General information
› The Netherlands has two capitals: Amsterdam and The Hague.
› The Dutch flag is red, white and blue; just turn the French one 90 degrees to the left.
Photo by Flickr user Tambako the Jaguar
› Orange is the Netherlands' national colour because of the house of Orange, the Dutch royal line.
› The Netherlands is one of the best countries for children to live in (2007 Unicef report).
› The Netherlands has the highest concentration of museums in the world. Some of the most famous Dutch painters are Rembrandt, Vermeer, Steen, van Gogh and Mondrian.
› Holland is a geographic part of the Netherlands referring to the western part of the country (e.g. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague).
› Amsterdam has 1.281 bridges and is entirely built on piles.
› The Netherlands' highest point is 322,7 meters above sea level (Vaalserberg) and the lowest 6,76 meters below sea level (Prince Alexander Polder).
› The Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
› The voltage used in the Netherlands is 220, 50 cycle AC.
› Most cities and villages have at least one tourist information office (VVV sign) that provides maps and brochures for free.
› The tap water is of excellent quality.
› Every city has its own opening hours for shopping on Sundays.
› VAT is already included in quoted prices.
› Only some 100 years ago the central Netherlands still had sand deserts.
› Places of worship can be found all around the country even though the Dutch are quite secular; only 20% of them attend services on a regular basis.
› In the Netherlands there are twice as many bikes as cars with over 15.000 km of cycle tracks.
Photo by Flickr user psd
Useful links
› Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs: information about the Netherlands.
› NL Planet: English language resources for the Netherlands and all things Dutch.
