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The Netherlands is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which is formed by the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, located in northWestern Europe. It borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east. The current borders were formed in 1839.
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The Netherlands is often referred to by the name Holland. This is, however, misguided, since the provinces of North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces.
Windmills, Clogs, Dikes and Tulips
The Netherlands is a densely populated and geographically low-lying country (its name literally means "low countries" or "low lands") and is popularly known for its windmills, clogs (wooden shoes), dikes, tulips, bicycles, and social tolerance. Its liberal policies receive international attention, such as those concerning drugs, prostitution, same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. The country is host to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
A Flat Country
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is the flatness of the country. About half of its surface area is less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) above sea level, and large parts of it are actually below sea level. An extensive range of dykes and dunes protects these areas from flooding. Numerous massive pumping stations keep the ground water level in check. The highest point, the Vaalserberg, in the south-eastern most point of the country, is 321 metres (1,053 ft) above sea level. A substantial part of the Netherlands, for example, all of Flevoland (the largest man-made island in the world) and large parts of Holland, has been reclaimed from the sea. These areas are known as polders. This has led to the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."
Land Loss
In years past, the Dutch coastline has changed considerably due to human intervention and natural disasters. Most notable in terms of land loss are the 1134 storm, which created the archipelago of Zeeland in the south west, and the 1287 storm, which killed 50,000 people and created the Zuyderzee (now dammed in and renamed the IJsselmeer) in the northwest, giving Amsterdam direct access to the sea. The St. Elizabeth flood of 1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder, replacing it with the 72 square kilometres (28 sq mi) Biesbosch tidal floodplains in the south-centre. The most recent parts of Zeeland were flooded during the North Sea Flood of 1953 and 1,836 people were killed, after which the Delta Plan was executed.
The disasters were partially man-made; the people drained relatively high lying swampland for use as farmland. This drainage caused the fertile peat to compress and the ground level to drop, locking the land users in a vicious circle whereby they would lower the water level to compensate for the drop in ground level, causing the underlying peat to compress even more. The vicious circle is unsolvable and remains to this day. Up until the 19th century peat was dug up, dried, and used for fuel, further adding to the problem.
Terps and Dikes
To guard against floods, a series of defenses against the water were contrived. In the first millennium, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. (The water bodies are still around today performing the exact same function.) As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system.
Windmills
In the 13th century, windmills came into use to pump water out of the areas by now below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders. In 1932, the Afsluitdijk (English "Closure Dike") was completed, blocking the former Zuyderzee (Southern Sea) off from the North Sea and thus creating the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake). It became part of the larger Zuiderzee Works in which four polders totalling 1,650 square kilometres (637 sq mi) were reclaimed from the sea.
After the 1953 disaster, the Delta project, a vast construction effort designed to end the threat from the sea once and for all, was launched in 1958 and largely completed in 2002. The official goal of the Delta project was to reduce the risk of flooding in Holland to once per 10,000 years. (For the rest of the country, the protection-level is once per 4,000 years.) This was achieved by raising 3,000 kilometres (1,864 mi) of outer sea-dikes and 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) of inner, canal, and river dikes to "delta" height, and by closing off the sea estuaries of the Zeeland province. New risk assessments occasionally incur additional Delta project work in the form of dike reinforcements. The Delta project is the single largest construction effort in human history and is considered by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
Because of the high cost of maintaining the polders some have argued that maybe some of the deepest polders should be given up. Additionally, the Netherlands is one of the countries that may suffer most from climatic change. Not only is the rising sea a problem, but also erratic weather patterns may cause the rivers to overflow. These flooded polders might then be used as water catchments to take part of the blow.
Rhine, Waal and Meuse
The country is divided into two main parts by three rivers Rhine (Rijn), Waal, and Meuse (Maas). The south-western part of the Netherlands is actually one big river delta of these rivers. These rivers not only function as a natural barrier, but also as a cultural divide, as is evident in the different dialects spoken north and south of these great rivers and the (previous) religious dominance of Catholics in the south and Calvinists in the north.
The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is south-west, which causes a moderate maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters.
Dutch cuisine is shaped by the agricultural produce and history of the Netherlands. It is characterized by its somewhat limited diversity in dishes, the high consumption of vegetables when compared to the consumption of meat, and the wholesomeness of the dishes.
Bread and cheese
The Dutch are famous for their dairy products and especially for their (cow's milk) cheeses. The vast majority of Dutch cheeses are semi-hard or hard cheeses. Famous Dutch cheeses include Gouda, Edam, and Leyden. A typically Dutch way of making cheese is to blend in herbs or spices during the first stages of the production process. Famous examples of this are cheeses with cloves (usually the Frisian nagelkaas), cumin and caraway (most famously Leyden cheese), or nettles.
Dutch bread tends to be very airy, as it is made from yeast dough. From the 1970s onward Dutch bread became predominantly whole grain, with additional seeds such as sunflower or pumpkin seeds often mixed with the dough for taste. Rye bread is one of the few dense breads of the Netherlands. White bread used to be the luxury bread, often made with milk as well as water. A Frisian luxury version of white bread is sugarbread, white bread with large lumps of sugar mixed with the dough.
As well as cheese, the Dutch also use meat products and sweet spreads on their bread: typically sprinkles (hagelslag lit. hail stones), treacle (stroop), and peanut butter (pindakaas). Regionally popular hearty meats include blood sausage (bloedworst), dried sausage, and uierboord, made from cows' udders.
Coffee and tea
The Dutch drink coffee and tea throughout the day, often served with a single biscuit. Dutch thrift led to the famous standard rule of only one cookie with each cup of coffee. It has been suggested that the reasons for this can be found in the commercial mentality and Protestant upbringing of North Holland. The traditionally Catholic south does not share this tradition (in Limburg a Vlaai, cut in eight pieces, is traditionally served when visitors are expected). A popular Dutch story (never confirmed) says that in the late 1940s the wife of the then Prime minister, Willem Drees, served coffee and one biscuit to a visiting American diplomat, who then became convinced that the money from the Marshall Plan was being well-spent.
Cafe au lait is also frequently drank. It is called koffie verkeerd (literally "wrong-way-round-coffee") and consists of half-and-half black coffee and hot milk. Other hot drinks include kwast (hot water with lemon juice), anijsmelk (hot milk with aniseed), and the very popular hot chocolate or chocolate milk . The Dutch invite friends over for "koffietijd" (coffee time), which consists of coffee and cake or a biscuit, served between 10 and 11 a.m. (before lunch).
Dinner
Dinner, traditionally served early by international standards, starts at about 6 o'clock in the evening. The classic Dutch dinner consists of one simple course: traditionally potatoes with vegetables and meat and gravy, or a stew of potatoes and vegetables. If there is a starter, it is usually soup. Today the meal is often heavily influenced by foreign cuisine. Foreign dishes such as Italian pastas, Indonesian meat and rice dishes, Mexican enchiladas, and Swiss cheese fondue are commonly encountered on the Dutch dinner table and on the menus of local restaurants. The final course is a sweet dessert, traditionally yoghurt with some sugar or vla (cooked milk with custard).
Typical Dutch dishes include stamppot (Dutch stew) and pea soup. Famous stamppotten include Hutspot, made from potatoes, onions, and carrots served with slow-cooked meat or bacon. This is a legacy of the Spanish invaders, who, according to legend, left a pot of this stew behind in their abandoned trenches when the town of Leiden, which they had been besieging, was liberated in 1574 - so that hutspot was one of the first foods its starving inhabitants found. Before potatoes were used in Europe hutspot was made from parsnips, carrots, and onions.
Stews are often served with mixed pickle, including zure zult or stewed pears (stoofperen). Meat products include gehaktballen meatballs, blinde vink, minced meat wrapped in bacon, balkenbrij, a type of liverwurst and meatloaf. The gravy in which the meat is produced is also eaten. A variant of this, eaten around the IJsselmeer, is butter en eek, where vinegar is added to the gravy.
If a dish consists of beans/potatoes, meat and vegetables, these vegetables are sometimes served as a stew, like "rode kool met appeltjes" (red cabbage with apples), or "rode bieten" (red beets). Regular spices used in stews of this kind may be bayleaves, juniper berries, cloves, and vinegar.
Dinner can also consist of pancakes. The Dutch make them in several forms, including poffertjes (miniature pancakes) and spekdik (a Northern variant with bacon). Wentelteefjes )French toast are similar. Broeder, a type of cake, is also eaten for dinner, mainly in West Friesland.
Desserts
Desserts often include vla, pudding, or yoghurt. Regional variants include broodpap, made from old bread, griesmeelpudding, grutjespap, Haagse bluf, Hangop, Jan in de zak, Karnemelksepap, Rijstebrij (rice pudding), Krentjebrij, and Watergruwel.
Alcoholic drinks
Traditionally wine has received a modest role in Dutch cuisine, but there are many brands of beer (mainly lager) and strong alcoholic liquor. The most famous Dutch beer producers are Heineken in the west and Grolsch in the east. Traditionally Noord-Brabant and Limburg had a strong beer tradition, with many different types of beer (not unlike Belgium). However in the 20th century big brewers took over many of the small time breweries or offered them a license to sell their beer brand, while stopping their own production.
Also a variety of bitters where Beerenburg is the most famous. Strong liquors include Jenever (gin) and Brandewijn (brandy), but also kandeel (made from white wine), Kraamanijs (a liquor made from aniseed), Oranjebitter (a type of orange brandy, which is served on festivities surrounding the royal family), advocaat, Boerenjongens, raisins in brandewijn, Boerenmeisjes, apricots in brandewijn.
Fast food
The Dutch have their own types of fast food. A Dutch fast-food meal often consists of a portion of french fries (called friet or patat) with a sauce and a meat product. The most common sauce to accompany French fries is mayonnaise, while others can be ketchup or spiced ketchup, peanut sauce or piccalilli. Sometimes the fries are served with combinations of sauces, most famously speciaal (special): mayonnaise, with (spiced) ketchup and chopped onions; and oorlog (literally "war"): mayonnaise and peanut sauce (sometimes also with ketchup and chopped onions). The meat product is usually a deep fried snack; this includes the frikandel (a deep fried skinless minced meat sausage), and the kroket (deep fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs).
A smaller version of the kroket, the bitterbal, is often served with mustard as a snack in bars and at official receptions. Regional snacks include eierbal (a combination of egg and ragout) in the North and East, and Brabants worstenbrood, a sausage baked in bread. Other snacks are the Indonesian-inspired bamihap (deep-fried mee goreng in breadcrumbs) and nasibal (deep-fried nasi goreng in breadcrumbs). In Limburg fries are sometimes ordered with the traditional Limurgian dish Zuurvlees, a type of sour meat (traditionally horse meat, now often cow meat), this is called "frietje zuurvlees".
Another kind of fast food is fish. This includes raw herring, which is sold in markets and eaten (often with chopped onions), by lifting the herring high in the air by its tail, and eating it upwards, or (less messily) on a bun. Other regular fish snack are kibbeling (deep-fried nugget-sized chunks of cod), smoked eel, and rollmops.
The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters" such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and many others. Famous Dutch painters of the 19th and 20th century are Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan. M. C. Escher is a well-known graphics artist. Willem de Kooning was born and trained in Rotterdam, although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an American artist. A (in)famous Dutch master art forger is Han van Meegeren
Philosophers
The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza, and all of Descartes' major work was done there. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock.
In the Dutch Golden Age, literature flowered as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P. C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the 19th century, Multatuli wrote about the bad treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies. Important 20th century authors include Harry Mulisch, Jan Wolkers, Simon Vestdijk, Cees Nooteboom, Gerard van het Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans. Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl was published after she died in the Holocaust and translated from Dutch to all major languages.
Replicas of Dutch buildings can be found in Huis ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan. A similar Holland Village is being built in Shenyang, China.
Windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, and Delftware pottery are among the items associated with the Netherlands.
Efteling is a famous amusement park in the Netherlands.
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