Netherlands

The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a name referring to the low-lying land ("Nederland" in Dutch), is often called Holland (roughly meaning the same), the region that historically has been dominant. It lies on the south shore of the North Sea and shares a border with Germany to the east and Belgium to the south. It is one of Europe's smallest and most densely populated countries; its capital is Amsterdam although the seat of government is in 's Gravenhage, more commonly called Den Haag, a name that translates as The Hague. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy; its head of state since 1980 is Queen Beatrix of the House of Orange. Executive power is vested in a council of ministers ("Cabinet") that is responsible to the lower house of parliament. The parliament, or Staten-Generaal, is bicameral with an upper house ("Eerste Kamer") of 75 members, elected for six-year terms by the provincial councils, and a lower house ("Tweede Kamer") with 150 members elected by popular vote for four-year terms. Seats in the lower house are awarded to political parties under a system of proportional representation.

The coastal areas of the Netherlands to the north and west are low lying and much of the land in this area was recovered from the sea by draining low-lying marshes to create "polders". These reclaimed lands have the best quality soil for farming, dominating the landscape. Much of this land lies below sea level and the sea is kept out by an intricate system of dams, dikes, and sluices. Large reclaimed areas include the Wieringermeer polder in the north of Noord Holland province and the three large polders created by partially draining the IJsselmeer, formerly called Zuiderzee, the large inland sea; the new province of Flevoland is entirely made up of this reclaimed land. There is a saying that "God made the world with the exception of the Netherlands; that was made by the Dutch themselves".

The "High Netherlands" in the east and south, have a few low hills; the highest point, the Vaalserberg on the point where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet, is only 321 m high. The Rhine (Rijn in Dutch) and the Meuse (Maas) are major rivers, flowing from resp. Germany and Belgium combine here and form a system of smaller rivers, flowing into the North Sea past the largest harbour in the world near the city of Rotterdam. The Netherlands has a north European maritime climate with lots of rain, about 70000 mm annually, evenly distributed throughout the year, with average temperatures of around 3° C in January and 17° C in July. A warm summer day would be about 25° C.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands came into being in 1815; the French had established the "Batavian Republic" in 1795 and the "Kingdom of Holland" (1806) before annexing the country outright in 1810. After Napoleon's defeat the seven Protestant United Provinces in the north, successor states to the various semi-autonomous lands held by dukes, counts and even a bishop, established during the middle ages, united with the former Spanish (later Austrian) Catholic southern provinces. This union broke up in 1830 when the south seceded, forming the Kingdom of Belgium.

Photos from Our World

NETHERLANDS