A report on Netherlands and Amsterdam

The name of the historic County of Holland is currently used as a pars pro toto for the Netherlands.

The Oude Kerk was consecrated in 1306 AD.

Amsterdam citizens celebrating the Peace of Münster, 30 January 1648. Painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst

Oak figurine found in Willemstad (4500 BC)

Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by Emanuel de Witte, 1653. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the first stock exchange to introduce continuous trade in the early 17th century.

View of Vijzelstraat looking towards the Muntplein, 1891

Photochrom of Amsterdam's Dam Square at the beginning of the 20th century

Franks, Frisians and Saxons (710s AD) with Traiecturm and Dorestad in the middle

People celebrating the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of World War II on 8 May 1945

The 17th-century Canals of Amsterdam were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2010, contributing to Amsterdam's fame as the "Venice of the North". Along with De Wallen, the canals are the focal-point for tourists in the city.

Rorik of Dorestad, Viking ruler of Friesland (romantic 1912 depiction)

Satellite picture of Amsterdam and North Sea Canal

A Medieval Tombe of the Brabantian knight Arnold van der Sluijs

Map of the Habsburg dominions. From 1556 the dynasty's lands in the Low Countries were retained by the Spanish Habsburgs.

Large-scale map of the city centre of Amsterdam, including sightseeing markers,.

Nieuwendammerdijk en Buiksloterdijk, Amsterdam-Noord, winter 2010

Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665

The Westerkerk in the Centrum borough, one of Amsterdam's best-known churches

Winter landscape with skaters near the city of Kampen by Hendrick Avercamp (1620s)

A 1538 painting by Cornelis Anthonisz showing a bird's-eye view of Amsterdam. The famous Grachtengordel had not yet been established.

Map of the Dutch colonial empire. Light green: territories administered by or originating from territories administered by the Dutch East India Company; dark green: the Dutch West India Company. In yellow are the territories occupied later, during the 19th century.

The submission of Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in 1830. Painting by Nicolaas Pieneman

Rotterdam after German air raids in 1940

Former Prime Ministers Wim Kok, Dries van Agt, Piet de Jong, Ruud Lubbers and Jan Peter Balkenende with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in 2011

The Egelantiersgracht lies west of the Grachtengordel, in the Jordaan neighbourhood.

The Scheepvaarthuis, by architects Johan van der Mey, Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer is characteristic of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.

The Christmas flood of 1717 was the result of a northwesterly storm that resulted in the death of thousands.

The Begijnhof is one of the oldest hofjes in Amsterdam.

Map illustrating areas of the Netherlands below sea level

The Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam and Conservatorium van Amsterdam, two examples of 21st-century architecture in the centre of the city

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world

The Delta Works are located in the provinces of South Holland and Zeeland.

The Zuidas, the city's main business district

Common seals on Terschelling, a Wadden Sea island

Boats give tours of the city, such as this one in front of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

The Binnenhof, where the lower and upper houses of the States General meet

De Wallen, Amsterdam's Red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffee shops that sell cannabis. It is one of the main tourist attractions.

De Wallen, Amsterdam's red-light district, offers activities such as legal prostitution and a number of coffeeshops that sell marijuana, symbolising the Dutch political culture and tradition of tolerance.

An Amsterdammer waits for a traffic light to change at the Muntplein in the heart of Amsterdam.

The Netherlands has a culture of respectful and friendly debate. From left to right, members of the House of Representatives Sander de Rouwe (CDA), Ineke van Gent (GL), Han ten Broeke (VVD), Kees Verhoeven (D66) and Farshad Bashir (SP), 2010

The Rijksmuseum houses Rembrandt's The Night Watch.

Provinces and territories of the Netherlands

The Van Gogh Museum houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and letters.

The Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), in The Hague

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is an international museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and design.

General Onno Eichelsheim is the current Chief of Defence.

Zr. Ms. Holland, a Royal Netherlands Navy offshore patrol vessel

Coldplay performing at the Amsterdam Arena, 2016

Historical GDP per capita development (Our World in Data)

The Concertgebouw or Royal Concert Hall houses performances of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and other musical events.

A proportional representation of Netherlands exports, 2019

Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam's best-known theatre

The Netherlands is part of a monetary union, the Eurozone (dark blue), and the EU single market.

One of the decorated boats participating in the 2013 Canal Parade of the Amsterdam Gay Pride

Natural gas concessions in the Netherlands. Today the Netherlands accounts for more than 25% of all natural gas reserves in the EU.

The Groningen gas field whose discovery in 1959 transformed the Dutch economy, generating €159 billion in revenue since the mid-1970s.

Femke Halsema has been the Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018.

Population of the Netherlands from 1900 to 2000

Population pyramid of the Netherlands in 2017

In Rotterdam almost half the population has an immigrant background.

King Willem-Alexander, Princess Beatrix, and Queen Máxima greeting Amsterdammers from the Royal Palace of Amsterdam during Willem-Alexanders inauguration in 2013

Population density in the Netherlands by municipality. The largest urban area, the Randstad is clearly visible along the west coast.

Knowledge of foreign languages in the Netherlands, in per cent of the population over the age of 15, in 2006

The Amsterdam Metro is a mixed subway and above ground rapid transit system consisting of five lines.

An international primary school in The Hague

Amsterdam Centraal station, the city's main train station

View on the Utrecht Science Park of Utrecht University. The building in the centre is the library.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ranks as Europe's third-busiest airport for passenger traffic.

Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), known as "the father of microbiology"

Police bicyclist crossing a bridge over the Prinsengracht

The Agnietenkapel Gate at the University of Amsterdam, founded in 1632 as the Athenaeum Illustre

A regional train operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)

Bike passage at Rotterdam Centraal station

Dutch people in orange celebrating King's Day in Amsterdam, 2017

Johan Cruyff Arena, the largest Dutch concert venue

Dutch star football players Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie during a game with the Netherlands against Denmark at Euro 2012

New Amsterdam as it appeared in 1664. Under British rule it became known as New York.

Eustachius De Lannoy of the Dutch East India Company surrenders to Maharaja Marthanda Varma of the Indian Kingdom of Travancore after the Battle of Colachel. (Depiction at Padmanabhapuram Palace)

A Dutch doctor vaccinating Indonesian patients

Amsterdam (, , , lit. The Dam on the River Amstel) is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands; with a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area.

- Amsterdam

The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

- Netherlands

44 related topics with Alpha

North Holland

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Government house of North Holland province, Villa Welgelegen, in Haarlem

Satellite image of the North Holland, Friesland and Flevoland

Satellite image of the south of North Holland

A Highland in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park

North Holland (Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country.

161,265). The province's largest city and also the largest city in the Netherlands is the Dutch capital Amsterdam, with a population of 862,965 as of November 2019.

Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Rembrandt

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Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman.

The Prodigal Son in the Brothel, a self-portrait with Saskia, c. 1635

Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, c. 1635

Rembrandt Memorial Marker Westerkerk Amsterdam

Rembrandt's only known seascape, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633. The painting is still missing after the robbery from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

The Abduction of Europa, 1632. Oil on panel. The work has been described as "...a shining example of the 'golden age' of Baroque painting".

A typical portrait from 1634, when Rembrandt was enjoying great commercial success

Self Portrait, 1658, Frick Collection, a masterpiece of the final style, "the calmest and grandest of all his portraits"

The Hundred Guilder Print, c. 1647–49, etching, drypoint and burin on Japan paper, National Museum of Western Art.

Rembrandt drawing of an Indian Mughal painting

Role-playing in self-portrait as an oriental potentate with a kris/keris, a Javanese blade weapon from the VOC era (etching, c. 1634)

The Night Watch or The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, 1642. Oil on canvas; on display at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Polish Rider – Possibly a Lisowczyk on horseback

The Man with the Golden Helmet, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, once one of the most famous "Rembrandt" portraits, is no longer attributed to the master.

Slaughtered Ox (1655), Musée du Louvre, Paris

Rembrandt statue and the sculptures of The Night Watch in 3D at the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam

In 1775, a 25-year-old Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in a letter that "I live wholly with Rembrandt" ("...ich zeichne, künstle p. Und lebe ganz mit Rembrandt."). At the age of 81 (1831), Goethe wrote the essay "Rembrandt der Denker" ("Rembrandt the Thinker"), published in the posthumous collection of his works.

The Jewish Bride, c. 1665–9, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. In Vincent van Gogh's own words (1885), "I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture [The Jewish Bride] fortnight, with only a crust of dry bread for food." In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent wrote, "What an intimate, what an infinitely sympathetic picture it is,"

Rembrandt Laughing, 1628, J. Paul Getty Museum

The Girl in a Picture Frame, 1641, Royal Castle, Warsaw

The evangelist Matthew and the Angel, 1661

Moving Rembrandt's The Night Watch for the 1898 Rembrandt Exhibition

A young Rembrandt, c. 1628, when he was 22. Partly an exercise in chiaroscuro. Rijksmuseum

Self-Portrait in a Gorget, c. 1629; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

Self-portrait, 1630, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Self-Portrait with Velvet Beret and Furred Mantle 1634

Self-portrait at the age of 34, 1640, National Gallery, London

Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, 1652. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Self-portrait, Vienna c. 1655, oil on walnut, cut down in size. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Self Portrait as Zeuxis, c. 1662. One of 2 painted self-portraits in which Rembrandt is turned to the left.<ref name="W1">White, 200</ref> Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne

Self-Portrait with Two Circles, c.1665–1669. Kenwood House, London

Self-portrait at the age of 63, dated 1669, the year he died. National Gallery, London

The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1625, The first painting by Rembrandt, painted at the age of 19.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Starcky |first=Emmanuel |title=Rembrandt |publisher=Hazan |year=1990 |isbn=978-2-85025-212-9 |page=45}}</ref> It is currently kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.

Artist in His Studio, 1628, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Bust of an old man with a fur hat, the artist's father, 1630

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 1630

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632

Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, 1632, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, c. 1633–1634

The Blinding of Samson, 1636, which Rembrandt gave to Huyghens

The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family, 1637, Louvre

The Landscape with Good Samaritan, 1638, Czartoryski Museum, Kraków

Scholar at his Writing Table, 1641, Royal Castle, Warsaw

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Young Girl at the Window, 1654, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Portrait of Jan Six, a wealthy friend of Rembrandt, 1654

Bathsheba at Her Bath, modelled by Hendrickje, 1654

A Woman Bathing in a Stream, modelled by Hendrickje, 1654

Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther, 1660

Saint Bartholomew, 1661, J. Paul Getty Museum

The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (cut-down), 1661–62

Lucretia, 1666 (Minneapolis Institute of Art)

The Return of the Prodigal Son, detail, c. 1669 - Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Self-portrait, c. 1628–29, pen and brush and ink on paper

Self-portrait in a cap, with eyes wide open, 1630, etching and burin

Seated Old Man (c.1630), red and black chalk on paper, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Suzannah and the Elders, 1634, drawing in Sanguine on paper, Kupferstichkabinett Berlin

Self-portrait with Saskia, 1636, etching, Rijksmuseum

An elephant, 1637, drawing in black chalk on paper, Albertina, Austria

Self-portrait leaning on a Sill, 1639, etching, National Gallery of Art

Christ and the woman taken in adultery, c. 1639–41, drawing in ink, Louvre

Beggars I., c. 1640–42, ink on paper, Warsaw University Library

The Diemerdijk at Houtewael (near Amsterdam), 1648–49, pen and brown ink, brown wash, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

The Three Crosses, 1653, drypoint etching, state III of V, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Virgin and Child with a Cat, 1654, original copper etching plate above (the original copper plate), in Victoria and Albert Museum, example of the print below

Christ presented to the People, drypoint etching, 1655, state I of VIII, Rijksmuseum

Two Old Men in Conversation /Two Jews in Discussion, Walking, year unknown, black chalk and brown ink on paper, Teylers Museum

A a child being taught to walk (c. 1635). David Hockney said: "I think it's the greatest drawing ever done... It's a magnificent drawing, magnificent."<ref name="Hockney2014">{{Cite web |last=Lewis, Tim |date=16 November 2014 |title=David Hockney: 'When I'm working, I feel like Picasso, I feel I'm 30' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/16/david-hockney-interview-i-feel-like-picasso |access-date=16 June 2020 |website=The Guardian |quote=David Hockney (2014): "There's a drawing by Rembrandt, I think it's the greatest drawing ever done. It's in the British Museum and it's of a family teaching a child to walk, so it's a universal thing, everybody has experienced this or seen it happen. Everybody. I used to print out Rembrandt drawings big and give them to people and say: 'If you find a better drawing send it to me. But if you find a better one it will be by Goya or Michelangelo perhaps.' But I don't think there is one actually. It's a magnificent drawing, magnificent." |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516011950/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/16/david-hockney-interview-i-feel-like-picasso |url-status=live }}</ref>

A young woman sleeping (c. 1654). Shows Rembrandt's calligraphic-style draughtsmanship.

A depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt's knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam's Jewish population.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on 15 July, 1606 in Leiden, in the Dutch Republic, now the Netherlands.

County of Holland

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State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a part until the Batavian Revolution in 1795.

Rorik of Dorestad in a 1912 illustration by Hermanus Willem Koekkoek

Dirk VI, Count of Holland, 1114–1157, and his mother Petronella visiting the work on the Egmond Abbey, Charles Rochussen, 1881.

Count Willem II of Holland Granting Privileges by Caesar van Everdingen and Pieter Post, 1654.

The County of Holland in the 15th century

The Relief of Leiden by the Geuzen in 1574, by Otto van Veen.

Dam Square with the New Town Hall under Construction, by Johannes Lingelbach, 1656.

The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of North Holland and South Holland in the Netherlands.

The largest cities in the republic were situated in the province of Holland, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leiden, Alkmaar, Delft, Dordrecht, Haarlem, and the nation's capital, The Hague.

Rhine

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One of the major European rivers.

Map of the Rhine (for interactive map click here: )

The confluence of the Anterior Rhine to the lower left and the Posterior Rhine in the back, forming the Alpine Rhine to the left next to Reichenau

The Rhine between Sargans (Switzerland, left) and Balzers (Liechtenstein, right) with the Gonzen (1829 m, left), the Girrenspitz (2099 m) in the back, and the Maziferchopf (855 m) to the right

Aerial image of the mouth of the Rhine into Lake Constance

Satellite image. In the center and on the right (i.e. to the east) the larger part of Lake Constance, called the Obersee, is visible, and it includes, in the lower right, the Delta of the Alpine Rhine. The northwesterly "finger" (on the top left) is Lake Überlingen, containing the island of Mainau. Below Lake Überlingen (also in the west) is the smaller Untersee, containing Reichenau Island. The Obersee and Untersee are connected by the four kilometers long Seerhein. On the left the High Rhine can be seen.

Distance markers along the Rhine indicate distances from this bridge in Constance

The 555 km marker, downstream from the Lorelei

The Rhine Fall at Schaffhausen (Switzerland)

View of the Mainz Basin downstreams of Mainz, from Eltville and Erbach to Bingen

View of the Middle Rhine Valley and Burg Katz, in the background Lorelei

The central and northern parts of the Rhine-Meuse delta

Changing the Meuse estuary in 1904: light blue old course, dark blue today's course

Map showing how the waters of the Rhine and Meuse rivers split into various branches of their combined delta

Schematic cross section of the Upper Rhine Graben

Castellum Nigrum Pullum, Zwammerdam, The Netherlands, artist impression Stevie Xinas

French forces under Louis XIV cross the Rhine into the Netherlands in 1672

Allied soldiers of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment crossing the Rhine into Germany after the end of WWI, December 1918

Soldiers of the US 89th Infantry Division cross the Rhine in assault boats under German fire as part of Operation Plunder on 24 March 1945

The Rhine at Mannheim, in the Rhine-Neckar industrial area

Finally in Germany the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea.

Duisburg is the home of Europe's largest inland port and functions as a hub to the sea ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Amsterdam.

Municipalities of the Netherlands

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As of 24 March 2022, there are 344 municipalities (gemeenten) and three special municipalities (bijzondere gemeenten) in the Netherlands.

Amsterdam has the highest population with 893,783 residents, whereas The Hague is the most densely populated with a density of 6650 /km2.

Map of the pre-Roman Iron Age in Northern Europe culture(s) associated with the Proto-Germanic language, ca 500–50 BCE. The area south of Scandinavia is the Jastorf culture.

Dutch language

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Title page of the Statenvertaling (1637) reads: Biblia ... Uyt de Oorspronckelijcke talen in onse Neder-landtsche tale getrouwelijck over-geset. (English: From the Original languages into our Dutch language faithfully translated.

The location of Suriname in South America

The Dutch Caribbean at both ends of the Lesser Antilles, lining the Caribbean Sea

Standard Dutch used in a 1916 ad in South Africa before Afrikaans replaced Dutch for use in media

The distribution of Afrikaans across South Africa: proportion of the population speaking Afrikaans at home

The 27-letter compound hemelwaterinfiltratiegebied (rainwater infiltration area) on a traffic sign in Zwolle, Netherlands

Dutch uses the digraph IJ as a single letter and it can be seen in several variations. Here, a marking saying ("line/route" + "bus"; the tram lane also serves as bus road).

The distribution of the primary Germanic languages in Europe in around AD 1:
North Germanic
North Sea Germanic, or Ingvaeonic
Weser-Rhine Germanic, or Istvaeonic
Elbe Germanic, or Irminonic
East Germanic
Lighter-colored areas denote areas of either mixed settlement, such as between East-Germanic and Balto-Slavic peoples, or possible settlement, such as the Istvaeones within the Roman Empire or the Ingvaenes in Northern Denmark.

Dutch (Nederlands ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting most of the population of the Netherlands (where it is the only official language countrywide) and about 60% of the population of Belgium (as one of three official languages).

The urban dialects of the Randstad, which are Hollandic dialects, do not diverge from standard Dutch very much, but there is a clear difference between the city dialects of Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Dam Square with a view of the City Hall of Amsterdam in the late 17th century. Painting by Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden).

Capital of the Netherlands

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The Hague has been the seat of government of the Netherlands since 1588. The Binnenhof houses the States General of the Netherlands.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands according to the Constitution of the Netherlands, although the States General and the Executive Branch have been situated in The Hague since 1588, along with the Supreme Court and the Council of State.

In 1810, the Netherlands was annexed by the French Empire and King Louis Napoleon was replaced by a French governor, who took up residence in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

The Great Assembly of the States General in 1651.

States General of the Netherlands

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The Binnenhof, seat of the Staten-Generaal

The Trêveszaal, where the Council of the Ministers takes place every week and foreign delegations are received

The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer)

The States General of the Netherlands (Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer).

They take place in the Ridderzaal (Hall of Knights) in the Binnenhof, except for the inauguration of the monarch, which occurs in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam.

Hanseatic League

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Medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe.

The Hanseatic League was a powerful economic and defensive alliance that left a great cultural and architectural heritage. It is especially renowned for its Brick Gothic monuments, such as Stralsund's St. Nikolai Church and its City Hall, shown here. UNESCO lists the old town of Stralsund, together with Wismar, as a World Heritage Site.

Foundation of the alliance between Lübeck and Hamburg

Main trading routes of the Hanseatic League

Town Hall of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia)

Stargard Mill Gate, Pomerania, today in Poland

Georg Giese from Danzig, 34-year-old German Hanseatic merchant at the Steelyard, painted in London by Hans Holbein

View of the in the port city of Gdańsk (Danzig), today in Poland

Modern, faithful painting of the Adler von Lübeck – the world's largest ship in its time

Map of the Hanseatic League, showing principal Hanseatic cities

The Hanseatic Warehouse in King's Lynn is the only surviving League building in England

Carta marina of the Baltic Sea region (1539)

Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the League ultimately encompassed nearly 200 settlements across seven modern-day countries; at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries, it stretched from the Netherlands in the west to Russia in the east, and from Estonia in the north to Kraków, Poland in the south.

In the Dutch–Hanseatic War (1438–1441), the merchants of Amsterdam sought and eventually won free access to the Baltic and broke the Hanseatic monopoly.

Amsterdam metropolitan area

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The Amsterdam metropolitan area (Metropoolregio Amsterdam) is the city region around the city of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.