where in Europe are the Netherlands
Location map of Netherlands
Destination Netherlands, a nation in western Europe, bordered by the North Sea in west and north.

Border countries are Belgium, and Germany. The country also shares maritime borders with France and the United Kingdom.

European Netherlands is a low-lying country with around a quarter of its territory at or below sea level, it covers an area of 41,543 km² making it just slightly larger than Switzerland (41,285 km²) or half the size of the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Dutch Dependencies were the Caribbean islands of Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. On 10 October 2010 the Netherlands Antilles has been dissolved and its constituent islands have acquired a new status, Curaçao and St Maarten are now autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba have become special municipalities.

The Kingdom has a population of 16,785,000 (est. May 2013), capital and largest city is Amsterdam; seat of government is in the city of The Hague (Den Haag).

Spoken language is Dutch (official), recognized regional languages are West Frisian (in Friesland), Papiamento (in Bonaire), and English (in Sint Eustatius and Saba).


 

Netherlands | Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

Country Profile



Background:
After centuries of foreign rules by the Romans, Franks, Burgunds, Habsburgs, and Spaniards in 1648 the Dutch Republic became a free and sovereign state. During the 17th century, also called the 'Golden Age', the Republic became increasingly prosperous and a major colonial power, thanks largely to the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

In 1815, the northern and southern Netherlands – today's Netherlands and Belgium – were combined to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I but was invaded in World War II by Germany in May 1940 and occupied for five years.

Today the Netherlands is a modern, industrialized nation and the third largest exporter of food. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EU, and participated in the introduction of the Euro in 1999.

related countries: France, Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, United Kingdom

 

Official Name:
Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
short form: Nederland
alternative name: Holland
int'l short form: Netherlands
int'l long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands

ISO Country Code: nl, nld

Time:
Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)

Actual Time: Thu-Apr-25  03:59
Standard Time Zone = UTC +1h
Daylight Saving Time (DST) March - October UTC +2)

Country Calling Code: +31

Capital City: Amsterdam (pop. 743 000)
Den Haag (475 000)
The Hague (seat of government)

Other Cities:
Groningen, Haarlem, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Utrecht

Government:
Type: Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: Queen Beatrix

Geography:
Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany.
Area: 41,543 km² (16,040 sq. mi.).
Terrain: Coastal lowland; land below sea level 24%

Climate: Temperate maritime.

People:
Nationality: Noun--Dutchmen and Dutchwomen. Adjective--Dutch.
Population: 16.9 million (2016)
Ethnic groups: Predominantly Dutch; largest minority communities are Moroccans, Turks, Surinamese.
Religions: Roman Catholic (31%), Protestant (21%), Muslim (5,5%), other (2,5%), none (40%).
Language: Dutch; English widely spoken
Literacy: 99%.

Natural resources: Natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land.

Agriculture products: Grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock.

Industries: Agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing.

Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs

Exports - partners: Germany 24.5%, Belgium 11.1%, UK 9.3%, France 8.4%, Italy 4.2% (2015)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing

Imports - partners: Germany 14.7%, China 14.5%, Belgium 8.2%, USA 8.1%, UK 5.1% (2015)

Currency: Euro (EUR)


Note: External links will open in a new browser window.

Official Sites of Netherlands

royal Het Koninklijk Huis
The Dutch Royal House.


Het Parlement
Staten Generaal -- the Dutch Parliament with the
Senate and the
House of Representatives

Overheid.nl
The Dutch government directory.

Netherlands Board of Tourism (N.B.T.)
Comprehensive guide to the country - Official Holland Site with 59,000 pages of useful content to people who will travel to holland.


Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs with general information about the Netherlands.

Diplomatic Missions
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN
Netherlands representation to the United Nations.
Royal Netherlands Embassy
USA, Washington D.C.
Dutch Missions Abroad
Addresses of Dutch missions by country.
Foreign Missions in the Netherlands
Addresses of foreign diplomatic missions in the Netherlands.


Statistics
CBS - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
Statistics Netherlands presents latest statistics regarding all aspects of the Netherlands.


Weather
Het Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut (KNMI)
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.


Maps

profile Map of the Netherlands
Political Map of the Netherlands.
Google Earth Google Earth Netherlands
Searchable satellite view and map of The Netherlands.
Google Earth Google Earth Amsterdam
Searchable map and satellite view of Netherlands' capital.
Google Earth Google Earth Den Haag
Searchable satellite view and map of Den Haag.
Google Earth GoogleEarth Rotterdam
Searchable satellite view and map of Rotterdam.

Map of Europe
Political Map of Europe.
 
 

News


Netherlands News

Algemeen Dagblad
Dutch Newspaper covers national and international news (in Dutch)
Dagblad van het Noorden
The biggest newspaper of the Northern Provences, widely respected (in Dutch)
Expatica.com: Dutch News
Expatriate site with a daily coverage of the main stories in the Dutch media.
Het Parool
Dutch Newspaper, national and international news (in Dutch)
HollandNews.nl
English language news on and about the Netherlands
De Telegraaf
Dutch Newspaper, national and international news (in Dutch)
De Volkskrant
Dutch Newspaper, national and international news (in Dutch)
Radio Netherlands (RN)
News, current affairs and dutch press reviews.
 

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Arts & Culture


Arts & Architecture
A guide to events, attractions and activities.
Dutch Pop and Rock Music Institute
The "Nationaal Pop Instituut"
cultural reference Holland Museums
All Dutch Museums
Kunsthal Rotterdam
Culture in the widest sense of the word, art exhibitions
Melkweg
A Milestone in the European Hippie Culture
Mondriaanhuis
The birthplace of the painter Piet Mondrian with a permanent collection of its art
De Museumserver
Netherlands museums on the WWW (in Dutch)
Paradiso
Another Milestone in the European Hippie Culture
Rembrandthuis Museum
House of Rembrandt van Rijn and permanent collection of almost all of Rembrandt's etchings
Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum
web culture XS4ALL
Notorious Internet Directory ;-)
 
Keukenhof
Tulips and Tourists at Keukenhof
Image: Cszmurlo
 
Holland beach
On the Beach

© NBTC
 

Business & Economy


According to the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI) 2016, the Netherlands is the top-ranked country overall, it outranked all other countries in the world in global connectedness, measured by cross-border flows of trade, capital, information and people. Netherlands capital city Amsterdam is ranked number 5 in DHL's hitlist of Globalization Hotspots (cities with the most intense international flows). Furthermore the Netherlands is the 7th largest export economy in the world and the 15th most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
Since the 1950s the sale of natural gas, generated enormous revenues for the Netherlands for decades to come.


De Nederlandsche Bank
Central Bank of the Netherlands

Amsterdam Exchanges
is now part of Euronext.

BuVoHa - Bureau Voor Handelsinlichtingen
The Trade Information Office is a Dutch association which is specialized in supplying trade information and establishing business contacts between the Netherlands and countries everywhere in the world.

CBI – Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries
The Netherlands Foreign Trade Agency (EVD)

Kamer van Koophandel
Netherland's Chamber of Commerce.

Telefoonboek.nl
Netherland's telephone directory. (in Dutch)


Dutch Products
Amstel
Amstel Beer.
Droste
Dutch Chocolate.
Douwe Egberts
Coffee.
Heineken
Heineken Beer.
Keukenhof
Spring Garden of Europe.
Oilily
Children's and Women's clothing.
Wooden Shoes
Dutch clogs.

Gouden Gids
Netherlands yellow pages (in Dutch)
DutchYellowPages

__Transportation
Airline
Royal Dutch Airlines
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Airports
Schiphol Airport
Official site of Netherlands' principal airport.
Rotterdam Airport
Regional airport.

_Railroad
Nederlandse Spoorwegen
The Dutch Railroad (in Dutch)

_Shipping
Rotterdam Port Authority
Official site of the Rotterdam port and industry complex.


 

Rotterdam- South-Holland
Rotterdam - South-Holland
© Photo: Eduard Bergman - NBTC





Windmills of Kinderdijk, Netherlands
The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best known Dutch tourist sites. They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.
Image: Tarod


Travel and Tour Consumer Information


Destination Netherlands - Travel and Tour Guides


Discover Holland: Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam, North-Holland, South Holland, the West Frisian Islands.
Accommodation, attractions, festivals, events, tours and much more.

Tourism Offices of the Netherlands
Netherlands Board of Tourism (NBTC)
Official site with comprehensive tourism information to the Netherlands.

Noord Holland
The official tourism site of North-Holland, the most important bulb province in the Netherlands.
Zuid-Holland
Official visitors guide to South Holland province.
Zuid-Holland Zuid
Travel and tourism guide for the southern part of South Holland province.

Geography of the Netherlands
Geography of a flat world.
Roundabout
A guide to "Whats on in the Netherlands".
TouristInfo
Tourism webportal of the Netherlands (in Dutch).

City Guides
Amsterdam
Official site of the City of Amsterdam with tourism and event information.
Amsterdam Hotspots
A guide to all the local favorites.
The Internet Guide to Amsterdam
Amsterdam city guide ready to be printed out and taken with you.

Den Haag
The Hague is theseat of the Dutch government.

Rotterdam
The biggest city of the Netherlands after Amsterdam, with the largest port of the world.
Rotterdam Tourism
The official Rotterdam city guide.

Groningen
The City of Groningen.
Haarlem
The City of Haarlem.
Maastricht
The oldest city of The Netherlands.
Utrecht
The City of Utrecht.  

West Frisian Islands
Texel
Official website of the municipality as well as of the island of Texel.
Vlieland
Official tourism information about the island.
Terschelling
Official tourist office website of the municipality and the island.
Ameland
Official tourism website of the island.
Schiermonnikoog
Official tourism website of the Dutch Frisian islands (in Dutch and German).

 




 

Education


Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen (OCW)
The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Stateuniversity of Groningen, founded in 1614, one of the oldest universities in Europe.
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
Established in 1956, one of the leading Universities of Technology in Europe.
Universiteit of Amsterdam
Universiteit Leiden
Universiteit Maastricht
Universiteit Tilburg
Best Law Faculty of Europe (1998)
Universiteit Utrecht
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 

 

Environment - Environmental organizations Netherlands


Government environmental agencies
Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment
The Dutch Ministry is responsible for Transport, Aviation, Housing, Public works, Spatial planning, Land management, Forestry, Water and the Environment.


NGO's
The Nature and Environment Federations
Site about the partnership of private environmental organizations at the provincial level in the Netherlands. The environmental associations are in most provinces, a major opponent of the government.

De Kleine Aarde
Organization for ecological lifestyle.
Greenpeace Nederland
The Dutch section of Greenpeace.
GroenFront!
GroenFront! is the Dutch branch of EarthFirst!
Hier
Hier (Dutch for ‘Here‘) is the name of a large Dutch climate program whose fundamental idea it is to stress the immediate necessity to implement adaptation projects and initiatives to climate change.
Milieudefensie
Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
Stichting Natuur en Milieu
The Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment.

milieu.startpagina.nl
Links to Dutch environmental organizations. (in Dutch)
 


Dutch Kinderdijk Windmills
Cyclists at Kinderdijk Windmills
© NBTC/Luider

Amsterdam Canal Houses Amsterdam Canal Houses
© NBTC
 

History


Timeline Dutch History
Timeline of Dutch History by the Dutch Rijksmuseum.
Bataviawerf
Batavia Yard, National Centre for Maritime History
Dutch History Resources on the Internet
by the University Leiden, History Department.
Dutch Portuguese Colonial History
Dutch Colonial History.
Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (1602-1660)
A site about the history of the Dutch East India Company.
Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis
The ING promotes, through faculty research and its own independant research, the disclosure of source material in the subject area of the history of the Netherlands. (in Dutch)
The Low Countries
Timeline and reigns of the "Low Countries" in historical chronology.
culture highlight Koninklijke Bibliotheek
The National Library of the Netherlands.
De hoofdlijn van de Nederlandse geschiedenis
Netherlands history (in Dutch).
Nationaal Archief
The largest public archive in the Netherlands.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Largest museum with the largest collection of art and history in the Netherlands.
WWW VL Dutch History Index
Dutch History internet resources.

Genealogy

Cyndi's list of Genealogy Sites in the Netherlands.
 


Royal Palace Amsterdam
Royal Palace on Dam Square Amsterdam.
 

Science & Research


Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen
One of the biggest academic hospitals in The Netherlands. (in Dutch)
Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (KIT)
The Royal Tropical Institute is a knowledge institute specialized in international cooperation and intercultural communication.
The Royal Dutch Geographical Society
Geographers working in the field of spatial planning; research and development.
Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences
Home page of the academy. (in Dutch)
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
National research and information centre for climate, climatic change and seismology.
Space Expo Noordwijk
Space related exhibition, you even will find a peace of the moon there.
 
 
 

Search


Ilse
De Internet index van Nederland.
StartNederland.nl
Meta-portal contains many thousands of links mainly towards the Netherlands.
Surfboard
Zoekmachine.


Sources and additional Information on Netherlands


BBC Country Profile: Netherlands

EU member countries: Netherlands

FAO: Netherlands

GlobalEDGE: Netherlands

The Heritage Foundation: Netherlands

Human Rights Watch: Netherlands

OEC: Netherlands

Reporters Without Borders: Netherlands

Wikipedia: Netherlands

The World Factbook --Netherlands

 Support UNICEF

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