Geographic location

Netherlands is a European country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a

member of the European Union (EU). In the Netherlands stands the organization and
administration of the kingdom is the official seat of the monarchy, and its executive,
legislative and judicial authorities.
As the name suggests, the country consists of lowland that about a quarter are located at sea
level or below it.
Frequently the country is known by the name of its most influential or relevant historical
region, Netherlands, located in the western part of the country. Their language is also
traditionally known, by extension, as Dutch, although its official name is Dutch.
The Netherlands is located in Northwestern Europe, and bordered to the north and west by
the North Sea, Belgium to the south and east Germany. The country is one of the most
densely populated areas in the world and is one of the most developed states: in 2011 was
located on the third place in terms of human development according to the Human
Development Index published by the United Nations

System and Heads of Government

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of 12 provinces and 2 overseas territories
(Netherlands Antilles and Aruba), governed by commissioners appointed by the monarch,
and a legislature elected by universal suffrage.
Since suffrage became universal in 1919, the Dutch political system has been dominated by
three families of political parties: the strongest of which were the Christian democrats,
currently represented by the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA); second were the social
democrats, represented by the Labour Party (PvdA); and third were the liberals, of which
the right wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is the main
representative
The provinces are composed of municipalities governed by a popularly elected board and a
mayor appointed by the monarch.

The head of state is the king, which is Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, but the head
of government is the prime minister who is Mark Rutte.
The history of Dutch foreign policy has been characterised by its neutrality. Since the
Second World War the Netherlands has become a member of a large number of
international organisations, most prominently the UN, NATO and the EU. The Dutch
economy is very open and relies on international trade.
The foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments: to atlantic cooperation, to European integration, to international development and to international law.
One of the more controversial international issues surrounding the Netherlands is its liberal
policy towards soft drugs.
During and after the Dutch Golden Age, the Dutch people built up a commercial and
colonial empire, which fell apart quickly after the Second World War. The historical ties
inherited from its colonial past still influence the foreign relations of the Netherlands
Currency :
It is the euro.
Cultural Events:
Amsterdam, the capital offers an extensive central area perfectly preserved buildings from
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, built around its multiple channels. Highlight the
museums dedicated to Van Gogh, Anne Frank and the Dutch classic painting. In the vicinity
you can visit Volendam and Marken, two great samples of Dutch fishing villages and the
cheese market in Alkmaar.
The Netherlands has a variety of cultural events from which we can reflect:

Museums: With a total of nearly a thousand museums, the Netherlands has the
highest number of museums. Among the best known museums highlights National
"Rijksmuseum" Museum and the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the

Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Mauritshuis in The Hague and

the Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn.

Painting: The Dutch artists keep alive a tradition of contemporary painting and
sculpture. The Dutch contemporary artists are well represented in events taking

place abroad, as the "Biennale" of Venice and the "Documenta" in Kassel.

Architecture: In the field of architecture and urban planning, the Netherlands has a
long tradition. No less than 50,000 buildings have come to be "landmarks". The
government protects and contributes financially to their maintenance. The manor
houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on the banks of the canals of
Amsterdam are famous worldwide. This houses are an urban expansion projects of
this century architect and urbanist Berlage in a neighborhood located at the south of
Amsterdam (Amsterdam-Zuid), and the new post-war buildings in the center of
Rotterdam. Modern architecture in the Netherlands is characterized by a great
variety of styles. A young architects are given the opportunity to experience in the
field of building and expanding cities. The government also influences the

architecture, given its role in principal.

Dance: Every two years, held in The Hague Dutch Dance Festival, in which the
productions of major Dutch and international dance performances. The winner
Springdance Cadance festival Utrecht and The Hague show each year the latest

advances in modern dance

Sports: Approximately 4.5 million of the 16 million people in the Netherlands are
registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two-thirds of the
population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly. Football is the most
popular sport in the Netherlands, with field hockey and volleyball as the second and
third most popular team sports. Tennis, gymnastics and golf are the three most
widely played individual sports.

Organization of sports began at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the
20th century. Federations for sports were established (such as the speed skating
federation in 1882), rules were unified and sports clubs came into existence. A Dutch
National Olympic Committee was established in 1912. Thus far, the nation has won 230
medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another 78 medals at the Winter Olympic
Games.

Turism:
Amsterdam is the capital city and one of the most visited tourist destinations. The
population uses bicycles as transportation preferred. The most important places to visit in
Amsterdam are the van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House.
In the rest of the country's most popular destinations are: The Hague, administrative capital
of the Netherlands, Rotterdam Europoort with the largest port in Europe and second
worldwide, Gouda, with its cheese market held every Thursday , Alkmaar, also important
for its cheeses, and Maastricht, the oldest of the Netherlands together with Nijmegen city
and the towns of Lisse and Hillegom, who have the Keukenhof. Also important Delft,
Haarlem, Utrecht and Groningen.
Notably, the country has seven sites declared World Heritage by the Unesco.46 One of them
is located in the Netherlands Antilles, the historic area of Willemstad. It also has another
place, shared with Germany, called the Wadden Sea.

Flora and Fauna

The fauna and flora of Holland prevails as typical of the North Continental Europe, which
means it is varied.
Netherlands is a natural paradise because of its abundant water and the care that natural
areas that still remain

Flora: Fields of multicolored flowers daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, etc.. , Extend

between The Hague and Amsterdam, and are the major tourist attraction of the
months of April and May and also contribute greatly to the booming economy.
Other features include anemones flowers, begonias, lilies, freesias and daffodils
growing in the wild. Fans of flowers in Holland find interesting routes for the

occasion.
Fauna: As for wildlife, fish and birds abound. The most characteristic fish are
herring, eel, smelt, mullet, snook, flounder and luciopercia, including fishing is one
of the most important resources.

The most common birds are the stock dove, black-headed gull, common swift, mallard,
heron, coot nesting in the vegetation on the banks of the canals, the black-tailed godwit,
tufted duck, the typical lapwing wet meadows and pastures, and snipe marsh, the reed
bunting and soromuzo Grebe, among many others.
On the coast stand the herring gull, oystercatcher, Curlew, Shelduck, the elegant avocet, the
skylark, the eared owl and common warbler.
In Netherlands abound mammals such as bats, which on warm evenings runs the heaven.
Other notable mammals include the red fox, which lives in sand dunes and wetlands, deer
and roe deer.
Thanks to its location and its particular climate, Holland is a very fertile plain of grassland
which have put considerable development of breeding cattle.

Climate:
The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is south-west, which causes a moderate
maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters. This is especially the case in places
within direct proximity of the Dutch coastline, which sometimes are over 10 C (18 F)
warmer (in winter) or cooler (in summer) than places in the (south) east of the country.
Ice days (maximum temperature below 0 C (32 F)) usually occur from December until
February, with the occasional rare ice day prior to or after that period. Freezing days
(minimum temperature below 0 C (32 F)) occur much more often, usually ranging from
mid-November to late March, but not rarely measured as early as mid October and as late
as mid May. If one chooses the height of measurement to be 10 cm (4 in) above ground
instead of 150 cm (59 in), one may even find such temperatures in the middle of the
summer. On average, snow can occur from November to April, but sometimes occurs in
May or October too.
Warm days (maximum temperature above 20 C (68 F)) in De Bilt are usually found in
April to October, but in some parts of the country these warm days can also occur in March,
or even sometimes in November or February (usually not in De Bilt, however). Summer

days (maximum temperature above 25 C (77 F)) are usually measured in De Bilt from
May until September, tropical days (maximum temperature above 30 C (86 F)) are rare
and usually occur only in June to August.
Precipitation throughout the year is distributed relatively equally each month. Summer and
autumn months tend to gather a little more precipitation than the other months, mainly
because of the intensity of the rainfall rather than the frequency of rain days (this is
especially the case in summer, when lightning is also much more frequent).
The number of sunshine hours is affected by the fact that because of the geographical
latitude, the length of the days varies between barely eight hours in December and nearly
17 hours in June.

Languages:
The predominant language spoken in Holland is Dutch. Hollanders sometimes refer to the
Dutch language as "Hollands", instead of the standard term Nederlands. Inhabitants of
Belgium and other provinces of the Netherlands refer to "Hollands" to indicate someone
speaking in a Hollandic dialect, or strong accent.
Standard Dutch was historically largely based on the dialect of the County of Holland,
incorporating many traits derived from the dialects of the previously more powerful Duchy
of Brabant and County of Flanders.
In the country the majority of the population speaks the Dutch language , which is the
official language, but are also recognized provincial languages and regional dialects. It is
also spoken in Flanders and Surinam, while in Indonesia the younger generations are
beginning to regain use of the language in the country , so far mostly common in the
population that met the Dutch colonization.
The Frisian language is the official language in the province of Friesland . Several Dutch
Low Saxon dialects spoken in the northeastern part of the country and are recognized by
the Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or

Minority Languages. Another Dutch dialect is limburger language , spoken in the

southeastern province of Limburg.
It is traditional in the country speak other languages , 70% of the population has a high
knowledge of English, between 55 and 59% speak German and about 19 % speak French.

Gastronomy:
The cuisine is characterized by the consumption of large amounts of bread and potatoes. It
is very popular a round buttered toast: the beschuit, which are usually eaten as breakfast,
with different flavors and is used in various celebrations. It is also one of the famous
national dishes, the erwtensoep which is basically a pea soup.
The cheeses are popular, among them the Gouda, Edam and Leyden. Many cities in the east
have their own cheeses, some of them only distinguishable by taste and by their outward
appearance. But as in all European countries, regional differences are evident and each
region has its typical dishes.
We also noticed the sandwich herring (haring broodje). Her sweet most appreciated are
cookies filled with syrup stroopwafels calls.

Typical Costume:
A very important element in this costume, are the legendary clogs, these very famous
wooden shoes are found in different colors and even decorated with drawings. And is that
the clogs are still used by farmers in the area. The men wear wide pants and clogs, and
women a long skirt. In his head wearing a white cap, so typical of this suit. Although the
latter has become widely known, in fact, only women wore Volendam, a village near
Amsterdam, where it remains an article of normal use, especially during Sundays

Habitants:
The total population in Netherlands was last recorded at 16.7 million people in 2012 from
11.5 million in 1960, changing 46 percent during the last 50 years. Population in
Netherlands is reported by the Eurostat. From 1960 until 2012, Netherlands Population
averaged 14.5 Million reaching an all time high of 16.7 Million in December of 2012 and a
record low of 11.5 Million in December of 1960. The population of Netherlands represents
0.24 percent of the worlds total population which arguably means that one person in every
418 people on the planet is a resident of Netherlands