Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Apr. 18, 2023

Netherlands is a country located in northwestern Europe. It is also known as Holland. “Netherlands” means low-lying country; the name Holland (from Houtland, or “Wooded Land”) was originally given to one of the medieval cores of what later became the modern state and is still used for 2 of its 12 provinces. A parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, the kingdom includes its former colonies in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

Here is the flag of the Netherlands:

The country is indeed low-lying and remarkably flat, with large expanses of lakes, rivers, and canals. Some 2,500 square miles of the Netherlands consist of reclaimed land, the result of a process of careful water management dating back to medieval times. Along the coasts, land was reclaimed from the sea, and, in the interior, lakes and marshes were drained, especially alongside the many rivers.

We visited the Zaanse Schans village and its charming windmills. One of its most iconic symbols, the windmill has played a vital role in the history of the Netherlands for centuries. There are still more than 1,000 windmills scattered throughout the country, with many still in use. Some of the best-known Holland windmills include those in UNESCO Sites Kinderdijk, Zaanse Schans and Schiedam. The oldest remaining windmill can be found in the province of Gelderland: the Zeddam tower mill, which was first written about in 1451.

Historically, windmills in Holland had many different purposes; they utilized wind and water to generate energy to process, mix, grind and cut everything from hemp and grain to oil, paint and wood. The Zaanstreek paper mills were so famous that they were chosen as paper provider for the American Declaration of Independence. There are different types of windmills in Holland, which means the kind you see today in Kinderdijk don’t look like Amsterdam’s De Gooyer (which houses a popular craft beer brewery at its base).

Despite government-encouraged emigration after World War II, which prompted some 500,000 persons to leave the country, the Netherlands is today one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Although the population as a whole is “graying” rapidly, with a high percentage over age 65, Amsterdam has remained one of the liveliest centres of international youth culture. There, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, the Dutch tradition of social tolerance is readily encountered. Prostitution, “soft-drug” (marijuana and hashish) use, and euthanasia are all legal but carefully regulated. The Netherlands was also the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch rejected monarchical controls and took a relatively enlightened view of other cultures, especially when they brought wealth and capital to the country’s trading centers. In that period Dutch merchant ships sailed the world and helped lay the foundations of a great trading country characterized by a vigorous spirit of enterprise. With Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is a member of the Benelux economic union. The Netherlands is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and it plays host to a number of international organizations, especially in the legal sector, such as the International Court of Justice.

The Netherlands is bounded by the North Sea to the north and west, Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south. If the Netherlands were to lose the protection of its dunes and dikes, the most densely populated part of the country would be inundated (largely by the sea but also in part by the rivers). This highly developed part of the Netherlands, which generally does not lie higher than about three feet above sea level, covers more than half the total area of the country. About half of this area (more than one-fourth of the total area of the country) actually lies below sea level.

The climate of the Netherlands is temperate, with gentle winters, cool summers, and rainfall in every season. Southerly and westerly winds predominate, and the sea moderates the climate through onshore winds and the effect of the Gulf Stream.

The language in the whole of the country is Dutch, sometimes referred to as Netherlandic, a Germanic language that is also spoken by the inhabitants of northern Belgium (where it is called Flemish). Afrikaans, an official language of South Africa, is a variant of the Dutch spoken by 17th-century emigrants from the Holland and Zeeland regions. In the major cities especially, many people are fluent in several languages, reflecting the country’s geographic position, its history of occupation, and its attraction for tourists. English, French, and German are among the languages commonly heard.

Dutch dairy farming is highly developed. A good percentage of the total milk production is exported after being processed into such dairy products as butter, cheese, and condensed milk. Meat and eggs are produced in intensively farmed livestock holdings, where enormous numbers of pigs, calves, and poultry are kept in large sheds and fed mainly on imported fodder. Most cereals for human consumption as well as fodder are imported.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The monarchy is hereditary in both the male and female lines.

The cultural life of the Netherlands is varied and lively. Dutch painting and crafts are world renowned, and Dutch painters are among the greatest the world has ever known. The Dutch themselves take great pride in their cultural heritage, and the government is heavily involved in subsidizing the arts.

The symbols of Dutchness—wooden shoes, lace caps, tulips, and windmills—are known throughout the world, but they tell only a small part of the story of contemporary life in the Netherlands. Except in places such as Vollendam and Marken and on occasions of national celebration, traditional dress long ago gave way to a style of dress in line with that of the rest of northern Europe. Flowering bulbs and tubers, including tulips, remain an important export commodity, and various festivals celebrate them. They are also displayed in the annual spring flower exhibition at Keukenhof Gardens (see below) and in venues such as the Aalsmeer flower market.

Dutch cuisine is notable for many individual dishes, including filled pancakes (pannekoeken); pastries such as banket (an almond paste-filled treat), oliebollen (a deep-fried pastry dusted with powdered sugar), and speculaas (spice cookies); and a great variety of hard cheeses, including Edam and Gouda, the world-renowned varieties that originated in the towns for which they are named.

Amsterdam, a city and port in western Netherlands, is located on the IJsselmeer and connected to the North Sea. It is the capital and the principal commercial and financial center of the Netherlands.

The Amsterdam metropolitan area is 245 square miles and the population in 2022 was 1,166,000.

To the scores of tourists who visit each year, Amsterdam is known for its historical attractions, for its collections of great art, and for the distinctive color and flavor of its old sections, which have been well preserved. However, visitors to the city also see a crowded metropolis beset by environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and housing shortages. It is easy to describe Amsterdam, which is more than 700 years old, as a living museum of a bygone age and to praise the eternal beauty of the centuries-old canals, the ancient houses, and the atmosphere of freedom and tolerance, but the modern city is still working out solutions to the pressing urban problems that confront it.

Amsterdam is the nominal capital of the Netherlands but not the seat of government, which is The Hague. The royal family, for example, is only occasionally in residence at the Royal Palace, on the square known as the Dam, in Amsterdam. The city lacks the monumental architecture found in other capitals. There are no wide squares suitable for big parades, nor are there triumphal arches or imposing statues. Amsterdam’s intimate character is best reflected in the narrow, bustling streets of the old town, where much of the population still goes about its business. While there are reminders of the glorious past—gabled houses, noble brick facades clad with sandstone, richly decorated cornices, towers and churches, and the music of carillons and barrel organs—the realities of life in the modern city often belie this romantic image.

The inner city is divided by its network of canals into some 90 “islands,” and the municipality contains approximately 1,300 bridges and viaducts.

Amsterdam is the economic center of the Netherlands, and their tradition persists alongside innovation. Although the city has a modern metro system, about one-fifth of the workforce still relies on the time-honored bicycle for transportation.

The city continues to be famous for its countless Chinese and Indonesian restaurants and the hundreds of houseboats that line its canals. Since the mid-1960s Amsterdam also has been known for a permissive atmosphere, and it attracts many people seeking an alternative lifestyle.

We continued to the village of Edam, famous for its cheese of the same name. We strolled through the flat, narrow streets of this picturesque village to the Bell Tower and reveled in the history of some of the houses here, which date back to the 1600s.