Also known as: Holland, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, Nederland
Written by Marcus Willem Heslinga ,
Henk Meijer •All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Netherlands
Top Questions
Where is the Netherlands located?
What is the capital city of the Netherlands?
What are some major geographical features of the Netherlands?
What type of government does the Netherlands have?
News • Director warns that the Van Gogh Museum may close if the Dutch government doesn't help fund repairs • Aug. 28, 2025, 10:29 AM ET (AP)
northwestern Europe, also known as Holland. “Netherlands” means low-lying country; the name Holland (from Houtland, or “Wooded Land”) was originally given to one of the medieval cores of what later became the modern state and is still used for 2 of its 12 provinces (Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland). A parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, the kingdom includes its former colonies in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government The Hague.
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Netherlands
Also known as: Holland, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, Nederland
Written by
,
•All
Fact-checked by
Last Updated: Aug 29, 2025 • Article History
Netherlands
Netherlands
Top Questions
Where is the Netherlands located?
What is the capital city of the Netherlands?
What are some major geographical features of the Netherlands?
What type of government does the Netherlands have?
News • Director warns that the Van Gogh Museum may close if the Dutch government doesn't help fund repairs • Aug. 28, 2025, 10:29 AM ET (AP)
windmills in Netherlands
windmills in NetherlandsWindmills at Kinderdijk, The Netherlands.
Netherlands, country located in northwestern Europe, also known as Holland. “Netherlands” means low-lying country; the name Holland (from Houtland, or “Wooded Land”) was originally given to one of the medieval cores of what later became the modern state and is still used for 2 of its 12 provinces (Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland). A parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, the kingdom includes its former colonies in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government The Hague.
Netherlands
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Netherlands
Explore Holland's population, waterways, and vast tulip cross-breeding and cultivation program2 of 2
Explore Holland's population, waterways, and vast tulip cross-breeding and cultivation programLearn about the geography, agriculture, and commerce of The Netherlands.
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The country is indeed low-lying and remarkably flat, with large expanses of lakes, rivers, and canals. Some 2,500 square miles (6,500 square km) of the Netherlands consist of reclaimed land, the result of a process of careful water management dating back to medieval times. Along the coasts, land was reclaimed from the sea, and, in the interior, lakes and marshes were drained, especially alongside the many rivers. All this new land was turned into polders, usually surrounded by dikes. Initially, man power and horsepower were used to drain the land, but they were later replaced by windmills, such as the mill network at Kinderdijk-Elshout, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The largest water-control schemes were carried out in the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century, when steam pumps and, later, electric or diesel pumps came into use.
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