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The Netherlands
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The Netherlands
Amsterdam
Overview:
The Netherlands is
a country partly reclaimed from the waters of
the North Sea, and around half of it lies at or
below sea level. Land reclamation has been the
dominant motif of its history, the result a
country of resonant and unique images - flat,
fertile landscapes punctured by windmills and
church spires; ornately gabled terraces flanking
peaceful canals; and mile upon mile of grassy
dunes, backing onto stretches of pristine sandy
beach.
A leading colonial power, its mercantile fleets
once challenged the best in the world for
supremacy, and the country enjoyed a so-called
"Golden Age" of prosperity in the seventeenth
century. These days, the Netherlands is one of
the most developed countries in the world, with
the highest population density in Europe, its
sixteen million or so inhabitants (most of whom
speak English) concentrated into an area about
the size of southern England.
Most people travel only to the uniquely
atmospheric capital, Amsterdam : the rest of the
country, despite its accessibility, is
comparatively untouched by tourism. The west of
the country is the most populated and most
historically interesting region - unrelentingly
flat territory, much of it reclaimed, that is
home to a grouping of towns known collectively
as the Randstad (literally "rim town"). It's a
good idea to forsake Amsterdam for a day or two
and investigate places like Haarlem , Leiden and
Delft with their old canal-girded centers, the
gritty port city of Rotterdam , or The Hague ,
stately home of the government and the Dutch
royals. Outside the Randstad, life moves more
slowly. The province of Zeeland , in the
southwest, is the country at its most remote,
its inhabitants a sturdy, distant people, busy
with farming and fishing and hardly connected to
the mainland. In the north, Groningen is a busy
cultural centre, lent verve by its large
resident student population. To the south,
around the town of Arnhem , the landscape
undulates into healthy moorland, best
experienced in the Hoge Veluwe national park.
Further south still lies the compelling city of
Maastricht , squeezed between the German and
Belgian borders.
Though "Holland" is
often used as a shorthand alternative name for
the country, this is strictly speaking outdated;
these days, although there are two Dutch
provinces called North Holland and South
Holland, they are separate entities. On the same
note, it's common to call Belgium and the
Netherlands "the Low Countries", and to use the
abbreviation "Benelux" to refer to the
neighboring trio of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg |
