The Netherlands

The Netherlands is a relatively small country located in North-West Europe. It is a constitutional monarchy with an estimated population of 17 million.

The Netherlands or Holland has a unique progressive and liberal culture and is known for its windmills, dikes, polders, tulips, bicycles, cheese, and wooden clogs. Remarkable about the Netherlands is its flat landscape; 50 % of the surface area is less than one meter above sea level and a complex system of polders and dikes prevent Holland from the constant threat of flooding.

The Netherlands is also known for its artists (such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Mondriaan) as well as for its scientists (such as van Leeuwenhoek, inventor of the microscope, and the physicist Lorentz), and philosophers (such as Spinoza).