Netherlands

Guide to NETHERLANDS

NETHERLANDS which official name is Kingdom of the Netherlands or Netherlands, is a country from Europe located at the Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany. NETHERLANDS with 1,027 km sq km, limits with: Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km; and is divided in 12 provinces . NETHERLANDS's capital is The Hague (administrative) , but NETHERLANDS 's most populated city is amsterdam with about 745,811 inhabitants.

History of NETHERLANDS

NETHERLANDS's government is constitutional monarchy; a Constitutional monarchy with a Ceremonial government type, with Queen Beatrix as head of state and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende as head of government.

Other symbols of NETHERLANDS are Dutch motto " Je maintiendrai, Ik zal handhaven (French, Dutch I will stand fast) Dutch flag.Dutch flag is composed by three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer; one of the oldest flags in constant use, originating with WILLIAM I, Prince of Orange, in the latter half of the 16th century .

NETHERLANDS's history is quite long: The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999.

NETHERLANDSs geography

Guide to travel to NETHERLANDS

If you are thinking on traveling to NETHERLANDS, you will have to take in consideration some points like NETHERLANDS's currency, NETHERLANDS's weather, NETHERLANDS's national holiday and NETHERLANDS's transports.

The first thing you need to know for your travels abroad is country's currency. NETHERLANDS`s currency is called euro ( €), which is divided in 100 cents. For your consideration, euro's exchange rate is about 0 per dolar.0.6347688642.

NETHERLANDS's weather is characterized to be temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters. So be sure of choosing the proper date to travel to NETHERLANDS.

You can also consider to visit NETHERLANDS on it's national holiday to get in NETHERLANDS's culture. If you do so, NETHERLANDS's national holiday is called Queen's Day, 30 April.

Also, if you like natural wonders, don't forget to visit the highest point of NETHERLANDS: Vaalserberg 322 m. And try also to get to NETHERLANDS's lowest point: Zuidplaspolder -7 mBut if you prefer the city, you must visit NETHERLANDS's tallest structure: ( ).

Don't be afraid to take a flight to NETHERLANDS, with more than 27 airports and 5 airlines, you will get to NETHERLANDS without problems. Once there, you can choose the transport type that better fits your needs. NETHERLANDS has about2,811 of railways, and also6,183 of roadways, so is a good place for a car trip.

Dutch Culture

NETHERLANDS is known by Dutchs as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden or Nederland in the shortened way. Dutch, about 16,570,613 people, are composed by different ethnics: Dutch 83%, other 17% (of which 9% are non-Western origin mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese, and Indonesians) (1999 est.). And they also have different languages: Frisian, Dutch.

Another relevant point nowadays it's NETHERLANDS's religion. Dutchs are divided in Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed 13%, Calvinist 7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 2.5%, none 41% (2002). So you can visit any of it's9 like St. Gertrudis' Cathedral in Utrecht .

But if want to know more about NETHERLANDS's culture, the best way is by reading the most famous Dutch novelists' books like Geert van der Kolk, Willem Frederik Hermans or Tip Marugg.

Videos of Netherlands

See some viedos of Netherlands's places and tourism before choosing your vacations destination.

Latest News of Netherlands