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Netherlands - facts for kidsThe Netherlands is a small, low-lying country in Western Europe. For its size, more people live there than in any other country - about 920 per square mile. The country is sometimes called Holland, and its people are known as Dutch. The Netherlands is bounded on the north-west by the North Sea, on the east by Germany, and on the south by Belgium. It lies at the mouths of the Rhine, Maas (Meuse) and Scheldt (Schelde) rivers. Much of the land has been built up by silt dropped by the rivers where they enter the sea. Nearly half the country is polder land - that is, land that has been reclaimed from the sea. Two-thirds of the polder land is below sea-level. It is protected from the sea by sand dunes and dikes, great banks built by the Dutch. The rest of the country is above sea-level, but the highest point is less than 350 feet. The people speak Dutch, a language similar to German. Many Dutch people are tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed. The principal ports are Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Netherlands River cruises (Amstel River)Quite good infrastructure for tourists there are in the Netherlands: hotels, tours, river cruises, etc. Although Amsterdam is the capital, the seat of government is at The Hague, an inland city where the International Court of Justice also sits. Agriculture is very important since nearly all of the soil is rich and fertile. Dairying is more important than crop growing and the country exports large quantities of butter and cheese. Almost as important is the growing of tulip, hyacinth and other flower bulbs in the area around Haarlem. Apart from petroleum and natural gas, the country has few natural resources.
Dutch industries process food or other agricultural products, such as flax and sugar. Engineering and chemical industries are also important. International trade passing through its ports to other European lands contributes to the Netherlands' wealth. Some goods travel along the network of canals that covers the country. For hundreds of years the Netherlands and Belgium were linked together. They were often known as the Low Countries. The area came under the rule of Spain in the early 1500s. Fifty years later, the people of the Netherlands, led by William, Prince of Orange, rebelled against Spain, and formed a republic. War with Spain lasted until 1648. The French conquered the Netherlands in 1795, but the country regained its independence in 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars. The Germans occupied the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945, during World War II. In 1957, the country joined the European Common Market, a trade alliance with five other countries. The Caribbean Netherlands became part of the Netherlands proper on 10 October 2010. The Netherlands Facts and FiguresArea: 15,785 square miles. Population: 16,662,500. Capital: Amsterdam. Money Unit: guilder. Labor force: 55% urban, 45% rural. Exports: bulbs, dairy products, ships, textiles. Imports: coffee, petroleum, tin, sugar. You can read these articles also: |
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