Tag: netherlands

In Europe, it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean SeaBonaire, Sint Eustatius and Sabait forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Amsterdam is the country’s capital, The country 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. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague, which is consequently dubbed ‘the world’s legal capital’.

Netherlands literally means ‘lower countries’ in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre above sea level, and nearly 17% falling below sea level. Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders, are the result of land reclamation that began in the 16th century. With a population of 17.34 million people, all living within a total area of roughly 41,500 square kilometres of which the land area is 33,700 square kilometres the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.Nevertheless, it is the world’s second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products , owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, and intensive agriculture.

The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised abortion, prostitution and human euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. 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.