The Netherlands.
The Netherlands has 12 provinces: North Holland, South Holland, Zeeland, Limburg, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen, Friesland and Flevoland. Amsterdam is the capital; the country is mostly lowland. It is popular known as Holland. About 40% is situated below sealevel and compromises territory [mostly in the western part of the country] reclaimed from the sea since the 13th century and guarded by dunes and dykes. The land is crossed by drainage canals, the main rivers Maas, de Schelde, Waal and the Rhine are canals and interconnected by artificial waterways, linked with the river and canal system of Belgium and Germany.
The west Frisian Islands are located off the northern coast of the Netherlands. The largest island is Texel.
The Netherlands is extremely densely populated. The Maritime Provinces include many of the famous cities of the Netherlands.....Amsterdam and Rotterdam [the main ports] The Hague, [government and administration] Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, Vlissingen. In addition Alkmaar, Gouda and Edam are worldwide known for their cheeses and cheese markets. Haarlem is the center of the flower-raising district. Leading cities include Eindhoven, S'Hertogenbosch, Maastricht, Arnhem and Nijmegen.
The official language is Dutch, except in Friesland, where Frisian is spoken in some places. After the Netherlands obtained independence in the late 16th century it became largely Protestant. By the mid 1980's however Roman Catholics made up the largest religious group [30%], while 25% were Protestant. Muslims are a small minority, but growing; about 40% claims no religious affiliation.
The country's principal Universities are at Leiden,[law] Utrecht,[dentistry] Groningen,[agriculture] Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The Catholic Universities are at Nijmegen and Tilburg and a Calvinist University at Amsterdam. Specialized higher education is offered at the Erasmus University, Delft,[engineering] Technical schools are at Eindhoven and Enschede, also by the schools of economics are Rotterdam and Tilburg.
rotterdam.
nijmegen.
edam. vlissingen.
arnhem maastricht groningen delft amsterdam middelburg
s'hertogenbosh gouda utrecht haarlem alkmaar
