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Dutch windmills, Netherlands

© 123rf.com/Phillip Minnis

Netherlands Travel Guide

Key Facts
Area: 

41,528 sq km (16,034 sq miles).

Population: 

16.4 million (UN, 2007).

Population density: 

394 per sq km.

Capital: 

Amsterdam. Population: 751,757 (2006). Seat of Government: The Hague. Population: 474,254 (2007).

Government: 

Constitutional monarchy since 1848.

Head of state: 

Queen Beatrix Van Oranje Nassau since 1980.

Head of government: 

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende since 2002.

Electricity: 

220 volts AC, 50Hz. Two-pin European-style plugs are in use.

A small country with a big profile, the Netherlands offers a beguiling blend of rural, traditional beauty and vibrant culture. Occupying a delta at the confluence of three major rivers where they empty into the North Sea, it is truly a water world: canals, coast and lakes are never far from view. Flat as a pannenkoek, it also makes an ideal destination for cycling, an integral mode of transport among the Dutch themselves, and many visitors plan their trips around the extensive infrastructure for two-wheeled travel.

Holland (as the country is alternatively referred to) is also a deeply cosmopolitan place where museums overflow with paintings from its Golden Age and a cavalcade of festivals showcase performing artists from within and beyond its borders. Added to this is an eye-opening nightlife scene in cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

A tolerant people, ever open to outside influence, the Dutch place a high value on a quality they call gezelligheid: a sense of cosiness and conviviality that's immediately apparent to anyone who's ever stepped into a bruin café, the Dutch version of a pub. The object of all their scrupulous planning, it seems, is to share their enjoyment of life.

Top events in Netherlands

May
31

The principal festival of the performing arts in the Netherlands features classical music, opera, theatre, dance, pop, world music and cinema,...

May
31

The principal festival of the performing arts in the Netherlands features classical music, opera, theatre, dance, pop, world music and cinema,...

May
31

This festival seeks out and presents new forms from the world music scene. Concerts take place at several venues leading up to the finale on...