The Netherlands

Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) 

State consisting of the West European part and the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Caribbean Sea (also called Caribbean Netherlands). In Western Europe, the territory of the North Sea (the length of the coastline - 451 km) and borders with Germany (577 km) and Belgium (450 km). The Netherlands is often called "Holland" and that is officially wrong beacause South and North Holland - this is only 2 of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands.

One of the most beautiful states of Western Europe with an unusual nature, many castles and ancient cities. Netherlands can boast with scores of attractions almost every taste. Van Gogh and tulips, cheese and "red lights" quarters, absolute freedom of manners and comfortable old towns. Basic kinds of tourism in the country - excursions, beach holidays, ecotourism, recreation and gastronomic tours.

General information

The location, grounds and landscape 

Netherlands - quite a small country situated on the North Sea coast. In the east, the kingdom borders with Germany, in the south - with Belgium.

The country's territory is 42 519 (with territories) km². 

Relief the Netherlands is mainly composed of coastal lowlands, in the south-east there are many small hills, large enough area is incremented due to marine areas. Half of the territory lies below sea level, and only in the south of the Netherlands terrain rises up to 30 meters or more. Most of the lowlands are in the provinces of North Holland, South Holland and Flevoland. The coastline is formed by alluvial sand dunes. The highest point in the country - Valserberg (322 m), located in the south-east, and the lowest - Zaudplastpolder (-6.74 m below sea level).

Population: more than 16 million 805 thousand people.

Capital: Amsterdam, population - 810 thousand people. Hague - seat of government.

Biggest cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hague.

Languages: Dutch population speaks English quite well, and in some areas - German to French.

Religion: 33% Protestants (Protestant Church of the Netherlands (Protestantse Kerk in Nederland)), 31,27% Catholic, 6% Muslim, 0.6% Hindu, 0.5% Buddhist, 2.2% other religions.

Time zone: UTC +1.

Calling code: +31. 

Currency: евро (EUR). 1 Euro = 100 eurocents. In circulation are banknotes of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros and coins: 2 and 1 euro, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.

Credit card payment systems: Visa, MasterCard, American Express.