Holland Netherlands Nederland

HOLLAND

NEDERLAND

The Netherlands (colloquially also as Holland) is actually a kingdom. These include the country in Western Europe, the Netherlands Antilles (the islands of Curacao and Bonaire) and the island of Aruba. All three islands are located in the Caribbean and all of these islands have their own constitution and government. The head of state of this kingdom is since 1980, the Queen Beatrix. The land is governed by the Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende government. So, the Netherlands is a parliamentary monarchy.

The capital of the Netherlands is located in Amsterdam. Except in the province of Friesland (Frisian) is the official language in the Netherlands, the Dutch language. Even in the overseas territories, the situation is the same (besides English). The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces (Dutch: provincies), which turn into 443 municipalities. The provinces of the Netherlands are grouped as follows: 1. Utrecht, North and South Holland (in the west), 2. Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg (in the south), 3. Flevoland, Gelderland and Overijssel (in the east), and 4. Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen (in the north).

The Netherlands is bordered to the north and west to the North Sea. In the south it is bordered to the east Belgium and Germany. But Belgium has a special place here. Indeed, together with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands build the so-called Benelux countries. Be for Belgium, Ne for the Netherlands and Lux for Luxembourg. The Benelux countries have been working for over half a century economically very closely together. The Netherlands is a member of the European Union.

Over time, many immigrated to the Netherlands. These were from the neighbouring countries and from the Caribbean (now around 130,000). Today there are about 400,000 Indonesians here and a little less from Germany and then from Turkey. From Surinam and Morocco were a total of roughly 660,000, from the United States 30,000, and from Italy, UK and France, a total of about 140,000 people. Together with Poland, Russia and African countries and other states is a foreigner share of around 20%. Accordingly, there do also exist the respective religions in the Netherlands. So the people of the Netherlands have become multicultural.

The Netherlands has a peculiar geographical specificity. Because of about half of the country is less than one meter above sea level. of the country lies below sea level (compared to Amsterdam). The other flat areas are mostly protected against storm surges through dikes. The numerous channels are marking and important for the Netherlands. Thus, there are many different built bridges.

The many famous windmills in the Netherlands, for example at Kinderdijk, the Dutch wooden shoes ( klomp ), delftware (pottery), many varieties of cheese (such as the Gouda ), bikes, the Frisian Holstein cows, dikes and the tulips, are symbols of the Netherlands. Mostly tulips are now in the Netherlands manufactured and exported abroad. The tulip actually came from Asia. In the 16th Century, an Austrian messenger brought this delicate onion flower of the Ottoman Empire to Vienna (in Turkish tülbent and so the botanical name is Tulipa ). The Netherlands is significant for food, chemicals, petroleum and electronics and agriculturally operates: cereals, vegetables, fruits and cut flowers.