The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

Rotterdam (, UK also ; ) is a city in the Netherlands, in South Holland within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt river delta at the North Sea.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

Amsterdam (, UK also ; ) is the capital and most populous municipality of the Netherlands.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

The Hague (Den Haag, short for s-⁠Gravenhage; ) is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands and the capital of the province of South Holland.

Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Caribbean Netherlands (Caribisch Nederland, ) are the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

Eindhoven is a city in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

Utrecht is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht.

A policy of pillarisation historically segregated society and institutions between Catholics, Calvinists and socialists, but Dutch society is today one of the most cosmopolitan in the world.

The best-known examples of this have historically occurred in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between the United Kingdom (particularly England and Scotland), Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

The Randstad is a megalopolis in the central-western Netherlands consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) and their surrounding areas.

The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870, allowed women's suffrage in 1917, and became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

'Netherlands' literally means 'lower countries', referring to its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 m above sea level.

The Low Countries, Low Lands or, in the geographic sense of the term, the Netherlands (de Lage Landen or de Nederlanden, les Pays Bas), is a coastal region in northwestern Europe, consisting especially of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, and Ems rivers where much of the land is at or below sea level.

Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court.

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

Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

It is a special municipality (officially “public body”) of the Netherlands.

Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The four parts of the kingdom—the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten—are constituent countries (landen in Dutch) and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the kingdom.

Its strong performance is owed in large part to a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, public education and infrastructure, and a range of social benefits.

The Netherlands is both a very densely populated and a highly developed country, in which transport is a key factor of the economy.

Nonetheless, Holland is widely used in reference to the Netherlands national football team.

The Netherlands national football team (Het Nederlands Elftal) represents the Netherlands in international football.

The region of Holland consists of North and South Holland, two of the nation's twelve provinces, formerly a single province, and earlier still, the County of Holland, a remnant of the dissolved Frisian Kingdom.

South Holland (Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of just over 3.6 million as of 2015 and a population density of about 1300 /km2, making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas.

The emphasis on Holland during the formation of the Dutch Republic, the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, made Holland serve as a pars pro toto for the entire country, which is now considered either incorrect, informal, or, depending on context, opprobrious.

The Eighty Years' War (Tachtigjarige Oorlog; Guerra de los Ochenta Años) or Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648) was a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces of what are today the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg against the political and religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands.

The region of Holland consists of North and South Holland, two of the nation's twelve provinces, formerly a single province, and earlier still, the County of Holland, a remnant of the dissolved Frisian Kingdom.

North Holland (Noord-Holland, West Frisian Dutch: Noard-Holland) is a province of the Netherlands located in the northwestern part of the country.

From a regional point of view, Niderlant was also the area between the Meuse and the lower Rhine in the late Middle Ages.

The Rhine (Rhenus, Rein, Rhein, le Rhin, Reno, Rijn) is a European river that begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows through the German Rhineland and the Netherlands and eventually empties into the North Sea.

The oldest human (Neanderthal) traces were found in higher soils, near Maastricht, from what is believed to be about 250,000 years ago.

Maastrichtian): Mestreech ; French: Maestricht (archaic); Spanish: Mastrique (archaic)) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands.

The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij).

Brabantse Stedenrij (, Brabantine City Row) is a polycentric city region in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union.

The Benelux Union (Benelux Unie; Union Benelux) is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

From Mesolithic Maglemosian-like tribes (c. 8000 BC) the oldest canoe in the world was found in Drenthe.

Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country.

The region of Holland consists of North and South Holland, two of the nation's twelve provinces, formerly a single province, and earlier still, the County of Holland, a remnant of the dissolved Frisian Kingdom.

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