The Netherlands is sometimes known as Holland (although this name really refers only to part of the country). Much of the land is so low-lying that large areas have had to be protected, or “reclaimed”, from the sea. Just inland of the line of sand dunes lining the west coast are the reclaimed lowlands, known as polders. Many are planted with colourful tulip fields. Zeeland, in the southwest, is largely made up of the delta of three large rivers: the Rhine (Rijn), the Maas (Meuse) and Scheldt (Schelde). In the southeast, the land rises slightly to the plateau region of Limburg, the foothills of the Ardennes. The east and the northeast of the country, farmland and heathland regions, are slightly higher in elevation too. The Netherlands has a cool, temperate climate, affected by winds from the North Atlantic. Summers are warm, while winters are mild and rainy.

Holland

Holland is made up of two provinces: Noord (North) Holland and Zuid (South) Holland. The Netherlands’ three largest cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, are located here. As these cities have grown, their suburbs have started to merge together. Along with the city of Utrecht, they now make up a single, large urban area (conurbation) known as the Randstad. This is one of Europe’s most densely populated areas—but not all of it is urban: pockets of countryside have deliberately been left between the cities. Many people live in these quieter areas and commute into the cities for work.

Friesland

Friesland is the northernmost province of the Netherlands. It includes a chain of offshore islands, the West Frisians, which are connected to the mainland by ferry. Friesland’s flat, fertile countryside has been used as farmland for generations. It is well known for dairy farming: the distinctive black-and-white Frisian cattle were first bred in this region. The Frisians themselves are descended from the Frisii, an ancient Germanic tribe who settled on the Netherlands’ northern coast during the 1st century AD.

People

The Dutch (inhabitants of the Netherlands) are a Germanic people: their ancestors were Frankish settlers who arrived in the 5th century AD. Dutch is the official language, but about half a million people in Friesland speak one of three varieties of another language: Frisian, or Frysk.
​​​​​​​

Over the last century, many people from the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia and Suriname have made their homes in the Netherlands. There are also significant numbers of Turks, Moroccans and Kurds: many arrived in the 1970s as migrant workers.

Land reclamation

Just over a quarter of the land area of the Netherlands (which means "low-lying lands") lies below sea level. Some areas, called polderlands, were actually once covered by water and have been "reclaimed" for use as farmland. Windmills pumped water away along canals, leaving dry, fertile land. For centuries, the Dutch have fought to protect their land from the sea. Behind the lines of sand dunes that run along the west coast and the Frisian Islands, people built dykes (earth embankments) and dug drainage ditches.

Zuiderzee Works

The Zuiderzee Works involved the damming of the Zuiderzee, an inlet of the North Sea, and the reclamation of land from around its shores and from under the water itself by building polders. The object was both to provide flood protection and create new land for agriculture.
​​​​​​​

Completed in 1933, the main dam, the Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dam), is 32 kilometres (20 miles) long and 90 metres (295 feet) wide. The next step involved creating polders by damming off portions of what is now called the IJsselmeer, then pumping all the water out. Each gemaal or pumping station contained a mechanism similar to an Archimedes' screw. The land was then further drained by a network of drainage canals. Reeds were sown from the air by plane on to the muddy flats to bind the soil. These plants were then replaced by rapeseed and cereals. The Wieringermeer polder was completed in 1930, Nordoostpolder in 1942 and the Flevoland polders in 1957 and 1968.

Delta Works

The Delta Works are a series of dams, locks and storm surge barriers designed to protect larges area of land around the Rhine-Maas-Scheldt Delta in the southwestern Netherlands from flooding. The engineers did this by shortening the coastline by about 700 kilometres (430 miles), thus reducing the number of dykes that would otherwise have to be built along each river estuary. The mouths of the Oosterschelde, the Haringvliet and the Grevelingen were blocked, while those of the Nieuwe Waterweg and the Westerschelde—shipping routes to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp—were left open. The dykes along these waterways were heightened and strengthened.

​​​​​​​

The Delta Works were officially declared completed after almost 50 years of construction work in 1997. But because of climate change and predicted sea-level rises, the dykes are now being built higher and wider. Work on upgrading river flooding defences are ongoing in anticipation of a rise in the North Sea of 1.3 metres (4.25 feet) by 2100 and 4 metres (13 feet) by 2200.

Industry

In between the farmland and bulbfields of the Netherlands, large industrial cities have grown up. Manufacturing has been long been important in the Netherlands. Industries such as diamond-cutting and shipbuilding date back to the 16th century and still exist today. The production of vehicles, machinery, chemicals and electrical goods has become more important in recent decades.

Amsterdam

In its heyday in the 17th century, the Dutch port of Amsterdam was one of the busiest in the world. The city was an important financial centre, and was also known for diamond-trading. Today, the city is the Dutch capital and still the country's most important financial and commercial centre. An extensive network of bicycle lanes means that it is extremely easy and safe to get around the city. There are three times as many bicycles as cars on its streets. Around 5 million tourists visit Amsterdam every year, drawn by its architecture, canals, museums and nightlife.

Facts about the Netherlands

Population 17,821,419 (2023 estimate)

Area 33,893 sq km

Highest Point Vaalserberg 322 m (1056 ft)

Capital Amsterdam (pop. 741,636)

Other major cities Rotterdam (598,199), The Hague (474,292), Utrecht (290,529), Eindhoven (209,620), Tilburg (199,613), Groningen (181,194)

Languages Dutch, Frisian

Religions Christian (Roman Catholic) 28%, Christian (Protestant) 19%, Muslim 5%, others and none 48%

Ethnicity Dutch 74%, other European 8%, Indonesian 2%, Turkish 2%, Surinamese 2%, Moroccan 2%, Dutch Caribbean 1%, others 9%

Currency Euro (EUR)

Chief exports machinery, chemicals, fuels, foods, cheese, plants and flowers