Fun facts about the Netherlands

Did you know that..

• "the Netherlands" and "Holland" are used to describe the same country?

• one quarter of the Netherlands lays below sea level?

• the International Court of Justice is at the Peace Palace in The Hague?

• the Netherlands have approximately 495 inhabitants per square kilometre?

• with only 0.008% of the world's area, the Netherlands are the world's second largest agricultural exporter?

• the Netherlands were one of the European Union's founding nations?

• the Netherlands have at least 35.000 km of cycle tracks?

• the Dutch language is also spoken in Belgium, northern France, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba?

• the Netherlands still have about 1,200 traditional working windmills?

• the Dutch are the tallest people in Europe?

• Amsterdam is entirely built on poles?

• the Netherlands always have a coalition government, which makes it a country of compromises?

• the Netherlands have nearly 1,000 museums, with 42 in Amsterdam alone?

• almost every Dutch person has a bicycle and there are twice as many bikes as cars?

• people in Holland eat raw herring with onions on top?

• about 20% of all Dutch babies are born at home?

• the Netherlands have the highest number of part-time workers in the EU (four in ten people)?

• the Netherlands' highest point is 323 metres high and is therefore called a "mountain"?

• you'll find a bunch of flowers in almost every Dutch living room?

• Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but The Hague is the seat of government?

• most Dutch people speak at least one foreign language?

• after Scandinavians, the Dutch are the world's biggest coffee drinkers?

• people of 200 different nationalities live in Amsterdam?

• the Netherlands have one of the youngest populations in the EU?

• when your plane arrives at Schiphol, it lands 4.5 metres below sea level?

• the Netherlands have the highest cable density in Europe?

• Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges?

• when Dutch schoolchildren pass their exams, they hang a Dutch flag and a school bag outside their homes?