Netherlands

Netherlands is located in North West Europe. It is bound by the North Sea to the north and west, Germany to the east and Belgium to the south. The country is largely a delta comprised of silt from the mouths of the Rhine, Waal, Maas, Ijssel and Schelde Rivers and is generally low and flat except for the southeast where hills rise. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

The Netherlands has a temperate maritime climate influenced by the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Since the country is small there is little variation in climate from region to region, although the marine influences are less inland. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year with average annual precipitation exceeding 700 mm (28 inches). Average temperature ranges are from -1 to 4 degrees Celsius (30 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 13 to 22 degrees Celsius (55 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit) in July.

Drenthe is known as the "Cycling Province" of the Netherlands and is an exceptional place for a cycling holiday, having hundreds of kilometres of cycle paths through forest, heath and along canals and many towns and villages offering refreshment along the way. Flevoland was named after Lacus Flevo, a name recorded in Roman sources for a large inland lake at the southern end of the later-formed Zuiderzee. Friesland has 643,000 inhabitants (2005) and its capital is Leeuwarden, with 91,817 inhabitants, in the center of the province. Guelders was a county in the late 11th century and then a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire, including also parts of the province of present-day Limburg and the German District of Kleve (Cleves) with the city of Geldern, the city that was the original seat of the dukes. Groningen is a university city, inhabited on average by about 50,000 students. Limburg has a highly distinct character. The social and economic trends which affected the province in recent decades generated a process of change and renewal which has enabled Limburg to transform the drawbacks of its national peripheral location into advantages inherent in its European settings, linking the Netherlands to the southern part of Europe. North Holland is a broad peninsula between the North Sea and the IJsselmeer. More than half of the province consists of reclaimed polder land situated below sea level. North Brabant is located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River (Maas) in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west. Utrecht is host to Utrecht University, the largest university of the Netherlands, as well as several other institutes for higher education. Zeeland is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Landerd, about 5 km northeast of Uden.

This highly developed and affluent economy is based on private enterprise. The government makes its presence felt, however, through many regulations, permit requirements, and welfare programs affecting most aspects of economic activity. The trade and financial services sector contributes over 50% of GDP. Industrial activity provides about 25% of GDP and is led by the food-processing, oil-refining, and metalworking industries. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 4% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. Indeed the Netherlands ranks third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. High unemployment and a sizable budget deficit are currently the most serious economic problems. Many of the economic issues of the 1990s will reflect the course of European economic integration. Its main trading partners are Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the USA, UK, France, Italy, Russia and East European countries. MAJOR INDUSTRIES is Agriculture, Chemicals, Clothing, Diamond Cutting, Fertilizers, Fishing, Food Processing, Forestry, Iron and Steel, Oil and Gas Production and Refining, Printing, Ship Building, Textiles, Tobacco Processing. MAIN EXPORTS: Chemicals, Dairy Produce, Flower Bulbs, Fruit and Vegetables, Iron and Steel, Machinery, Meat, Natural Gas, Petroleum Products, Textiles.Natural resources is natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land.

The official language is Dutch which is spoken by almost the entire population. The principal minority language is Frisian while English and German are also widely understood. Mostly Christians with 36% of the population Roman Catholic while 18.5% are Dutch Reformed and 8.4% are of other reformed churches.

About 700,000 people visit Keukenhof Gardens each spring to admire the tulips and other bulb flowers in full bloom. This incredible display of colour is in a beautiful setting, covering an area of 32 hectares (80 acres). There are individual flower shows in three pavilions. Carolus Clusius, the biologist of Leiden's Hortus Botanicus, is generally credited with introducing the tulip into Holland in 1593 and thus unleashing 'tulip mania' on Europe. Azalea, Hortensia, Syringa, Viburnum, Prunus, Forsythia, Lilies, Orchids, Anthurium, Bromelia Begonia and Cyclamen are also on display. The popular Kwakoe Festival is Amsterdam's biggest multicultural festival and the main festive event of the Surinamese black and African community. Kwakoe attracts thousands of visitors to the Bijlmerpark show ground over six summer weekends for a programme of live music, dancing, film screenings, sports, informative events, discussions and many varieties of ethnic food. National Cycling Day is ffamous.

Popular sports in Netherlands include football and hockey. There are theaters and cinemas in all major towns - the arts are popular in Holland and play a big role in life.  Amsterdam is a cosmopolitan city, with some of the liveliest nightlife in Europe. The brown cafes are an institution - Holland’s equivalent of the local pub. Its famous (or infamous) red light district, de Wallen, is a magnet for visitors, and there are numerous bars, clubs and ‘coffee’ shops (for those in search of a different sort of stimulant, namely marijuana) in the vicinity. Interestingly, although tobacco smoking is now banned in enclosed public spaces, joints rolled purely with marijuana can still be consumed in these places, which are also evident in most other Dutch cities. A Dutch breakfast usually consists of fresh bread, cheese, cooked meats and sausage, butter and hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles), jam or honey and often a boiled egg. Lunch is generally similar. Holland is famous for its cheeses, among them the Gouda, Edam and Leiden varieties, also obtainable with flavorings such as caraway seed and cumin.