Netherlands

Located in the northwestern Europe, Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. Amsterdam is the capital city of Netherlands and The Hague is its seat of government.

It has Germany on its east, the North Sea on the west and north, and Belgium on its south. The country has a dense population. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, it ranks 12th as the most free market capitalist economy in the world.

Netherlands is known for many things such as Gouda cheese, bicycles, tulips, windmills and clogs. It also has a very high social tolerance level. The nation is divided in to two parts by three rivers and these rivers are the Meuse, the Waal and the Rhine.

There are hundreds of natural reserves in the country and this includes the twenty national parks. Majority of these natural reserves consist of woods, heathland and lakes.

Natuurmonumenten and Staatsbosbeheer own majority of these natural reserves. The economy of the country is open and it is flourishing. Netherlands’ main commercial activities include electrical machinery, petroleum refining, chemicals and food-processing.

It has been reported that the country is the tenth leading country, in terms of nominal Gross Domestic product per capita. It is also the sixteenth largest economy worldwide.

  • 10

    Beemster

    Beemster is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Also, the Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through 1612.

  • 10

    Casemates Muiden-West, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Developments in warfare during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 prompted another round of upgrades and the construction of forts part of the Stelling van Amsterdam, Casemates Muiden-West.

  • 10

    De Passage, Hague

    The Hague's famous Arcade (Passage in Dutch) was built by local dignitaries between 1882 and 1885 for the express purpose of 'high-class shopping' in imitation of Paris. De Passage, Hague.

  • 10

    EYE Film Institute Netherlands

    EYE Film Institute Netherlands is a Dutch archive and museum in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. The museum collection includes 37,000 film titles, 60,000 posters, 700,000 photographs and 20,000 books.

  • 10

    Fort along Den Ham, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort along Den Ham is a fort that is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Stelling van Amsterdam. It's located along the railroad from Uitgeest to Krommenie. The earthen walls date from 1896, the fort itself was finished in 1903.

  • 10

    Fort along Middenweg, North front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The function of the Fort along Middenweg was to defend the access that was formed by the Middenweg and Zuiderweg roads. In 1885 the fort was completed as a defendable earthwork. It was not until 1914 that the fortress reached its final completion, though, when the construction of the shellproof building was finished.

  • 10

    Fort along Nekkerweg, North front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    In 1886 the Fort along Nekkerweg was completed as a defendable earthwork. The shellproof building was finished in 1912 for the purpose of defending the accesses that were formed by the Nekkerweg and Volgerweg roads in the Beemster Polder.

  • 10

    Fort along the Drecht, South front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named Stelling van Amsterdam) is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam, consisting of 42 forts located between 10 to 15 kilometers from the centre, and lowlands that can easily be flooded in time of war.

  • 10

    Fort along the Liede, West front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort along the Liede is one of the four fortresses that were built after the reclamation of lake Haarlemmermeer. On the northern part of the fort’s grounds there is a casemate carrying the Mercury emblem of the Corps of Engineers and the year 1914.

  • 10

    Fort along the St. Aagtendijk, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort along the St. Aagtendijk has been given a remarkable new lease on life as a rehearsal space for musicians. Unique to this fort is the front caponier that was made from concrete: it’s an extension to the centre of the fort’s front wall that is outfitted on both sides with embrasures that could be used to fire sideways. The front of this caponier was protected against shellfire by a heavy protective earth wall.

  • 10

    Fort in the Waver-Botshol, South front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort in the Botshol is the only Defence Line fort whose defensible earthwork from 1895 has been preserved. The soggy peat soil around Amsterdam made it necessary to first strengthen the terrain with large amounts of sand. Also unique is the bridge behind the fort watchman's house, whose centre piece could be removed in times of danger.

  • 10

    Fort Island IJmuiden, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Fort Island IJmuiden (Dutch: Forteiland IJmuiden) is situated at the estuary of the Noordzeekanaal and is part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. This sea fort island was built in 1885 as the most important advanced defence post of the entrance to Amsterdam.

  • 10

    Fort near Aalsmeer, Southwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Fort near Aalsmeer (1905), in popular language also called Fort Rijsenhout, is part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. The fort is made with a double fort canal. Special is that the lever dome buildings remained intact, while most of these were taken apart and blown up during World War II.

  • 10

    Fort near De Kwakel, South front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort bij De Kwakel is a fort that is part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. It's located in the village of De Kwakel. It's one of four forts that form the linie Kudelstaart - Uithoorn. To the west is fort bij Kudelstaart, to the east you find fort aan de Drecht and fort bij Uithoorn.

  • 10

    Fort near Hinderdam, Southeast front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Today the grounds of the Fort near Hinderdam are hardly recognizable as such, because the island is fully overgrown. Natuurmonumenten (a society for the preservation of nature monuments in the Netherlands) consciously allows nature to erase the traces of the military past.