Kingdom of the Netherlands country of heritage and future.

1
Kingdom of the Netherlandscountry of heritage
and future.
2
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a state with
territory in Western Europe (the Netherlands) and
in the Caribbean (Aruba and the Netherlands
Antilles).
The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the
north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany
to the east. The capital is Amsterdam and the
seat of government is The Hague.
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying
country, with about 27 of its area and 60 of
its population located below sea level.
The Netherlands is a densely populated country
well known for its traditional values and civil
virtues such as its social tolerance.
(1) Groningen (2) Friesland (3) Drenthe (4)
Overijssel (5) Gelderland (6) Utrecht (7)
Noord-Holland (8) Zuid-Holland (9) Zeeland
(10) Noord-Brabant (11) Limburg (12) Flevoland
The Netherlands has one of the most free market
capitalist economies in the world, ranking 12th
of 157 countries according to the Index of
Economic Freedom.
The Netherlands has been a constitutional
monarchy since 1815 and a parliamentary democracy
since 1848.
Stereotypes about Netherlands windmills, tulips,
clogs, delftware, Gouda cheese, visual artists,
bicycles, polders and canals.
3
in the past The Dutch Republic grew to become
one of the major seafaring and economic powers of
the 17th century during so-called Dutch Golden
Age.
nowadays 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.
4
in the past By the 13th century, windmills had
come into use in order to pump water out of areas
below sea level. The windmills were later used to
drain lakes, creating the famous polders.
nowadays Windmills are still in use today.
These modern windmills are used to generate
electricity in an environmentally friendly manner.
5
in the past Clogs symbol of old manufacture.
nowadays Philips of the largest electronics
companies in the world with headquarters in
Amsterdam is a mark of modern times.
6
Caring for the environment
The Netherlands is known as a clean country. The
Dutch care about the environment. They even
separate their rubbish. Paper goes into a
separate bin, and kitchen scraps and glass are
collected separately for recycling.
Almost every Dutch person has a bicycle and there
are twice as many bikes as cars. The government
encourages people to use their bicycles as much
as possible or to take the bus or train to work.
7
Sports
Skating is one of the most popular sports in the
Netherlands. Every winter Dutch hope that it will
be very cold. As soon as the canals and lakes are
frozen over, lots of Dutch people take out their
skates.
Soccer is very popular. If an important match is
being shown on television, theres hardly anybody
on the street. When the Dutch national soccer
team goes abroad, thousands of fans travel along
to watch them play. You can easily recognise them
by their orange hats and clothes.
8
The Netherlands has had many well-known painters.
The 17th century, when 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 19th and 20th century were
Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan.
9
Delta Works
The Delta Works are a series of constructions
built between 1950 and 1997 in the southwest of
the Netherlands to protect a large area of land
around the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta from the
sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks,
dikes, and storm surge barriers. The aim of the
dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers was to
shorten the Dutch coastline, thus reducing the
number of dikes that had to be raised.
10
Did you know that you'll find flowers in almost
every Dutch living room?
by Ewa Antonowicz (Vb) with little help of her
father and www.discoverthenetherlands.org www.gove
rnment.nl www.wikipedia.org