Dutch Language /
Basics 6/Learn
Today
http://youtu.be/hRZy5bdwHBg
The Netherlands (Listeni/ˈnɛðərləndz/;
Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərˌlɑnt]) is the main constituent country of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a small, densely populated country, located in
Western Europe and with three island territories in the
Caribbean.[nb 1]
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.[12] The largest and most important cities in the Netherlands are
Amsterdam,
The Hague and
Rotterdam. Amsterdam is the country's capital,[13] while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of government and parliament.[14] The port of Rotterdam is the largest port in
Europe – as large as the next three largest combined.[15]
The Netherlands' name literally means "
Low Countries", influenced by its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding one metre above sea level.[16] 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.
With a population density of 407 people per km² – 497 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is a very densely populated country for its size. Only
Bangladesh,
South Korea, and
Taiwan have both a larger population and a higher population density.
Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agriculture products, after the
United States.[17][18] This is due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate.
The Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to have an elected parliament, and since
1848 it has been governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, organised as a unitary state. The Netherlands has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberal country, having legalised abortion, prostitution and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drugs policy. In
2001 it became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage.
The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone,
G-10,
NATO,
OECD,
WTO and a part of the trilateral
Benelux economic union.
The country is host to the
Organisation for the
Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons and five international courts: the
Permanent Court of Arbitration, the
International Court of Justice, the
International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, the
International Criminal Court and the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the
EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol and judicial co-operation agency Eurojust. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capital".[19] The Netherlands is also a part of the
Schengen Area.
The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the
Index of Economic Freedom.[20] It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in
2013 according to the
International Monetary Fund. In 2013, the
United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the fourth happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life
- published: 20 Jun 2015
- views: 22