and the supporters of the stadtholder the Prinsgezinden as main political factions citation needed Batavian Republic and kingdom – edit Main articles Batavian Republic Kingdom of Holland United Kingdom of the Netherlands and Kingdom of the Netherlands With the armed support of revolutionary France Dutch republicans proclaimed the Batavian Republic modelled after the French Republic and rendering the Netherlands a unitary state in January The stadtholder William V of Orange had fled to England But from to Kingdom of Holland was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother Louis Bonaparte to control the Netherlands more effectively However King Louis Bonaparte tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother s and he was forced to abdicate on July The Emperor sent in an army and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire until the autumn of when Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig A map of the Dutch colonial empire Light green territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch East India Company dark green the Dutch West India Company In yellow the territories occupied later during the th century William Frederick son of the last stadtholder returned to the Netherlands in and proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands Two years later the Congress of Vienna added the southern Netherlands to the north to create a strong country on the northern border of France William Frederick raised this United Netherlands to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself King William I In addition William became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in exchange for his German possessions However the Southern Netherlands had been culturally separate from the north since and rebelled The south gained independence in as Belgium while the personal union between Luxembourg and the Netherlands was severed in when William III died with no surviving male heirs Ascendancy laws prevented his daughter Queen Wilhelmina from becoming the next Grand Duchess

The submission of Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in painting by Nicolaas PienemanThe Belgian Revolution at home and the Java War in the Dutch East Indies brought the Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy However the Cultivation System was introduced in in the Dutch East Indies of village land had to be devoted to government crops for export The policy brought the Dutch enormous wealth and made the colony self sufficient On the other hand the colonies in the West Indies Dutch Guiana and Curaçao and Dependencies relied heavily on African slaves in which the Dutch part is estimated at – percent or more than half a million Africans The Netherlands abolished slavery in Furthermore slaves in Suriname would be fully free only in since the law stipulated that there was to be a mandatory year transition The Dutch were also one of the last European countries to industrialise in the second half of the th century World wars and beyond –present edit Main articles History of the Netherlands –present and The Netherlands in World War II Rotterdam after German air raids in The Netherlands were able to remain neutral during World War I In part because the import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival until the blockade by the British Royal Navy in That changed in World War II when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on May The Rotterdam Blitz forced the main element of the Dutch army to surrender four days later During the occupation over Dutch Jews were rounded up and transported to Nazi extermination camps of whom only a few survived Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany civilians who resisted were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers and the countryside was plundered for food Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans over Dutch fascists joined the Waffen SS fighting on the Eastern Front Political collaborators were members of the fascist NSB the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands On December the Dutch government in exile in London declared war on Japan but could not prevent the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies Indonesia In – the First Canadian Army which included Canadian British and Polish troops was responsible for liberating much of the Netherlands But soon after VE day the Dutch fought a colonial war against the new republic of Indonesia The Netherlands became a co founder of the European Union predecessors introduced the Euro currency and signed the Lisbon Treaty in pictured In the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands reformed the political structure of the Netherlands which was a result of international pressure to carry out decolonisation The Dutch colonies of Surinam and Curaçao and Dependencies and the European country all became countries within the Kingdom on a basis of equality Indonesia had declared its independence in August recognised in and thus was never part of the reformed Kingdom Suriname followed in After the war the Netherlands left behind also an era of neutrality and gained closer ties with neighboring states The Netherlands was one of the founding members of the Benelux the NATO Euratom and the European Coal and Steel Community which would evolve into the EEC Common Market and later the European Union Government encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some Dutch people to leave the country after the war The s and s were a time of great social and cultural change such as rapid ontzuiling literally depillarisation a term that describes the decay of the old divisions along political and religious lines Youths and students in particular rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women s rights sexuality disarmament and environmental issues On October the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved Referendums were held on each island to determine their future status As a result the islands of Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba the BES islands were to obtain closer ties with the Netherlands This led to the incorporation of these three islands into the country of the Netherlands as special municipalities upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles The special municipalities are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands Geography edit Main article Geography of the Netherlands A satellite overview of the Netherlands The European area of the Netherlands lies between latitudes ° and ° N and longitudes ° and ° E The Netherlands is geographically a very low and flat country with about of its area and of its population located below sea level and only about of its land exceeding one metre above sea level The country is for the most part flat with the exception of foothills in the far southeast up to a height of no more than metres and some low hill ranges in the central parts Most of the areas below sea level are man made caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation Since the late th century large polder areas are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes canals and pumping stations Nearly of the country s land area is reclaimed from the sea and from lakes Much of the country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers the Rhine Rijn the Meuse Maas and the Scheldt Schelde as well as their tributaries The south western part of the Netherlands is to this day a river delta of these three rivers the Rhine Meuse Scheldt delta The Netherlands is divided into north and south parts by the Rhine the Waal its main tributary branch and the Meuse In the past these rivers functioned as a natural barrier between fiefdoms and hence historically created a cultural divide as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognisable on either side of what the Dutch call their Great Rivers de Grote Rivieren Another significant branch of the Rhine the IJssel river discharges into Lake IJssel the former Zuiderzee southern sea Just like the previous this river forms a linguistic divide people to the northeast of this river speak Dutch Low Saxon dialects except for the province of Friesland which has its own language Floods edit Main articles Flood control in the Netherlands Floods in the Netherlands North Sea flood of and Storm tides of the North Sea The Christmas flood of was the result of a northwesterly storm In total approximately people drowned Over the centuries the Dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of natural disasters and human intervention Most notable in terms of land loss was the storm of which created the archipelago of Zeeland in the south west On December St Lucia s flood affected the Netherlands and Germany killing more than people in one of the most destructive floods in recorded history The St Elizabeth flood of and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder replacing it with the square kilometre sq mi Biesbosch tidal floodplains in the south centre The huge North Sea flood of early February caused the collapse of several dikes in the south west of the Netherlands more than people drowned in the flood The Dutch government subsequently instituted a large scale programme the Delta Works to protect the country against future flooding which was completed over a period of more than thirty years The impact of disasters was to an extent increased through human activity Relatively high lying swampland was drained to be used as farmland The drainage caused the fertile peat to contract and ground levels to drop upon which groundwater levels were lowered to compensate for the drop in ground level causing the underlying peat to contract further Additionally until the th century peat was mined dried and used for fuel further exacerbating the problem Centuries of extensive and poorly controlled peat extraction lowered an already low land surface by several metres Even in flooded areas peat extraction continued through turf dredging Because of the flooding farming was difficult which encouraged foreign trade the result of which was that the Dutch were involved in world affairs since the early th th century Map illustrating areas of the Netherlands below sea levelTo guard against floods a series of defences against the water were contrived In the first millennium AD villages and farmhouses were built on man made hills called terps Later these terps were connected by dikes In the th century local government agencies called waterschappen water boards or hoogheemraadschappen high home councils started to appear whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods these agencies continue to exist As the ground level dropped the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system By the th century windmills had come into use to pump water out of areas below sea level The windmills were later used to drain lakes creating the famous polders citation needed In the Afsluitdijk Closure Dike was completed blocking the former Zuiderzee Southern Sea from the North Sea and thus creating the IJsselmeer IJssel Lake It became part of the larger Zuiderzee Works in which four polders totalling square kilometres sq mi were reclaimed from the sea The Netherlands is one of the countries that may suffer most from climate change Not only is the rising sea a problem but erratic weather patterns may cause the rivers to overflow A polder at metres below sea level Delta works edit Main article Delta Works The Delta Works are located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland After the disaster the Delta Works were constructed a comprehensive set of civil works throughout the Dutch coast The project started in and was largely completed in with the completion of the Maeslantkering New projects have been periodically started since to renovate and renew the Delta Works A main goal of the Delta project was to reduce the risk of flooding in South Holland and Zeeland to once per years compared to per years for the rest of the country This was achieved by raising kilometres mi of outer sea dykes and kilometres mi of inner canal and river dikes and by closing off the sea estuaries of the Zeeland province New risk assessments occasionally show problems requiring additional Delta project dyke reinforcements The Delta project is considered by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the seven wonders of the modern world It is anticipated that global warming in the st century will result in a rise in sea level which despite popular belief will possibly not overwhelm the measures the Netherlands has taken to control floods citation needed Even more specifically the Netherlands is the only country in the world actively preparing for a sea level rise A politically neutral Delta Commission has formulated an action plan to cope with a sea level rise of metres ft and a simultaneous land height decline of centimetres in The plan encompasses the reinforcement of the existing coastal defenses like dikes and dunes with metres ft of additional flood protection Climate change will not only threaten the Netherlands from the sea side but could also alter rain fall patterns and river run off To protect the country from river flooding another program is already being executed The Room for the River plan grants more flow space to rivers protects the major populated areas and allows for periodic flooding of indefensible lands The few residents that lived in these so called overflow areas have been moved to higher ground with some of that ground having been raised above anticipated flood levels Protecting the country against floods is one element of climate change The other is that the pressure of the sea water on ground water will increase citation needed As a result the fresh water table will be pushed more inland resulting in more brackish or saline groundwater in the coastal provinces Due to this change some drinking water areas will be forced to apply desalination despite the apparent abundance of water It will also affect agriculture The greenhouses can continue their production by becoming more water efficient they are already disconnected from the groundwater thereby not becoming more saline though they will need to become more energy and water efficient The push of more brackish water into the mainland will also cause changes in flora and fauna citation needed Climate edit The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is southwest which causes a moderate maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters and typically high humidity This is especially true close to the Dutch coastline where the difference in temperature between summer and winter as well as between day and night is noticeably smaller than it is in the southeast of the country The following tables are based on mean measurements by the KNMI weather station in De Bilt between and Climate data for De Bilt – averages all KNMI locations – extremes snowy days – averages Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C °F Average high °C °F Daily mean °C °F Average low °C °F Record low °C °F Average precipitation mm inches Average precipitation days mm Average snowy days cm – – – – Average relative humidity Mean monthly sunshine hours Source Knmi nl Ice days maximum temperature below °C °F usually occur from December until February with the occasional rare ice day prior to or after that period Freezing days minimum temperature below °C °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 cm in above ground instead of cm 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 FrieslandWarm days maximum temperature above °C °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 °C °F are usually measured in De Bilt from May until September tropical days maximum temperature above °C °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 De Groote Peel National Park in North Brabant 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 hours in June Nature edit Further information List of national parks of the Netherlands and List of extinct animals of the Netherlands The Netherlands has national parks and hundreds of other nature reserves that include lakes heathland woods dunes and other habitats Most of these are owned by Staatsbosbeheer the national department for forestry and nature conservation and Natuurmonumenten literally Natures monuments a private organisation that buys protects and manages nature reserves The Dutch part of the Wadden Sea in the north with its tidal flats and wetlands is rich in biological diversity and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Nature Site in Common Seals on Terschelling a Wadden Sea islandThe Oosterschelde formerly the northeast estuary of the river Scheldt was designated a national park in thereby making it the largest national park in the Netherlands at an area of square kilometres sq mi It consists primarily of the salt waters of the Oosterschelde but also includes mud flats meadows and shoals Because of the large variety of sea life including unique regional species the park is popular with Scuba divers Other activities include sailing fishing cycling and bird watching Phytogeographically the Netherlands is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom According to the World Wide Fund for Nature the territory of the Netherlands belongs to the ecoregion of Atlantic mixed forests In the last old original natural woods were cut down and most woods today are planted monocultures of trees like Scots Pine and trees that are not native to the Netherlands citation needed These woods were planted on anthropogenic heaths and sand drifts overgrazed heaths Veluwe Caribbean islands edit Main articles Bonaire Saba and Sint Eustatius The Caribbean Netherlands are designated as special municipalities of the Netherlands The islands form a part of the Lesser Antilles Within this island group View of the coast of BonaireBonaire is part of the ABC islands within the Leeward Antilles island chain off the Venezuelan coast The Leeward Antilles have a mixed volcanic and coral origin Saba and Sint Eustatius are part of the SSS islands They are located east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Although in the English language they are considered part of the Leeward Islands French Spanish Dutch and the English spoken locally consider them part of the Windward Islands The Windward Islands are all of volcanic origin and hilly leaving little ground suitable for agriculture The highest point is Mount Scenery metres ft on Saba This is the highest point in the country and is also the highest point of the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands The islands of the Caribbean Netherlands enjoy a tropical climate with warm weather all year round The Leeward Antilles are warmer and drier than the Windward islands In summer the Windward Islands can be subject to hurricanes Politics edit Main article Government of the Netherlands The Binnenhof where the lower and upper houses of the States General meet The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since and a parliamentary democracy since The Netherlands is described as a consociational state Dutch politics and governance are characterised by an effort to achieve broad consensus on important issues within both the political community and society as a whole In The Economist ranked the Netherlands as the th most democratic country in the world The monarch is the head of state at present King Willem Alexander Constitutionally the position is equipped with limited powers By law the king the title queen has no constitutional significance has the right to be periodically briefed and consulted on government affairs Depending on the personalities and relationships of the king and the ministers the king might have influence beyond the power granted by the constitution Willem Alexander King of the Netherlands since The executive power is formed by the council of Ministers the deliberative council of the Dutch cabinet The cabinet usually consists of to ministers and a varying number of state secretaries One to three ministers are ministers without portfolio The head of government is the Prime Minister of the Netherlands who often is the leader of the largest party of the coalition The Prime Minister is a primus inter pares with no explicit powers beyond those of the other ministers Mark Rutte has been Prime Minister since October the Prime Minister had been the leader of the largest party continuously since The cabinet is responsible to the bicameral parliament the States General which also has legislative powers The members of the House of Representatives the Lower House are elected in direct elections on the basis of party list proportional representation These are held every four years or sooner in case the cabinet falls for example when one of the chambers carries a motion of no confidence the cabinet offers its resignation to the monarch The States Provincial are directly elected every four years as well The members of the provincial assemblies elect the members of the Senate the upper house which has the power to reject laws but not propose or amend them Political culture edit Both trade unions and employers organisations are consulted beforehand in policymaking in the financial economic and social areas They meet regularly with government in the Social Economic Council This body advises government and its advice cannot be put aside easily The Netherlands has a long tradition of social tolerance In the th century while the Dutch Reformed Church was the state religion Catholicism other forms of Protestantism such as Baptists and Lutherans and Judaism were tolerated but discriminated against In the late th century this Dutch tradition of religious tolerance transformed into a system of pillarisation in which religious groups coexisted separately and only interacted at the level of government This tradition of tolerance influences Dutch criminal justice policies on recreational drugs prostitution LGBT rights euthanasia and abortion which are among the most liberal in the world Political parties edit Main articles Political parties of the Netherlands and Politics of the Netherlands Mark Rutte Prime Minister of the Netherlands since October Because of the multi party system no single party has held a majority in parliament since the th century and coalition cabinets had to be formed Since suffrage became universal in 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 These parties co operated in coalition cabinets in which the Christian democrats had always been a partner so either a centre left coalition of the Christian democrats and social democrats was ruling or a centre right coalition of Christian democrats and liberals In the s the party system became more volatile the Christian democratic parties lost seats while new parties became successful such as the radical democrat and progressive liberal D In the election the CDA lost its dominant position A purple cabinet was formed by VVD D and PvdA In the elections this cabinet lost its majority because of an increased support for the CDA and the rise of the right LPF a new political party around Pim Fortuyn who was assassinated a week before the elections A short lived cabinet was formed by CDA VVD and LPF which was led by the CDA leader Jan Peter Balkenende After the elections in which the LPF lost most of its seats a cabinet was formed by CDA VVD and D The cabinet initiated an ambitious programme of reforming the welfare state the healthcare system and immigration policy In June the cabinet fell after D voted in favour of a motion of no confidence against the Minister of Immigration and Integration Rita Verdonk who had instigated an investigation of the asylum procedure of Ayaan Hirsi Ali a VVD MP A caretaker cabinet was formed by CDA and VVD and general elections were held on November In these elections the CDA remained the largest party and the Socialist Party made the largest gains The formation of a new cabinet took three months resulting in a coalition of CDA PvdA and ChristianUnion On February the cabinet fell when the PvdA refused to prolong the involvement of the Dutch Army in Uruzgan Afghanistan Snap elections were held on June with devastating results for the previously largest party the CDA which lost about half of its seats resulting in seats The VVD became the largest party with seats closely followed by the PvdA with seats The big winner of the elections was Geert Wilders whose right wing PVV the ideological successor to the LPF more than doubled its number of seats Negotiation talks for a new government resulted in a minority government led by VVD a first in coalition with CDA which was sworn in on October This unprecedented minority government was supported by PVV but proved ultimately to be unstable when on April Wilders leader of PVV unexpectedly torpedoed seven weeks of austerity talks on new austerity measures paving the way for early elections VVD and PvdA were the big winners of the elections Since November they have formed the second Rutte cabinet Administrative divisions edit Main articles Provinces of the Netherlands Municipalities of the Netherlands Water board Netherlands Public body Netherlands and Caribbean Netherlands The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces each under a Commissioner of the King Commissaris van de Koning except for Limburg province where the position is named Governor Gouverneur All provinces are divided into municipalities gemeenten of which there are The country is also subdivided into water districts governed by a water board waterschap or hoogheemraadschap each having authority in matters concerning water management The creation of water boards actually pre dates that of the nation itself the first appearing in The Dutch water boards are among the oldest democratic entities in the world still in existence Direct elections of the water boards take place every years The administrative structure on the BES islands collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands is different These islands have the status of openbare lichamen public bodies rather than municalities and as administrative units are generally referred to as special municipalities They are not part of a province Provinces and special municipalities of the Netherlands Flag Province Capital Largest city Area km² Population Density per km² Drenthe Assen Assen Flevoland Lelystad Almere Friesland Leeuwarden Leeuwarden Gelderland Arnhem Nijmegen Groningen Groningen Groningen Limburg Maastricht Maastricht North Brabant s Hertogenbosch Eindhoven North Holland Haarlem Amsterdam Overijssel Zwolle Enschede Utrecht Utrecht Utrecht Zeeland Middelburg Middelburg South Holland The Hague Rotterdam Total Government House SabaFlag Name Capital Largest city Area km² Population Density per km² Bonaire Kralendijk Kralendijk Sint Eustatius Oranjestad Oranjestad Saba The Bottom The Bottom Total Foreign relations edit The Peace Palace Vredespaleis The HagueMain article Foreign relations of the Netherlands The history of Dutch foreign policy has been characterised by its neutrality Since World War II 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 strongly on international trade The foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments to Atlantic co operation 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 The most important colonies were present day Surinam and Indonesia Indonesia became independent after the Indonesian National Revolution in the ies following a war of independence international pressure and several UN Security Council Resolutions Surinam became independent in The historical ties inherited from its colonial past still influence the foreign relations of the Netherlands In addition many people from these countries are living permanently in the Netherlands Military edit Main article Armed forces of the Netherlands The Netherlands has one of the oldest standing armies in Europe it was first established as such by Maurice of Nassau The Dutch army was used throughout the Dutch Empire After the defeat of Napoleon the Dutch army was transformed into a conscription army The army was unsuccessfully deployed during the Belgian revolution in After it was deployed mainly in the Dutch colonies as the Netherlands remained neutral in European wars including the First World War until the Netherlands was invaded in World War II and quickly defeated by the Wehrmacht in May Zr Ms Holland a Royal Dutch Navy Offshore patrol vesselThe Netherlands abandoned its neutrality in when it signed the Treaty of Brussels and later became a founding member of NATO in The Dutch military was therefore part of the NATO strength in Cold War Europe deploying its army to several bases in Germany More than Dutch soldiers were assigned to the nd Infantry Division of the United States Army during the Korean War In conscription was suspended and the Dutch army was once again transformed into a professional army Since the s the Dutch army has been involved in the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War it held a province in Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein and it was engaged in Afghanistan The military is composed of four branches all of which carry the prefix Koninklijke Royal Koninklijke Landmacht KL the Royal Netherlands Army Koninklijke Marine KM the Royal Netherlands Navy including the Naval Air Service and Marine Corps Koninklijke Luchtmacht KLu the Royal Netherlands Air Force Koninklijke Marechaussee KMar the Royal Marechaussee Military Police tasks include military police and border control General Tom Middendorp is the current Commander of the Netherlands armed forces All military specialities except the submarine service and the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps Korps Mariniers are open to women The Korps Commandotroepen the Special Operations Force of the Netherlands Army is open to women but because of the extremely high physical demands for initial training it is almost impossible for women to become a commando The Dutch Ministry of Defence employs more than personnel including over civilians and over military personnel In April the government announced a major reduction in its military because of a cut in government expenditure including a decrease in the number of tanks fighter aircraft naval ships and senior officials Economy edit Main article Economy of the Netherlands The Port of Rotterdam is Europe s largest port The Netherlands has a developed economy and has been playing a special role in the European economy for many centuries Since the th century shipping fishing agriculture trade and banking have been leading sectors of the Dutch economy The Netherlands has a high level of economic freedom The Netherlands is one of the top countries in the Global Enabling Trade Report rd in As of the key trading partners of the Netherlands were Germany Belgium UK United States France Italy China and Russia The Netherlands is one of the world s leading exporting countries Foodstuffs form the largest industrial sector Other major industries include chemicals metallurgy machinery electrical goods and tourism in the Netherlands welcomed million international tourists Examples of international companies operating in Netherlands include Randstad Unilever Heineken financial services ING ABN AMRO Rabobank chemicals DSM AKZO petroleum refining Shell electronical machinery Philips ASML and car navigation TomTom The Netherlands has the th largest economy in the world and ranks th in GDP nominal per capita Between and annual economic growth GDP averaged nearly well above the European average Growth slowed considerably from to with the global economic slowdown but accelerated to in the third quarter of In May inflation was at per year In April unemployment was at or following the ILO definition of the labour force In Q and Q the Dutch economy contracted by and respectively because of European Debt Crisis while in Q the Eurozone economy shrunk by The Netherlands also has a relatively low GINI coefficient of Despite ranking th in GDP per capita UNICEF ranked the Netherlands st in child well being On the Index of Economic Freedom Netherlands is the th most free market capitalist economy out of surveyed countries Amsterdam is the financial and business capital of the Netherlands The Amsterdam Stock Exchange AEX part of Euronext is the world s oldest stock exchange and is one of Europe s largest bourses It is situated near Dam Square in the city s centre As a founding member of the euro the Netherlands replaced for accounting purposes its former currency the gulden guilder on January along with other adopters of the euro Actual euro coins and banknotes followed on January One euro was equivalent to Dutch guilders In the Caribbean Netherlands the United States dollar is used instead of the euro The Netherlands is part of a monetary union the eurozone dark blue and of the EU single market The Dutch location gives it prime access to markets in the UK and Germany with the port of Rotterdam being the largest port in Europe Other important parts of the economy are international trade Dutch colonialism started with co operative private enterprises such as the VOC banking and transport The Netherlands successfully addressed the issue of public finances and stagnating job growth long before its European partners Amsterdam is the th busiest tourist destination in Europe with more than million international visitors Since the enlargement of the EU large numbers of migrant workers have arrived in the Netherlands from central and eastern Europe Of economic importance is BrabantStad a partnership between the municipalities of Breda Eindhoven Helmond s Hertogenbosch and Tilburg and the province of North Brabant BrabantStad is the fastest growing economic region in the Netherlands with Brainport as one of the three national top regions and as a top region in the world The region lies within the Eindhoven Leuven Aachen Triangle ELAT The partnership aims to form an urban network and to make North Brabant explicitly known as a leading knowledge region within Europe With a total of million people and of the industrial production in the Netherlands is BrabantStad one of the major economical important metropolitan regions of the Netherlands Of all the money that goes to research and development in the Netherlands one third is spent in Eindhoven A quarter of the jobs in the region are in technology and ICT Of all European patent applications in the field of physics and electronics about eight per cent is from North Brabant In the extended region BrabantStad is part of the Eindhoven Leuven Aachen Triangle ELAT This economic cooperation agreement between three cities in three countries has created one of the most innovative regions in the European Union measured in terms of money invested in technology and knowledge economy The economic success of this region is important for the international competitiveness of the Netherlands Together Amsterdam airport Rotterdam seaport and Eindhoven Brainport form the foundation of the Dutch economy


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angela-baron angela-summers angel-barrett angel-cash angel-cruz angel-cummings angel-ducharme angelica-sin angelika-reschner angelina-brasini angelina-korrs angelina-valentine angel-kelly angel-long angel-west angie-knight anita-andic anita-blond anita-cannibal anita-dark anna-belle anna-malle anna-nikova anna-pierce anna-ventura anna-veruska anne-bie-warburg anne-libert anne-magle anne-sand annette-haven annie-sprinkle ann-kiray ann-marie-michelle antonia-dorian april-flowers april-may april-west arcadia-lake ariana-bali ariana-jollee arlana-blue ashley-anne ashley-brooks ashley-coda ashley-fires ashley-lauren ashley-long ashley-marie ashley-nicole ashley-perk ashley-renee ashley-robbins ashley-welles ashley-wells ashley-winger ashlyn-gere astrid-bone athena-star aubrey-nichols aurora aurora-snow autumn-bliss autumn-rayne ava-devine ava-lauren avalon ava-marteens avy-lee-roth bailey-monroe bambi-allen barbara-bourbon barbara-boutet barbara-dare barbara-doll barbara-moose barbarella barbie-angel barbie-doll barett-moore bea-fiedler beata beatrice-poggi beatrice-valle becky-savage becky-sunshine belinda-butterfield bella-donna bethany-sweet beverly-bliss beverly-glen biggi-stenzhorn bionca black-widow blond-cat blondi blue-angel bobbi-bliss bobbi-dean bobbie-burns bonnie-holiday brandee brandi-edwards brandy-alexandre brandy-dean brandy-lee brandy-smile brandy-wine bree-anthony breezy-lane brenda-basse briana-blair bridgette-belle bridgette-monet bridgette-monroe bridget-waters brigitte-lahaie brigitte-monnin brigitte-verbecq brittany brittany-stryker britt-corvin britt-morgan bronze brooke-bennett brooke-fields brooke-haven brooke-west brook-van-buuren buffy-davis bunnie-blake bunny-bleu bunny-hatton busty-belle cali-caramel calisyn-heart cameo cameron-love camila-sampaio camilla-rhodes camille-morgan camrie-foxxx candace-daley candi candida-royalle candie-evens candi-summers candy-apples candy-barr candy-hill candy-samples candy-stanton cara-lott caressa-savage carmel-nougat carmen-blonde carmen-de-la-torre carmen-moore carmen-rose carol-connors carol-cross carol-cummings carole-dubois carole-gire carole-pierac carol-titian carolyn-connoly carolyn-monroe carrie-cruise cassandra-leigh cassidy cassie-courtland cataline-bullock catherine-count catherine-crystal catherine-ringer catherine-tailleferre cathy-delorme cathy-menard cathy-stewart celeste-fox celine-gallone chanel-preston chanel-price chantal-virapin chanta-rose chantelle-stevens charisma charisma-cole charlie-latour charlie-waters charlotte-de-castille charmane-star chasey-lain chayse-manhattan chaz-vincent chelsea-sinclaire chennin-blanc cheri-janvier cheri-taylor cherry-hill chessie-moore cheyenne-hunter cheyenne-silver china-lee china-leigh china-moon chloe-cruize chloe-dior chloe-kez chloe-stevens chris-collins chris-jordan chris-petersen chrissie-beauchamp christa-abel christa-ludwig christie-ford christi-lake christina-berg christina-blond christina-evol christina-skye christine-black christine-chavert christine-neona christine-rigoler christy-canyon cicciolina cindi-stephens cindy-carver cindy-crawford cindy-more cindy-shepard cindy-wong cinthya-marinho clair-dia claire-robbins claude-janna claudia-jackson claudia-jamsson claudia-mehringer claudia-nero claudia-van-statt claudia-zante claudine-beccarie clea-carson cleo-nichole cleo-patra cody-lane cody-love cody-nicole coffee-brown colleen-brennan connie-bennett connie-peterson constance-money copper-penny coreena corey-everson corinne-lemoine corneliah cory-everson cory-wolf courtney courtney-cummz courtney-james cris-cassidy crissy-moran cris-taliana crystal-breeze crystal-dawn crystal-holland crystal-knight crystal-lake crystal-lovin crystal-sync csilla-kalnay cuban-bee cynara-fox cyndee-summers cynthia-black cynthia-brooks cynthia-hammers cynthia-lavigne dagmar-lost daisy-layne dallas-miko dana-dylan dana-lynn danica-rhea daniela-nanou daniela-schiffer daniele-troeger daniella daniella-schiffer danielle danielle-foxxx danielle-rodgers danny-ricci danyel-cheeks daphne daphne-rosen darby-lloyd-rains darla-crane darla-delovely davia-ardell dayton-rain debbie-northrup debbie-revenge debbie-van-gils debi-diamond debi-jointed debra-lynn deidra-hopkins deidre-holland delania-raffino delia-moore delphine-thail delta-force delta-white demi-moor denice-klarskov denise-derringer denise-dior denise-sloan desiree-cousteau desiree-foxx desiree-lane desiree-west deva-station devin-devasquez devinn-lane devon-shire dia diana-holt diana-kisabonyi diana-siefert diana-stevenson diane-dubois diane-richards diane-sloan diane-suresne dido-angel dillan-lauren dina-deville dina-jewel dina-pearl ditty-blue diva divinity-love djiana dolly-darkley dominique dominique-dewitt dominique-saint-claire donna-hart donna-marie dorle-buchner dorothy-lemay dorothy-onan drea drimla dru-berrymore dusty-rose dyanna-lauren ebony-ayes edina-blond edita-ungerova edwige-faillel eileen-wells elaine-southern elena-berkova elena-maria-ricci eleonore-melzer elisabeth-bure elis-black elise elise-di-medici elle-devyne elle-rio elodie-delage elsa-maroussia elza-brown emili-doll emily-evermoore emily-george emily-jewel emmanuelle-pareze envy-mi erica-boyer erica-eaton erica-havens erica-idol erica-lauren erika-bella erika-cool erika-heaven erika-lockett esme-monroe eva-allen eva-angel eva-dionisio eva-gross eva-kleber eva-lux eva-uettori eve-laurence evelyne-lang evie-delatosso fabiana-venturi faith-stevens fallon fanny-garreau fanny-steel faye-runaway flame flick-shagwell flore-soller flower france-lomay france-quenie francoise frankie-leigh gabriella gabriella-mirelba gabriella-vincze gail-force gail-palmer gail-sterling georgette-saunders georgia-peach georgina-spelvin gia-givanna gianna-lynn gili-sky gina-carrera gina-gianetti gina-janssen gina-lee gina-martell gina-valentino ginger-jay ginger-lee ginger-lynn ginny-noack giovanna gisela-schwarz giselle-monet gladys-laroche gloria-leonard gloria-todd golden-jade greta-carlson greta-milos guia-lauri-filzi gwenda-farnel hare-krane harley-raine hayley-jade hazel-young heather-deeley heather-ellis heather-hart heather-lere heather-lyn heather-manfield heather-thomas heather-torrance heather-wayne heather-young helen-madigan helen-thomas helga-sven helga-wild hillary-summers holly-hollywood holly-joy holly-page holly-ryder honey-winter hottie-hollie hyapatia-lee ida-fabry ildiko-smits illana-moor ines-ridere ingrid-choray isabella-dior isabella-soprano isabelle-allay isabelle-brell isabelle-marchall isobel-wren iveta ivette-blanche jackie-right jacqueline-lorians jacy-allen jada-stevens jade-east jade-hsu jade-marcela jade-summers jade-wong jahn-gold jamie-brooks jamie-james jamie-summers jana-irrova jana-mrazkova jane-baker jane-darling jane-iwanoff jane-lindsay jane-lixx janet-jacme janey-robbins jasmine-delatori jayden-simone jaylyn-rose jayna-woods jazella-moore jazmin-luna-gold jean-afrique jeanette-littledove jeanie-marie-sullivan jean-jennings jeanna-fine jeannie-pepper jenna-jameson jenna-jane jenna-presley jenna-wells jennifer-haussmann jennifer-janes jennifer-jordan jennifer-morante jennifer-noxt jennifer-stewart jennifer-welles jennifer-west jenny jenny-feeling jenny-fields jenny-wings jersey-jaxin jesie-st-james jesse-capelli jessica-bangkok jessica-bogart jessica-darlin jessica-fiorentino jessica-gabriel jessica-laine jessica-may jessica-road jessica-wylde jessi-foster jill-ferari jill-kelly joana-redgrave joan-devlon joanna-storm joanna-sweet jody-maxwell joelle-lequement joelle-petinot johnni-black jordana-james jordan-green jordan-nevaeh jordan-star josephine-carrington joslyn-james julia-chanel julia-dal-fuoco juliana-grandi julia-paes julia-parton julia-perrin julia-swen julia-thomas julie-meadows julie-rage julie-simone juliet-anderson juliet-graham juliette-carelton kacey-jordan kagney-linn-karter kaitlyn-ashley kalena-rios kami-andrews kamila-smith kandee-licks kandi-barbour kapri-styles kara-nox karen-summer kari-foxx karine-gambier karin-schubert karli-sweet karmen-kennedy karol-castro kascha kassi-nova kat kate-frost kate-jones kathia-nobili kathleen-gentry kathleen-white kathy-divan kathy-harcourt kathy-heart kathy-kash katie-cummings katja-love kat-langer katrina-isis katrina-kraven katy-borman katy-caro kaycee-dean kayla-kupcakes kay-parker k-c-valentine keama-kim keira-moon keisha keli-richards kelli-tyler kelly-adams kelly-blue kelly-broox kelly-hearn kelly-kay kelly-kline kelly-nichols kelly-royce kelly-skyline kendra-kay kenzi-marie keri-windsor ketthy-divan kianna-dior kiley-heart kim-alexis kimber-blake kimberly-carson kimberly-kane kimberly-kyle kim-de-place kim-holland kimi-gee kimkim-de kim-kitaine kimmie-lee kimmy-nipples kina-kara kira-eggers kira-red kirsty-waay kitty-langdon kitty-lynxxx kitty-marie kitty-shayne kitty-yung kora-cummings kris-lara krista-lane krista-maze kristara-barrington kristarah-knight kristi-klenot kristina-blonde kristina-king kristina-klevits kristina-soderszk kristine-heller kristin-steen krisztina-ventura krystal-de-boor krystal-steal kylee-karr kylee-nash kylie-brooks kylie-channel kylie-haze kylie-wylde kym-wilde kyoto-sun lachelle-marie lacy-rose lady-amanda-wyldefyre lady-stephanie laetitia-bisset lana-burner lana-cox lana-wood lara-amour lara-roxx lara-stevens lataya-roxx latoya laura-clair laura-lazare laura-lion laura-may laura-orsolya laura-paouck laura-zanzibar lauren-black laurence-boutin lauren-montgomery laurien-dominique laurien-wilde laurie-smith lauryl-canyon lauryn-may leah-wilde lea-magic lea-martini leanna-foxxx lee-caroll leigh-livingston leilani lenora-bruce leslie-winston lesllie-bovee letizia-bruni lexi-lane lexi-matthews lezley-zen lia-fire liliane-gray liliane-lemieuvre lili-marlene lily-gilder lily-labeau lily-rodgers lily-valentine linda-shaw linda-vale linda-wong linnea-quigley lisa-bright lisa-de-leeuw lisa-k-loring lisa-lake lisa-melendez lisa-sue-corey lise-pinson little-oral-annie liza-dwyer liza-harper lizzy-borden logan-labrent lois-ayres lola-cait long-jean-silver loni-bunny loni-sanders loona-luxx lorelei-lee lorelei-rand lorena-sanchez lori-alexia lori-blue lorrie-lovett luci-diamond lucie-doll lucie-theodorova lucy-van-dam lydia-baum lynn-franciss lynn-lemay lynn-ray lynn-stevens lynx-canon lysa-thatcher madelina-ray madison-parker magdalena-lynn maggie-randall mai-lin mandi-wine mandy-bright mandy-malone mandy-may mandy-mistery mandy-starr marcia-minor maren margit-ojetz margitta-hofer margo-stevens margot-mahler mariah-cherry marianne-aubert maria-tortuga marie-anne marie-christine-chireix marie-christine-veroda marie-claude-moreau marie-dominique-cabannes marie-france-morel marie-luise-lusewitz marie-sharp marilyn-chambers marilyne-leroy marilyn-gee marilyn-jess marilyn-martyn marilyn-star marina-hedman marion-webb marita-ekberg marita-kemper marlena marlene-willoughby marry-queen martine-grimaud martine-schultz maryanne-fisher mary-hubay mary-ramunno mary-stuart mascha-mouton maud-kennedy mauvais-denoir maxine-tyler maya-black maya-france megan-leigh megan-martinez megan-reece mei-ling melanie-hotlips melanie-scott melba-cruz melinda-russell melissa-bonsardo melissa-del-prado melissa-golden melissa-martinez melissa-melendez melissa-monet mercedes-dragon mercedes-lynn merle-michaels mesha-lynn mia-beck mia-lina mia-smiles michele-raven michelle-aston michelle-ferrari michelle-greco michelle-maren michelle-maylene michelle-monroe micki-lynn mika-barthel mika-tan mikki-taylor mimi-morgan mindy-rae ming-toy miranda-stevens miss-bunny miss-meadow miss-pomodoro missy missy-graham missy-stone missy-vega misti-jane mistress-candice misty-anderson misty-dawn misty-rain misty-regan mona-lisa mona-page moni monica-baal monica-swinn monika-peta monika-sandmayr monika-unco monique-bruno monique-cardin monique-charell monique-demoan monique-gabrielle monique-la-belle morgan-fairlane morrigan-hel moxxie-maddron mulani-rivera mysti-may nadege-arnaud nadia-styles nadine-bronx nadine-proutnal nadine-roussial nadi-phuket nanci-suiter nancy-hoffman nancy-vee natacha-delyro natalia-wood natalli-diangelo natascha-throat natasha-skyler naudia-nyce nessa-devil nessy-grant nesty nicki-hunter nicky-reed nicole-berg nicole-bernard nicole-black nicole-grey nicole-london nicole-parks nicole-scott nicole-taylor nicolette-fauludi nicole-west nika-blond nika-mamic niki-cole nikita-love nikita-rush nikki-charm nikki-grand nikki-king nikki-knight nikki-randall nikki-rhodes nikki-santana nikki-steele nikki-wilde niko nina-cherry nina-deponca nina-hartley nina-preta oana-efria obaya-roberts olesja-derevko olga-cabaeva olga-conti olga-pechova olga-petrova olivia-alize olivia-del-rio olivia-flores olivia-la-roche olivia-outre ophelia-tozzi orchidea-keresztes orsolya-blonde paige-turner paisley-hunter pamela-bocchi pamela-jennings pamela-mann pamela-stanford pamela-stealt pandora paola-albini pascale-vital pat-manning pat-rhea patricia-dale patricia-diamond patricia-kennedy patricia-rhomberg patrizia-predan patti-cakes patti-petite paula-brasile paula-harlow paula-morton paula-price paula-winters pauline-teutscher penelope-pumpkins penelope-valentin petra-hermanova petra-lamas peyton-lafferty phaedra-grant pia-snow piper-fawn pipi-anderson porsche-lynn porsha-carrera precious-silver priscillia-lenn purple-passion queeny-love rachel-ashley rachel-love rachel-luv rachel-roxxx rachel-ryan rachel-ryder racquel-darrian rane-revere raven reagan-maddux rebecca-bardoux regan-anthony regine-bardot regula-mertens reina-leone reka-gabor renae-cruz renee-foxx renee-lovins renee-morgan renee-perez renee-summers renee-tiffany rhonda-jo-petty rikki-blake riley-ray rio-mariah rita-ricardo roberta-gemma roberta-pedon robin-byrd robin-cannes robin-everett robin-sane rochell-starr rosa-lee-kimball rosemarie roxanne-blaze roxanne-hall roxanne-rollan ruby-richards sabina-k sabre sabrina-chimaera sabrina-dawn sabrina-jade sabrina-johnson sabrina-love-cox sabrina-mastrolorenzi sabrina-rose sabrina-scott sabrina-summers sacha-davril sahara sahara-sands sai-tai-tiger samantha-fox samantha-ryan samantha-sterlyng samantha-strong samueline-de-la-rosa sandra-cardinale sandra-de-marco sandra-kalermen sandra-russo sandy-lee sandy-pinney sandy-reed sandy-samuel sandy-style sandy-summers sara-brandy-canyon sara-faye sarah-bernard sarah-cabrera sarah-hevyn sarah-mills sarah-shine sara-sloane sasha sasha-hollander sasha-ligaya sasha-rose satine-phoenix satin-summer savannah-stern savanna-jane scarlet-scarleau scarlet-windsor seka selena serena serena-south severine-amoux shana-evans shanna-mccullough shannon-kelly shannon-rush shantell-day sharon-da-vale sharon-kane sharon-mitchell shaun-michelle shawna-sexton shawnee-cates shay-hendrix shayne-ryder sheena-horne sheer-delight shelby-star shelby-stevens shelly-berlin shelly-lyons sheri-st-clair sheyla-cats shonna-lynn shyla-foxxx shy-love sierra-sinn sierra-skye sigrun-theil silver-starr silvia-bella silvia-saint silvie-de-lux silvy-taylor simone-west sindee-coxx sindy-lange sindy-shy siobhan-hunter skylar-knight skylar-price skyler-dupree smokie-flame smoking-mary-jane solange-shannon sonya-summers sophia-santi sophie-call sophie-duflot sophie-evans sophie-guers stacey-donovan stacy-lords stacy-moran stacy-nichols stacy-silver stacy-thorn starla-fox starr-wood stefania-bruni stella-virgin stephanie-duvalle stephanie-rage stephanie-renee stevie-taylor summer-knight summer-rose sunny-day sunset-thomas sunshine-seiber susan-hart susanne-brend susan-nero susi-hotkiss suzanne-mcbain suzan-nielsen suzie-bartlett suzie-carina suzi-sparks sweet-nice sweety-pie sybille-rossani sylvia-benedict sylvia-bourdon sylvia-brand sylvia-engelmann syreeta-taylor syren-de-mer syvette szabina-black szilvia-lauren tai-ellis taija-rae taisa-banx talia-james tamara-lee tamara-longley tamara-n-joy tamara-west tami-white tammy tammy-lee tammy-reynolds tania-lorenzo tantala-ray tanya-danielle tanya-fox tanya-foxx tanya-lawson tanya-valis tara-aire tasha-voux tatjana-belousova tatjana-skomorokhova tawnee-lee tawny-pearl tayla-rox taylor-wane teddi-austin teddi-barrett tera-bond tera-heart tera-joy teresa-may teresa-orlowski teri-diver teri-weigel terri-dolan terri-hall tess-ferre tess-newheart thais-vieira tia-cherry tianna tiara tiffany-blake tiffany-clark tiffany-duponte tiffany-rayne tiffany-rousso tiffany-storm tiffany-towers tiffany-tyler tiger-lily tigr timea-vagvoelgyi tina-blair tina-burner tina-evil tina-gabriel tina-loren tina-marie tina-russell tish-ambrose tommi-rose tonisha-mills topsy-curvey tori-secrets tori-sinclair tori-welles tracey-adams traci-lords traci-topps traci-winn tracy-duzit tracy-love tracy-williams tricia-devereaux tricia-yen trinity-loren trisha-rey trista-post trixie-tyler ultramax ursula-gaussmann ursula-moore uschi-karnat valentina valerie-leveau valery-hilton vanessa-chase vanessa-del-rio vanessa-michaels vanessa-ozdanic vanilla-deville velvet-summers veri-knotty veronica-dol veronica-hart veronica-hill veronica-rayne veronica-sage veronika-vanoza via-paxton vicky-lindsay vicky-vicci victoria-evans victoria-gold victoria-knight victoria-luna victoria-paris victoria-slick victoria-zdrok viper virginie-caprice vivian-valentine vivien-martines wendi-white wendy-divine whitney-banks whitney-fears whitney-wonders wonder-tracey wow-nikki xanthia-berstein yasmine-fitzgerald yelena-shieffer yvonne-green zara-whites zsanett-egerhazi zuzie-boobies

The Netherlands continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the five largest investors in the United States The economy experienced a slowdown in but in recovered to the fastest pace in six years on the back of increased exports and strong investment The pace of job growth reached year highs in The Netherlands is the fifth most competitive economy in the world according to the World Economic Forum s Global Competitiveness Report Apart from coal and gas the country has no mining resources The last coal mine was closed in The Groningen gas field one of the largest natural gas fields in the world is situated near Slochteren Exploitation of this field has resulted in € billion in revenue since the mid s The field is operated by government owned Gasunie and output is jointly exploited by the government Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil through NAM Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij Gas extraction has resulted in increasingly strong earth tremors some measuring as much as on the Richter scale The cost of damage repairs structural improvements to buildings and compensation for home value decreases has been estimated at billion euros Around homes are said to be affected Agriculture edit Farmland in the NetherlandsThe Dutch agricultural sector is highly mechanised and has a strong focus on international exports It employs about of the Dutch labour force but produces large surpluses for the food processing industry and accounts for percent of the Dutch total export value The Dutch rank second worldwide in value of agricultural exports behind only the United States with exports earning € billion in up from € billion in The Netherlands has at some time in recent history supplied one quarter of all of the world s exported tomatoes and trade of one third of the world s exports of chilis tomatoes and cucumbers goes through the country The Netherlands also exports one fifteenth of the world s apples Aside from that a significant portion of Dutch agricultural exports consists of fresh cut plants flowers and flower bulbs with the Netherlands exporting two thirds of the world s total Transport edit Highway A A flyoverMain article Transport in the Netherlands Mobility on Dutch roads has grown continuously since the s and now exceeds billion km travelled per year three quarters of which are done by car Around half of all trips in the Netherlands are made by car by bicycle walking and by public transport With a total road network of km which includes km of expressways the Netherlands has one of the densest road networks in the world—much denser than Germany and France but still not as dense as Belgium About of all distance is travelled by public transport the majority of which by train Like in many other European countries the Dutch rail network of route km is also rather dense The network is mostly focused on passenger rail services and connects virtually all major towns and cities Trains are frequent with one or two trains per hour on lesser lines two to four trains per hour on average and up to eight trains an hour on the busiest lines A fietsstraat bike street where cyclists have priority and cars are guests and must yield Cycling is a ubiquitous mode of transport in the Netherlands Almost as many kilometres are covered by bicycle as by train The Dutch are estimated to have at least million bicycles which makes more than one per capita and twice as many as the ca million motor vehicles on the road In the European Cyclists Federation ranked both the Netherlands and Denmark as the most bike friendly countries in Europe but more of the Dutch than of the Danes list the bike as their main mode of transport for daily activities Cycling infrastructure is comprehensive Busy roads have received some km of dedicated cycle tracks physically segregated from motorised traffic Busy junctions are often equipped with bicycle specific traffic lights There are large bicycle parking facilities particularly in city centres and at train stations Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe with the rivers Meuse and Rhine providing excellent access to the hinterland upstream reaching to Basel Switzerland and into France As of Rotterdam was the world s eighth largest container port handling million metric tonnes of cargo annually The port s main activities are petrochemical industries and general cargo handling and transshipment The harbour functions as an important transit point for bulk materials and between the European continent and overseas From Rotterdam goods are transported by ship river barge train or road In the Betuweroute a new fast freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany was completed Schiphol airport just southwest of Amsterdam is the main international airport in the Netherlands and the fifth busiest airport in Europe in terms of passengers As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability the Dutch government initiated a plan to establish over recharging stations for electric vehicles across the country by The rollout will be undertaken by Switzerland based power and automation company ABB and Dutch startup Fastned and will aim to provide at least one station within a kilometre radius miles from every home in the Netherlands Demographics edit Main article Demographics of the Netherlands The Population of the Netherlands from to The Netherlands had an estimated population of on April It is the th most populous country in Europe and the rd most populous country in the world Between and the country s population almost doubled from to million people From to the population further increased from to million people but the rate of population growth was less than that of the previous fifty years The estimated growth rate in update is The fertility rate in the Netherlands is children per woman est which is high compared with many other European countries but below the rate of children per woman required for natural population replacement Life expectancy is high in the Netherlands years for newborn girls and for boys est The country has a migration rate of migrants per inhabitants per year The majority of the population of the Netherlands is ethnically Dutch A estimate counted Dutch Indonesian German Turkish Surinamese Moroccan Antillean and Aruban and others Some to people living in the Netherlands are Expatriates mostly concentrated in and around Amsterdam and The Hague now constituting almost of the population of these cities The Dutch are the tallest people in the world with an average height of metres ft in for adult males and metres ft in for adult females in People in the south are on average about cm inches shorter than those in the north Dutch people or descendants of Dutch people are also found in migrant communities worldwide notably in Canada Australia Brazil South Africa and the United States According to the US Census more than million Americans claim total or partial Dutch ancestry There are close to million Dutch descended Afrikaners living in South Africa In there were Europeans and Eurasians in Indonesia but most have since left the country According to Eurostat in there were million foreign born residents in the Netherlands corresponding to of the total population Of these million were born outside the EU and million were born in another EU Member State The Netherlands is the th most densely populated country in the world with inhabitants per square kilometre sq mi or – if only the land area is counted km sq mi – inhabitants per square kilometre sq mi When the land area of the provinces only is counted km sq mi a number of inhabitants per square kilometre sq mi was reached in the first half of The Randstad is the country s largest conurbation located in the west of the country and contains the four largest cities Amsterdam in the province North Holland Rotterdam and The Hague in the province South Holland and Utrecht in the province Utrecht The Randstad has a population of million inhabitants and is the th largest metropolitan area in Europe According to Dutch Central Statistics Bureau in percent of Dutch population had a spendable income above thousand EUR v t e Largest cities or towns in Netherlands Statistics Netherlands Rank Province Pop Rank Province Pop Amsterdam Rotterdam Amsterdam North Holland Enschede Overijssel The Hague Utrecht Rotterdam South Holland Apeldoorn Gelderland The Hague South Holland Haarlem North Holland Utrecht Utrecht Amersfoort Utrecht Eindhoven North Brabant Arnhem Gelderland Tilburg North Brabant Zaanstad North Holland Groningen Groningen s Hertogenbosch North Brabant Almere Flevoland Haarlemmermeer North Holland Breda North Brabant Zoetermeer South Holland Nijmegen Gelderland Zwolle Overijssel Language edit Main article Languages of the Netherlands Knowledge of foreign languages in the Netherlands in percent of the population over Data taken from an EU survey ebs en pdf europa eu The official language is Dutch which is spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants Besides Dutch West Frisian is recognised as a second official language in the northern province of Friesland Fryslân in West Frisian West Frisian has a formal status for government correspondence in that province In the European part of the Netherlands two other regional languages are recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The first of these regional languages is Low Saxon Nedersaksisch in Dutch is recognised Low Saxon consists of several dialects spoken in the north and east like Twents in the region of Twente and Drents in the province of Drenthe Secondly Limburgish is also recognised as regional language It consists of Dutch varieties of Meuse Rhenish Franconian languages and is spoken in the south eastern province of Limburg The dialects most spoken in the Netherlands are the Brabantian Hollandic dialects Ripuarian language which is spoken in Kerkrade and Vaals in the form of respectively the Kerkrade dialect and the Vaals dialect is not recognised as a regional language of the Netherlands English has a formal status in the special municipalities of Saba and Sint Eustatius It is widely spoken on these islands Papiamento has a formal status in the special municipality of Bonaire Yiddish and the Romani language were recognised in as non territorial languages The Netherlands has a tradition of learning foreign languages formalised in Dutch education laws Some of the total population indicate they are able to converse in English in German and in French English is a mandatory course in all secondary schools In most lower level secondary school educations vmbo one additional modern foreign language is mandatory during the first two years In higher level secondary schools havo and vwo two additional modern foreign languages are mandatory during the first three years Only during the last three years in vwo one foreign language is mandatory Besides English the standard modern languages are French and German although schools can replace one of these modern languages with Spanish Turkish Arabic or Russian Additionally schools in the Frisia region teach and have exams in Frisian and schools across the country teach and have exams in classical Greek and Latin for secondary school called gymnasium or vwo Religion edit Main article Religion in the Netherlands Religions in the Netherlands No religion Roman Catholic PKN Islam Other religion Historically the Netherlands was a predominantly Christian society From the onset of the Protestant Reformation the Dutch population became divided into about two thirds Protestant mostly Reformed and one third Roman Catholic believers nb This began to change gradually in the th century nb as there has been a steep decline in religious adherence which continues There was a strong religious difference between the Roman Catholic south and the Reformed north remains of which are still in evidence The Netherlands is currently one of the most secular countries in the world About of the population is religiously affiliated and in about visited religious services regularly once or more per month From a December survey by the VU University Amsterdam it was concluded that for the first time there are more atheists than theists in the Netherlands The majority of the population being agnostic or ietsistic Religion is in the Netherlands generally considered a personal matter which is not supposed to be propagated in public In spite of an overall decline in religiosity a countervailing trend is the religious revival in the Protestant Bible Belt and the growth of Muslim and Hindu communities Religion in the Netherlands is generally considered a personal matter and is not supposed to be propagated in public The Dutch constitution guarantees freedom of education which means that all schools that adhere to general quality criteria receive the same government funding This includes schools based on religious principles by religious groups especially Roman Catholic and various Protestant Three political parties in the Dutch parliament CDA ChristianUnion and SGP are based upon the Christian belief Several Christian religious holidays are national holidays Christmas Easter Pentecost and the Ascension of Jesus Christianity is currently the largest religion in the Netherlands accounting for about one third of the population Roman Catholicism is the largest Christian religious grouping with around four million registered adherents of the population The provinces of North Brabant and Limburg have historically been strongly Roman Catholic and their people still largely consider the Catholic Church as a base for their cultural identity Protestantism in the Netherlands consists of a number of churches within various traditions The largest of these is the Protestant Church in the Netherlands PKN of the population a United church which is Reformed and Lutheran in orientation It was formed in as a merger of the Dutch Reformed Church the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and a smaller Lutheran Church Several orthodox Reformed and liberal churches did not merge into the PKN Although in the Netherlands as a whole Christianity has become a minority faith the Netherlands contains a Bible Belt from Zeeland to the northern parts of the province Overijssel in which Protestant particularly Reformed beliefs remain strong and Protestant political parties have majorities on some municipal councils The Dutch Royal Family has historically been members of the Reformed branch of Protestantism Islam is the second largest religion in the state In there were about Muslims in the Netherlands of the population Muslim numbers increased from the as a consequence of large numbers of migrant workers This included migrants from former Dutch colonies such as Surinam and Indonesia but mainly migrant workers from Turkey and Morocco During the s Muslim refugees arrived from countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina Iran Iraq Somalia and Afghanistan Other religions account for some of the Dutch people Hinduism is a minority religion in the Netherlands with around adherents slightly over of the population Most of these are Indo Surinamese There are also sizable populations of Hindu immigrants from India and Sri Lanka and some Western adherents of Hinduism oriented new religious movements such as Hare Krishnas The Netherlands has an estimated Buddhists or people strongly attracted to this religion mainly ethnic Dutch people There are about Jews in the Netherlands Education edit Main article Education in the Netherlands Education in the Netherlands is compulsory between the ages of and and partially compulsory between the ages of and

All children in the Netherlands usually attend elementary school from on average ages to It comprises eight grades the first of which is facultative Based on an aptitude test the th grade teacher s recommendation and the opinion of the pupil s parents or caretakers a choice is made for one of the three main streams of secondary education after completing a particular stream a pupil may still continue in the penultimate year of the next stream The vmbo has grades and is subdivided over several levels Successfully completing the vmbo results in a low level vocational degree that grants access to the mbo MBO middle level applied education This form of education primarily focuses on teaching a practical trade or a vocational degree With the mbo certification a student can apply for the hbo The havo has grades and allows for admission to the hbo HBO higher professional education are universities of professional education or applied sciences that award professional bachelor s degrees similar to polytechnic degrees A HBO degrees gives access to the university system The vwo comprising atheneum and gymnasium has grades and prepares for studying at a research university Universities offer of a three year bachelor s degree followed by a one or two year master s degree which in turn can be followed by a four year doctoral degree program Doctoral candidates in the Netherlands are generally non tenured employees of a university Healthcare edit Main article Healthcare in the Netherlands Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – by Jan Verkolje University Medical Center Utrecht In the Netherlands has maintained its number one position at the top of the annual Euro health consumer index EHCI which compares healthcare systems in Europe scoring of a maximum points The Netherlands has been in the top three countries in each report published since On indicators such as patient rights and information accessibility prevention and outcomes the Netherlands secured its top position among European countries for the fifth year in a row The Netherlands was ranked first in a study in comparing the health care systems of the United States Australia Canada Germany and New Zealand Ever since a major reform of the health care system in the Dutch system received more points in the Index each year According to the HCP Health Consumer Powerhouse the Netherlands has a chaos system meaning patients have a great degree of freedom from where to buy their health insurance to where they get their healthcare service But the difference between the Netherlands and other countries is that the chaos is managed Healthcare decisions are being made in a dialogue between the patients and healthcare professionals Health insurance in the Netherlands is mandatory Healthcare in the Netherlands is covered by two statutory forms of insurance Zorgverzekeringswet Zvw often called basic insurance covers common medical care Algemene Wet Bijzondere Ziektekosten AWBZ covers long term nursing and care While Dutch residents are automatically insured by the government for AWBZ everyone has to take out their own basic healthcare insurance basisverzekering except those under who are automatically covered under their parents premium If you don t take out insurance you risk a fine Insurers have to offer a universal package for everyone over the age of years regardless of age or state of health – it s illegal to refuse an application or impose special conditions In contrast to many other European systems the Dutch government is responsible for the accessibility and quality of the healthcare system in the Netherlands but not in charge of its management Healthcare in the Netherlands can be divided in several ways three echelons in somatic and mental health care and in cure short term and care long term Home doctors huisartsen comparable to General Practitioners form the largest part of the first echelon Being referenced by a member of the first echelon is mandatory for access to the second and third echelon The health care system is in comparison to other Western countries quite effective but not the most cost effective Healthcare in the Netherlands is financed by a dual system that came into effect in January Long term treatments especially those that involve semi permanent hospitalization and also disability costs such as wheelchairs are covered by a state controlled mandatory insurance This is laid down in the Algemene Wet Bijzondere Ziektekosten General Law on Exceptional Healthcare Costs which first came into effect in In this insurance covered of all health care expenses For all regular short term medical treatment there is a system of obligatory health insurance with private health insurance companies These insurance companies are obliged to provide a package with a defined set of insured treatments This insurance covers of all health care expenses Other sources of health care payment are taxes out of pocket payments additional optional health insurance packages and a range of other sources Affordability is guaranteed through a system of income related allowances and individual and employer paid income related premiums A key feature of the Dutch system is that premiums may not be related to health status or age Risk variances between private health insurance companies due to the different risks presented by individual policy holders are compensated through risk equalization and a common risk pool Funding for all short term health care is from employers from the insured person and by the government Children under are covered for free Those on low incomes receive compensation to help them pay their insurance Premiums paid by the insured are about € per month about US in Aug and in € or US with variation of about between the various competing insurers and deductible a year € US Culture edit Main article Culture of the Netherlands Symbols and icons of Dutch cultureArt philosophy and literature edit Main articles Dutch art and Dutch literature The Netherlands has had many well known painters The th century in which the Dutch Republic was prosperous was the age of the Dutch Masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn Johannes Vermeer Jan Steen Jacob van Ruysdael and many others Famous Dutch painters of the th and th century were Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan M C Escher is a well known graphics artist Willem de Kooning was born and trained in Rotterdam although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an American artist The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza All of Descartes major work was done in the Netherlands The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens – discovered Saturn s moon Titan argued that light travelled as waves invented the pendulum clock and was the first physicist to use mathematical formulae Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single celled organisms with a microscope Erasmus In the Dutch Golden Age literature flourished as well with Joost van den Vondel and P C Hooft as the two most famous writers In the th century Multatuli wrote about the poor treatment of the natives in the Dutch colony the current Indonesia Important th century authors include Harry Mulisch Jan Wolkers Simon Vestdijk Hella S Haasse Cees Nooteboom Gerard van het Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans Anne Frank s Diary of a Young Girl was published after she died in the Holocaust and translated from Dutch to all major languages The traditional Dutch architecture is especially valuated in Amsterdam Delft and Leiden with and th century buildings along the canals Smaller village architecture with wooden houses is found in Zaandam and Marken Replicas of Dutch buildings can be found in Huis Ten Bosch Nagasaki Japan A similar Holland Village is being built in Shenyang China Windmills tulips wooden shoes cheese Delftware pottery and cannabis are among the items associated with the Netherlands by tourists The Netherlands has a long history of social tolerance and today is regarded as a liberal country considering its drug policy and its legalisation of euthanasia On April the Netherlands became the first nation to legalise same sex marriage Dutch value system and etiquette edit Amsterdam Gay Pride The Dutch have a code of etiquette which governs social behaviour and is considered important Because of the international position of the Netherlands many books have been written on the subject Some customs may not be true in all regions and they are never absolute In addition to those specific to the Dutch many general points of European etiquette apply to the Dutch as well Dutch society is egalitarian individualistic and modern The people tend to view themselves as modest independent and self reliant They value ability over dependency The Dutch have an aversion to the non essential Ostentatious behaviour is to be avoided Accumulating money is fine but public spending of large amounts of money is considered something of a vice and associated with being a show off A high lifestyle is considered wasteful and suspect with most people The Dutch are proud of their cultural heritage rich history in art and involvement in international affairs Dutch people in orange celebrating King s Day in Amsterdam Dutch manners are open and direct with a no nonsense attitude informality combined with adherence to basic behaviour According to a humorous source on Dutch culture Their directness gives many the impression that they are rude and crude—attributes they prefer to call openness A well known more serious source on Dutch etiquette is Dealing with the Dutch from Jacob Vossestein Dutch egalitarianism is the idea that people are equal especially from a moral point of view and accordingly causes the somewhat ambiguous stance the Dutch have towards hierarchy and status As always manners differ between groups Asking about basic rules will not be considered impolite What may strike you as being blatantly blunt topics and comments are no more embarrassing or unusual to the Dutch than discussing the weather The majority of the Dutch are irreligious and religion is in the Netherlands generally considered as a very personal matter which is not supposed to be propagated in public Music edit Main articles Music of the Netherlands and Music of the former Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands has multiple music traditions Traditional Dutch music is a genre known as Levenslied meaning Song of life to an extent comparable to a French Chanson or a German Schlager These songs typically have a simple melody and rhythm and a straightforward structure of couplets and refrains Themes can be light but are often sentimental and include love death and loneliness Traditional musical instruments such as the accordion and the barrel organ are a staple of levenslied music though in recent years many artists also use synthesizers and guitars Artists in this genre include Jan Smit Frans Bauer and André Hazes Pop singer Anouk at Festival Mundial in Contemporary Dutch rock and pop music Nederpop originated in the s heavily influenced by popular music from the United States and Britain In the s and s the lyrics were mostly in English and some tracks were instrumental Bands such as Shocking Blue Golden Earring and Focus enjoyed international success As of the s more and more pop musicians started working in the Dutch language partly inspired by the huge success of the band Doe Maar Today Dutch rock and pop music thrives in both languages with some artists recording in either Current symphonic metal bands Epica and Within Temptation as well as jazz pop singer Caro Emerald are having some international success Contemporary local heroes include pop singer Anouk country pop singer Ilse DeLange in South Guelderish dialect singing folk band Rowwen Hèze rock band BLØF nb and Dutch language duo Nick Simon Early s Dutch and Belgian house music came together in Eurodance project Unlimited Selling million records the two singers in the band are the most successful Dutch music artists to this day Tracks like Get Ready for This are still popular themes of U S sports events like the NHL In the mid s Dutch language rap and hip hop Nederhop also came to fruition and has become popular in the Netherlands and Belgium Artists with North African Caribbean or Middle Eastern origins have strongly influenced this genre Since the s Dutch electronic dance music EDM conquered the world in many forms from trance techno and gabber to hardstyle Some of the world s best dance music DJs hail from the Netherlands including Armin van Buuren Tiësto Hardwell Oliver Heldens Nicky Romero Martin Garrix Sander van Doorn and Afrojack the first three of which have been ranked as best in the world by DJ Mag Top DJs The Amsterdam dance event ADE is the world s leading electronic music conference and the biggest club festival for the many electronic subgenres on the planet These DJs also contribute to the world s mainstream pop music as they frequently collaborate and produce for high profile international artists In classical music Jan Sweelinck ranks as the Dutch most famous composer with Louis Andriessen amongst the best known living Dutch classical composers Ton Koopman is a Dutch conductor organist and harpsichordist He is also professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague In April he was knighted in the Netherlands receiving the Order of the Netherlands Lion Notable violinists are Janine Jansen and André Rieu The latter together with his Johann Strauss Orchestra has taken classical and waltz music on worldwide concert tours the size and revenue of which are otherwise only seen from the world s biggest rock and pop music acts Acclaimed harpist Lavinia Meijer in released an album with works from Philip Glass that she transcribed for harp with approval of Glass himself The Concertgebouw completed in in Amsterdam is home to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra considered one of the world s finest orchestras Aruba and the five main islands of the Netherlands Antilles are part of the Lesser Antilles island chain Their music is a mixture of native African and Dutch elements and is closely connected with trends from neighboring islands like Barbados Martinique Trinidad and Tobago and Guadeloupe as well as the mainland former Dutch possession of Suriname which has exported kaseko music to great success on the islands Curaçao and Bonaire likely have the most active and well known music scenes Curaçao is known for a kind of music called tumba which is named after the conga drums that accompany it Film and television edit Main articles Cinema of the Netherlands and Television in the Netherlands The Voice originated in the NetherlandsSome Dutch films – mainly by director Paul Verhoeven – have received international distribution and recognition such as Turkish Delight Turks Fruit Soldier of Orange Soldaat van Oranje Spetters and The Fourth Man De Vierde Man Verhoeven then went on to direct big Hollywood movies like RoboCop and Basic Instinct and returned with Dutch film Black Book in Other well known Dutch film directors are Jan de Bont Speed Anton Corbijn A Most wanted Man Dick Maas De Lift Fons Rademakers The Assault documentary maker Bert Haanstra and Joris Ivens Film director Theo van Gogh achieved international notoriety in when he was murdered in the streets of Amsterdam Internationally successful Dutch actors include Famke Janssen X Men films Carice van Houten Game of Thrones Michiel Huisman Game of Thrones Rutger Hauer Blade Runner Jeroen Krabbé and Derek de Lint The Netherlands has a well developed television market with both multiple commercial and non commercial broadcasters Imported TV programmes as well as interviews with responses in a foreign language are virtually always shown with the original sound and subtitled The only exception are shows for children TV exports from the Netherlands mostly take the form of specific formats and franchises most notably through internationally active TV production conglomerate Endemol founded by Dutch media tycoons John de Mol and Joop van den Ende Headquartered in Amsterdam Endemol has around companies in over countries Endemol and its subsidiaries create and run reality talent and game show franchises worldwide including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal John de Mol later started his own company Talpa which created show franchises like The Voice and Utopia Sports edit Main article Sports in the Netherlands Dutch star football players Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie in a match in Approximately million of the million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the sports clubs in the country About two thirds of the population between and participates in sports weekly Football is the most popular participant sport in the Netherlands before field hockey and volleyball as the second and third most popular team sports Tennis gymnastics and golf are the three most widely engaged in individual sports Organisation of sports began at the end of the th century and the beginning of the th century Federations for sports were established such as the speed skating federation in rules were unified and sports clubs came into existence A Dutch National Olympic Committee was established in Thus far the nation has won medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another medals at the Winter Olympic Games In international competition Dutch national teams and athletes are dominant in several fields of sport The Netherlands women s field hockey team is the most successful team in World Cup history The Netherlands baseball team have won the European championship times out of events Dutch K kickboxers have won the K World Grand Prix times out of tournaments The Dutch speed skaters performance at the Winter Olympics where they won out of events out of medals including clean sweeps is the most dominant performance in a single sport in Olympic history Motorcycle racing at the TT Assen Circuit has a long history Assen is the only venue to have held a round of the Motorcycle World Championship every year since its creation in The circuit was purpose built for the Dutch TT in with previous events having been held on public roads The coastal resort of Zandvoort was a popular stop on the Formula One racing circuit Cuisine edit An example of traditional Dutch dinner Brussels sprouts boiled potatoes and sausage including its gravy Main article Dutch Cuisine Originally the country s cuisine has been shaped by the practices of fishing and farming including the cultivation of the soil for growing crops and raising domesticated animals Dutch cuisine is simple and straightforward and contains many dairy products Breakfast and lunch are typically bread with toppings with cereal for breakfast as an alternative Traditionally dinner consists of potatoes a portion of meat and seasonal vegetables The Dutch diet was relatively high in carbohydrates and fat reflecting the dietary needs of the labourers whose culture moulded the country Without many refinements it is best described as rustic though many holidays are still celebrated with special foods In the course of the twentieth century this diet changed and became much more cosmopolitan with most global cuisines being represented in the major cities The Southern Dutch cuisine consists of the cuisines of the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Flemish Region in Belgium It is renowned for its many rich pastries soups stews and vegetable dishes and is often called Burgundian which is a Dutch idiom invoking the rich Burgundian court which ruled the Low Countries in the Middle Ages renowned for its splendor and great feasts It is the only Dutch culinary region that developed an haute cuisine In early Oxfam ranked the Netherlands as the country with the most nutritious plentiful and healthy food in a comparison of countries Colonial heritage edit Main article Dutch Empire Further information Dutch East Indies and Indos in the Dutch East Indies New Amsterdam as it appeared in Under British rule it became known as New York From the exploitations of the Dutch East India Company in the th century to the colonisations in the th century Dutch imperial possessions continued to expand reaching their greatest extent by establishing a hegemony of the Dutch East Indies in the early th century The Dutch East Indies which later formed modern day Indonesia was one of the most valuable European colonies in the world and the most important one for the Netherlands Over years of mutual heritage has left a significant cultural mark on the Netherlands In the Dutch Golden Age of the th century the Netherlands urbanised considerably mostly financed by corporate revenue from the Asian trade monopolies Social status was based on merchants income which reduced feudalism and considerably changed the dynamics of Dutch society When the Dutch Royal Family was established in much of its wealth came from Colonial trade Universities such as the Royal Leiden University founded in the th century have developed into leading knowledge centres for South east Asian and Indonesian studies Leiden University has produced leading academics such as Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje and still has academics who specialise in Indonesian languages and cultures Leiden University and in particular KITLV are educational and scientific institutions that to this day share both an intellectual and historical interest in Indonesian studies Other scientific institutions in the Netherlands include the Amsterdam Tropenmuseum an anthropological museum with massive collections of Indonesian art culture ethnography and anthropology A European doctor vaccinates Indonesian patients The traditions of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army KNIL are maintained by the Regiment Van Heutsz of the modern Royal Netherlands Army A dedicated Bronbeek Museum a former home for retired KNIL soldiers exists in Arnhem to this day A specific segment of Dutch literature called Dutch Indies literature still exists and includes established authors such as Louis Couperus the writer of The Hidden Force taking the colonial era as an important source of inspiration One of the great masterpieces of Dutch literature is the book Max Havelaar written by Multatuli in The majority of Dutchmen that repatriated to the Netherlands after and during the Indonesian revolution are Indo Eurasian native to the islands of the Dutch East Indies This relatively large Eurasian population had developed over a period of years and were classified by colonial law as belonging to the European legal community In Dutch they are referred to as Indische Nederlanders or as Indo short for Indo European Including their second generation descendants Indos are currently the largest foreign born group in the Netherlands In the Dutch Census Bureau for Statistics CBS registered first and second generation Indos living in the Netherlands Although considered fully assimilated into Dutch society as the main ethnic minority in the Netherlands these repatriants have played a pivotal role in introducing elements of Indonesian culture into Dutch mainstream culture Practically every town in the Netherlands has a Toko Dutch Indonesian Shop or an Indonesian restaurant and many Pasar Malam Night market in Malay Indonesian fairs are organised throughout the year Many Indonesian dishes and foodstuffs have become commonplace in the Netherlands Rijsttafel a colonial culinary concept and dishes such as Nasi goreng and satay are very popular in the Netherlands stop there Starting around the th century they took the offensive and began land reclamation projects converting lakes marshy areas and adjoining mudflats into polders This continued right into the th century As a result historical maps of mediaeval and early modern Holland bear little resemblance to the maps of today This ongoing struggle to master the water played an important role in the development of Holland as a maritime and economic power and in the development of the character of the people of Holland Culture edit Holland tends to be associated with a particular image The stereotypical image of Holland is an artificial amalgam of tulips windmills clogs cheese and traditional dress klederdracht As is the case with many stereotypes this is far from the truth and reality of life in Holland This can at least in part be explained by the active exploitation of these stereotypes in promotions of Holland and the Netherlands In fact only in a few of the more traditional villages such as Volendam and locations in the Zaan area are the different costumes with wooden shoes still worn by some inhabitants The predominance of Holland in the Netherlands has resulted in regionalism on the part of the other provinces This is a reaction to the perceived threat that Holland poses to the identities and local cultures of the other provinces The other provinces have a strong and often negative image of Holland and the Hollanders to whom certain qualities are ascribed within a mental geography a conceptual mapping of spaces and their inhabitants On the other hand some Hollanders take Holland s cultural dominance for granted and treat the concepts of Holland and the Netherlands as coincidental Consequently they see themselves not primarily as Hollanders but simply as Dutch Nederlanders This phenomenon has been called hollandocentrism Language edit 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 Strong dialectal variation still exists throughout the Low Countries Today Holland proper is the region where the original dialects are least spoken in many areas having been completely replaced by standard Dutch and the Randstad has the largest influence on the developments of the standard language—with the exception of the Dutch spoken in Belgium Despite this correspondence between standard Dutch and the Dutch spoken in the Randstad there are local variations within Holland itself that differ from standard Dutch The main cities each have their own modern urban dialect that can be considered a sociolect A small number of people especially in the area north of Amsterdam still speak the original dialect of the county Hollandic The Hollandic dialect is present in the north Volendam and Marken and the area around there West Friesland and the Zaanstreek and in a south eastern fringe bordering on the provinces of North Brabant and Utrecht In the south on the island of Goeree Overflakkee Zealandic is spoken New Holland edit This section does not cite any references sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed November The province of Holland gave its name to a number of colonial settlements and discovered regions that were called Nieuw Holland or New Holland The most extensive of these was the island continent presently known as Australia New Holland was first applied to Australia in by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as a Latin Nova Hollandia and remained in international use for years On the same voyage he named New Zealand after the Dutch province of Zeeland In the Netherlands Nieuw Holland would remain the usual name of the continent until the end of the th century it is now no longer in use there the Dutch name today being Australië Attic Greek Acropolis of Athens Ancient Agora of Athens Academy of Plato Ecclesia ancient Athens Athenian democracy Classical Greece Ephebic Oath Athenian Army Etymology Sycophants in Athenian culture Orations Measures to suppress sycophants Satires Shift in meaning in modern English References Etymology edit The origin of the Ancient Greek word s f t sykophántes is a matter of debate but disparages the unjustified accuser who has in some way perverted the legal system The original etymology of the word sukon sykos s fig and phainein fanes fa to show revealer of figs —has been the subject of extensive scholarly speculation and conjecture Plutarch appears to be the first to have suggested that the source of the term was in laws forbidding the exportation of figs and that those who leveled the accusation against another of illegally exporting figs were therefore called sycophants Athenaeus provided a similar explanation Blackstone s Commentaries repeats this story but adds an additional take—that there were laws making it a capital offense to break into a garden and steal figs and that the law was so odious that informers were given the name sycophants A different explanation of the origin of the term by Shadwell was that the sycophant refers to the manner in which figs are harvested by shaking the tree and revealing the fruit hidden among the leaves The sycophant by making false accusations makes the accused yield up their fruit The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition listed these and other explanations including that the making of false accusations was an insult to the accused in the nature of showing the fig an obscene gesture of phallic significance or alternatively that the false charges were often so insubstantial as to not amount to the worth of a fig Generally scholars have dismissed these explanations as inventions long after the original meaning had been lost Danielle Allen suggests that the term was slightly obscene connoting a kind of perversion and may have had a web of meanings derived from the symbolism of figs in ancient Greek culture ranging from the improper display of one s figs by being overly aggressive in pursuing a prosecution the unseemly revealing of the private matters of those accused of wrongdoing to the inappropriate timing of harvesting figs when they are unripe Sycophants in Athenian culture edit Lysias by Jean DedieuThe traditional view is that the opprobrium against sycophants was attached to the bringing of an unjustified complaint hoping either to obtain the payment for a successful case or to blackmail the defendant into paying a bribe to drop the case Other scholars have suggested that the sycophant rather than being disparaged for being motivated by profit was instead viewed as a vexatious litigant who was over eager to prosecute and who had no personal stake in the underlying dispute but brings up old charges unrelated to himself long after the event Sycophants included those who profited from using their position as citizens for profit For instance one could hire a sycophant to bring a charge against one s enemies or to take a wide variety of actions of an official nature with the authorities including introducing decrees acting as an advocate or a witness bribing ecclesiastical or civil authorities and juries or other questionable things with which one did not want to be personally associated Sycophants were viewed as uncontrolled and parasitic lacking proper regard for truth or for justice in a matter using their education and skill to destroy opponents for profit in matters where they had no stake lacking even the convictions of politicians and having no sense of serving the public good Orations edit Illustration by Peter Newell for the poem The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven in Fables for the Frivolous by Guy Wetmore CarrylThe charge of sycophancy against a litigant was a serious matter and the authors of two surviving oratories Against the Grain Dealers author Lysias and Against Leocrates author Lycurgus defend themselves against charges that they are sycophants because they are prosecuting cases as private citizens in circumstances where they have no personal stake in the underlying dispute In each instance the lack of personal involvement appears to have been the crux of the accusation of sycophancy against them the merits of the cases being separate matters from whether they had a right to bring them Measures to suppress sycophants edit Efforts were made to discourage or suppress sycophants including imposing fines on litigants who failed to obtain at least one fifth of the jury s votes or for abandoning a case after it had begun as would occur if the sycophant was bribed to drop the matter and authorizing the prosecution of men for being sycophants Statutes of Limitation were specifically adopted to try to prevent sycophancy Satires edit Sycophants are better illustrated through the satires of Aristophanes In The Acharnians a Megarian attempting to sell his daughters is confronted by a sycophant who accuses him of illegally attempting to sell foreign goods and a Boeotian purchases a sycophant as a typical Athenian product that he cannot obtain at home A sycophant appears as a character in The Birds One of his lost plays had as its principal theme an attack against a sycophant In Wealth the character Sycophant defends his role as a necessity in supporting the laws and preventing wrongdoing Shift in meaning in modern English edit Main article Sycophancy The word sycophant entered the English and French languages in the mid th Century and originally had the same meaning in English and French sycophante as in Greek a false accuser Today in Greek and French it retains the original meaning The meaning in English has changed over time however and came to mean an insincere flatterer The common thread in the older and current meanings is that the sycophant is in both instances portrayed as a kind of parasite speaking falsely and insincerely in the accusation or the flattery for gain The Greek plays often combined in one single character the elements of the parasite and the sycophant and the natural similarities of the two closely related types led to the shift in the meaning of the word The sycophant in both meanings can also be viewed as two sides of the same coin the same person currying one s favor by insincere flattery is also spreading false tales and accusations behind one s back In Renaissance English the word was used in both senses and meanings that of the Greek informer and the current sense of a flattering parasite with both being cast as enemies—not only of those they wrong but also of the person or state that they ostensibly serve Double Trouble Clambake Stay Away Joe Speedway Live a Little Love a Little Charro The Trouble with Girls Change of Habit Elvis That s the Way It Is Elvis on Tour TV concert specials Elvis Elvis Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite Elvis in Concert Paul McCartney organ Performances edit On The Concert for Bangladesh Clapton performed the song on a Gibson Byrdland hollow body guitar and later acknowledged that a solid body guitar would have been more appropriate The version in the Prince s Trust Rock Concert released on DVD by Panorama reunited Harrison Starr and Clapton and features an extended coda with the guitars of Harrison and Clapton interweaving Mark King of Level played McCartney s bass line On their tour of Japan Harrison and Clapton performed a live version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with additional background vocals An edit combining parts of the December and December Tokyo performances of the song is included on the album Live in Japan On June within the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II concert at Buckingham Palace Garden Paul McCartney performed the song with Clapton as a tribute to George Harrison who had died the year before They were introduced by George Martin The performance appears on the DVD release Party at the Palace On November the same year McCartney Starr Dhani Harrison Jeff Lynne Marc Mann and Clapton performed While My Guitar Gently Weeps at the Concert for George in memory of Harrison This version featured Clapton singing the lead vocal and playing his original guitar solo while McCartney provided background vocals and piano Mann played Clapton s original fills during the verses In Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist While My Guitar Gently Weeps was played in tribute by Tom Petty Jeff Lynne Steve Winwood Scott Thurston Steve Ferrone Marc Mann and Dhani Harrison and concluding with a memorable guitar solo by fellow inductee Prince Cover versions edit In Canadian musician Jeff Healey recorded a cover version of this song that was released on his CD Hell To Pay Healey s version of this song featured George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on backing vocals and acoustic guitar In Peter Frampton covered this song on the Now album An interpolation of While My Guitar Gently Weeps called The Heart Gently Weeps was on Wu Tang Clan s album Diagrams and features rhythm guitar and percussion input from George Harrison s son Dhani Harrison Let It Be When the above albums were reissued on CDs in the American Magical Mystery Tour album and the double CD compilation set Past Masters were included so the full set would contain every track commercially released in the band s lifetime See also John Lennon discography Paul McCartney discography George Harrison discography Ringo Starr discography Collaborations between ex Beatles Song catalogueThrough the Beatles catalogue was published almost exclusively by Northern Songs Ltd a company formed in February by music publisher Dick James specifically for Lennon and McCartney though it later acquired songs by other artists The company was organised with James and his partner Emmanuel Silver owning a controlling interest variously described as or plus one share McCartney had Reports again vary concerning Lennon s portion – or – and Brian Epstein s – or – which he received in lieu of a band management fee