Netherlands

Overview

The Kingdom of Netherlands is a country located at Northwestern Europe in the Caribbean Sea. It was formerly called Holland. The country comprises of four component countries; the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten.

The country recorded a population of 17.28 million in 2019 and covers an area of 41,543 km2.

Its capital city is Amsterdam according to the Dutch constitution.

The Hague is the centre of the States-General, Executive Branch Supreme Court and the Council of State.

Hague is also the home to the International Criminal Court and the UN’s International Court of Justice whose headquarters are at the Peace Palace.

Other cities in the country are Rotterdam, Utrecht, Maastricht and Leiden.

History

The Netherlands was founded in 1648 when it was the Dutch period. It was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940 that led to the Dutch Royal family and Dutch Cabinet to flee to England. The German forces surrendered in 1945.

The country joined NATO in 1949.

Food & culture

Its culture is diverse to the differences in its regions and is influenced by the foreigners and the Dutch people in the old centuries.

The main crops are cereals, sugar beets and potatoes.

The common dishes are hollandse nieuwe, stroopwafel, kroket, patat, poffertjes and bitterballen.

Wildlife

The common wildlife includes pine martens, foxes, badgers, mouflon, fallow deer, jackdaws, seagulls and rooks.

Festivals & events

The major celebrated events are the Kings’s Parade, Holland Festival, Amsterdam Gay pride, Oerol festival, Noorderzon Performing Art Festival and Edinburgh International Festival.

Things to see

Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam for the Dutch which displays the art of Vincent van Gogh and his peers.

Keukenhof commonly known as the Garden of Europe is one of the largest flower gardens in the world in Lisse Town with an area of 32 ha and containing 7 million flower bulbs.

Other must-see places are the Jordaan and Amsterdam’s Canals, Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank House.

Interesting facts

Dutchmen are the tallest men in the world with a height between 175.6cm and 182.53cm.

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize the marriage of people of same-sex.

The first national anthem was “God Save The Queen” which was declared as the national anthem.

The carrots are orange today because of the Dutch who cultivated it them in tribute to William of Orange who led the country to independence. Yellow, white and purple carrots were done away with.

The official language is Dutch; other common languages are English and Papiamentu.

The Dutch wear wooden shoes since the 13th century.

The main religion is Roman Catholicism.

Cities & towns I’ve visited

• Amsterdam
• Delft
• Haarlem
• Rotterdam
• The Hague

Neighbours

• Belgium
• Germany