Welcome to the Netherlands Portal
Welkom bij het Nederlandportaal!
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The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ⓘ), informally Holland, is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It also has a border with France on the split island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories.
The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in Europe. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centred in The Hague. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Various media outlets have noted him as a rising star in Dutch football, being named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and Ajax "Player of the year" in 2006. Due to his goal-scoring ability he has earned the nickname "The Hunter", a play on his last name. He was a part of the Dutch side that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he became the tournament's leading goal-scorer. He was also named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. He is the all-time highest goal-scorer for the Netherlands U21 squad with 18 goals in 22 matches. In domestic football he was Eredivisie's top scorer in the 2005–06 season with 33 goals in 31 games. He also became the top scorer in the 2007–08 season with 33 goals in 34 appearances.
Did you know (auto-generated)

- ... that Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo decided against working for the Dutch colonial government because he was treated well in the Netherlands?
- ... that according to scholarship published in 2023, Maria de Knuijt, rather than her husband, was actually the main patron of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer?
- ... that despite losing almost one thousand men capturing Malacca in 1641, the Dutch East India Company did not invest much time or energy into it afterward?
- ... that Truus Smulders-Beliën, the first female mayor in the Netherlands, succeeded her husband after he was executed by Nazi soldiers?
- ... that Willem van Ruytenburch became more famous after his death, as the "man dressed in yellow" in Rembrandt's The Night Watch, than he was during his life as a Dutch social climber?
- ... that Bearded Man with a Beret by the Dutch artist Jan Lievens is an example of a tronie?
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