Category: Netherlands

Netherlands is a country included in the Kingdom of Netherlands. The Kingdom of Netherlands consists of four parts, namely, Netherlands, Curacao, Saint Martin and Aruba. The capital of Netherlands is Amsterdam. The country is situated in the North-Western part of Europe and some parts of the country are located in Caribbean. Mainland of Netherlands is bordered by Germany, Belgium and North Sea. The maritime borders of the country are shared by United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. Netherlands was inhabited by different Germanic tribes and Gauls. During 15th and 16th century, seventeen provinces of Low Countries which includes Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, some part of West Germany and Northern part of France were united under the rule of Charles V.

After Eighty Years’ War of Seventeen Provinces with Spain (1568-1648), the country got independence from Habsburg Empire. Since 1815, the country is a constitutional monarchy and became a democratic country with parliamentary system in 1848. Head of the state is the monarch, currently Queen Beatrix. Prime Minister of Netherlands is the head of the government. The economy of Netherlands is an open economy with low inflation and unemployment. The economy of the country is largely depends on foodstuffs. Other major economic sectors are tourism, chemicals, machinery, electrical goods and metallurgy.

The population of Netherlands is 17.18 million. About 80% of the population is ethnic Dutch people. Other ethnic groups of the country are Indonesian, Turkish, German, Moroccan, Surinamese, Aruban and Antillean. The official language of Netherlands is Dutch, and Frisian is the co-official language. Other languages used are English, German, French and Papiamento. Papiamento is the official language of Bonaire which is a special municipality of Netherlands. English also is an official language of the special municipalities such as Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire. The largest religion of Netherlands is Roman Catholicism. Other religious faith are Protestants, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Jewish.

Amsterdam is the most popular and beautiful place of Netherlands with great number of gardens and parks. Amsterdam has about 61 art galleries, 20 theaters, 12 concert halls and 53 museums. One of the popular art galleries of Amsterdam is Rijksmuseum which display the works of European painters and native artists. Because of the four canals in the Amsterdam city, the city is known as the ‘Venice of the North. Alkmaar is another famous place in Netherlands where you can find cheese market, beer museum, and stads museum dedicated to the city’s history, museum related to penguin and beer museum.

Hoge Veluwe is the biggest national park of the county which is the home of Kroller-Muller museum. The Kroller-Muller museum displays the collections of Van Gogh, Mondrian and Picasso. Rotterdam is the biggest port of the world and the city was destroyed by Germans during Second World War. Hague is fascinating city where the headquarters of International Court of Justice, and also the home of more than 60 foreign embassies. Hague offers Puppet Museum, Madurodam Miniature Town, Parliament buildings, Madurodam Miniature town, municipal museum and Gementemuseum. Utrecht has several interesting churches worth visiting such St. Jacobkerk, St. Janskerk, St. Pietereskerk and St. Michael.