Brief photo slide made of pictures taken while walking around in The Hague, during a trip to Holland in 2006. The Hague, is the third-largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It belongs to the province of South Holland, of which it is also the provincial capital, and it is part of the conglomerate metropolitan area Randstad, with a population of 6659300 inhabitants. The Hague is the actual seat of the Dutch government and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives and works in The Hague, but the official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam. It is also home to over 150 international (legal) organisations The Hague originated around 1230, when Floris IV, Count of Holland purchased land alongside a pond (now the hofvijver) in order to build a hunting residence. When the Dukes of Burgundy gained control over the counties of Holland and Zeeland in the beginning of the 15th century, their seat was located in The Hague. Probably since those days, the stork has been the symbol of the city. At the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, the Spanish troops easily occupied the town, due to the absence of walls. From 1588 The Hague also became the location of the government of the Dutch Republic. In order for the administrations to maintain control over city manners, The Hague never received city rights (although it did have many privileges, normally only attributed to cities). Parts of the city sustained heavy damage during WWII, and the Atlantic Wall was built <b>...</b>