Netherlands

The Netherlands (ⁱ/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərˌlɑnt]) is the main "constituent country" (Dutch: land) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a small, densely populated country located in Western Europe with three island territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany. The largest and most important cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of government and parliament. The port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe – as large as the next three largest combined – and was the world's largest port between 1962 and 2004. The name Holland is also frequently used to informally refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands.

"Netherlands" literally means "lower countries", influenced by its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding one metre above sea level. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made. Since the late 16th century, large areas (polders) have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, amounting to nearly 17% of the country's current land mass.

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles (Dutch: Nederlandse Antillen [ˈneːdərˌlɑntsə ɑnˈtɪlə(n)]; Papiamentu: Antia Hulandes) were a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of several island territories located in the Caribbean. They were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies and was completely dissolved in 2010. The former Dutch colony of Surinam, although it was relatively close by on the continent of South America, did not become part of Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country at the same time. All of the islands territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the Kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs, and as a group they are still referred to as the Dutch Caribbean regardless of their legal status.

Geographical grouping

The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are all part of the Lesser Antilles. Within this group, the country was spread over two smaller island groups: the northern part of the Leeward Islands and the western part of Leeward Antilles. No part of the country was in the southern Windward Islands.