Netherlands, the full name of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has a land area of ​​41528 square kilometers. It is located in the west of Europe, bordering Germany to the east and Belgium to the south. It borders the North Sea to the west and north and is located in the delta of the Rhine, Maas and Skelt rivers, with a coastline of 1,075 kilometers. The rivers in the territory are crisscross, mainly including the Rhine and Maas. There is IJsselmeer on the northwest coast. The west coast is lowland, the east is wavy plains, and the middle and southeast are highlands. "Netherlands" is called the Netherlands in Germanic, which means "a lowland country". It is named because more than half of its land is below or almost at sea level. The climate of the Netherlands is a maritime temperate broad-leaved forest climate.

The country is divided into 12 provinces with 489 municipalities (2003). The names of the provinces are as follows: Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland, Utrecht, North Holland, South Holland, Zealand, North Brabant, Limburg, Frey Fran.

Before the 16th century, it was in a state of feudal separatism for a long time. Under Spanish rule in the early 16th century. In 1568, a war against Spanish rule broke out for 80 years. In 1581, the seven northern provinces established the Dutch Republic (officially known as the United Republic of the Netherlands). In 1648 Spain officially recognized Dutch independence. It was a maritime colonial power in the 17th century. After the 18th century, the Dutch colonial system gradually collapsed. The French invasion in 1795. In 1806, Napoleon's brother became king, and Holland was named a kingdom. Incorporated into France in 1810. Separated from France in 1814 and established the Kingdom of the Netherlands the following year (Belgium separated from the Netherlands in 1830). It became a constitutional monarchy in 1848. Maintained neutrality during World War I. Neutrality was declared at the beginning of World War II. In May 1940, it was invaded and occupied by the German army, the royal family and government moved to Britain, and the government in exile was established. After the war, he abandoned his neutrality policy and joined NATO, the European Community and later the European Union.

National flag: It is rectangular with a ratio of length to width of 3:2. From top to bottom, it is formed by connecting three parallel and equal horizontal rectangles of red, white and blue. Blue indicates that the country faces the ocean and symbolizes the happiness of the people; white symbolizes freedom, equality, and democracy, and also represents the people's simple character; red represents the victory of the revolution.

The Netherlands has a population of 16.357 million (June 2007). More than 90% are Dutch, in addition to Fris. The official language is Dutch, and Frisian is spoken in Friesland. 31% of residents believe in Catholicism and 21% believe in Christianity.

The Netherlands is a developed capitalist country with a gross national product of 612.713 billion US dollars in 2006, with a per capita value of 31,757 US dollars. The Dutch natural resources are relatively poor. The industry is developed. The main industrial sectors include food processing, petrochemicals, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, electronics, steel, shipbuilding, printing, diamond processing, etc. In the past 20 years, it has attached great importance to the development of high-tech industries such as space, microelectronics, and biological engineering. It is shipbuilding, metallurgy, etc. Rotterdam is the largest oil refining center in Europe. The Netherlands is one of the major shipbuilding countries in the world. The Dutch agriculture is also very developed and is the world's third largest exporter of agricultural products. The Dutch used land that is not suitable for farming to develop animal husbandry in accordance with local conditions, and now it has reached one cow and one pig per capita, making it one of the most developed countries in the world's animal husbandry industry. They grow potatoes on the sandy texture and develop potato processing. More than half of the world's seed potato trade is exported from here. Flowers are a pillar industry in the Netherlands. A total of 110 million square meters of greenhouses in the country are used for growing flowers and vegetables, so it enjoys the reputation of "European Garden". The Netherlands sends beauty to all corners of the world, and flower exports account for 40%-50% of the international flower market. The Dutch financial services, insurance industry, and tourism are also very developed.

Anecdote-In order to survive and develop, the Dutch try their best to protect the originally small country and avoid the “topping out” when the sea is high tide. They wrestled with the sea for a long time, reclaiming land from the sea. As early as the 13th century, dams were built to block the sea, and then the water in the cofferdam was drained by a wind turbine. Over the past few centuries, the Dutch have built 1,800 kilometers of sea barriers, adding more than 600,000 hectares of land. Today, 20% of the Dutch land is artificially reclaimed from the sea. The words "Perseverance" engraved on the National Emblem of the Netherlands properly portray the national character of the Dutch people.

Amsterdam: Amsterdam, the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Amsterdam) is located on the southwest bank of the IJsselmeer, with a population of 735,000 (2003). Amsterdam is a strange city. There are more than 160 large and small waterways in the city, connected by more than 1,000 bridges. Roaming the city, bridges crisscross and rivers crisscross. From a bird's-eye view, the waves are like satin and cobwebs. The city's terrain is 1-5 meters below sea level and is called "the Venice of the North".

"Dan" means dam in Dutch. It was the dam built by the Dutch that gradually developed a fishing village 700 years ago into the international metropolis it is today. At the end of the 16th century, Amsterdam has become an important port and trading city, and once became the world's financial, trade and cultural center in the 17th century. In 1806, the Netherlands moved its capital to Amsterdam, but the royal family, parliament, prime minister's office, central ministries and diplomatic missions remained in The Hague.

Amsterdam is the largest industrial city and economic center in the Netherlands, with more than 7,700 industrial companies, and industrial diamond production accounts for 80% of the world's total. In addition, Amsterdam has the oldest stock exchange in the world.

Amsterdam is also a famous European city of culture and art. There are 40 museums in the city. The National Museum has a collection of more than 1 million works of art, including masterpieces by masters such as Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer, which are world-renowned. The Municipal Museum of Modern Art and the Van Gogh Museum are famous for their collection of 17th-century Dutch art. The "Crow's Wheat Field" and "The Farmer Who Eat Potatoes" completed two days before Van Gogh's death are displayed here.

Rotterdam: Rotterdam is located on the delta formed by the confluence of the Rhine and Maas rivers on the southwest coast of the Netherlands, 18 kilometers away from the North Sea. It was originally a reclaimed land at the mouth of the Rotter River. Founded at the end of the 13th century, it was only a small seaport and trading center. It began to develop into the second largest commercial port in the Netherlands in 1600. In 1870, the waterway leading directly to the North Sea from the port was renovated and developed rapidly and became a worldwide port.

Since the 1960s, Rotterdam has been the world's largest cargo port, with the highest cargo volume in history of 300 million tons (1973). It is the gateway to the Rhine Valley. It is now the second largest city in the Netherlands, a transportation hub for water, land and air, and an important commercial and financial center. Rotterdam is now the world's largest port with the largest cargo throughput, as well as the commodity distribution center in Western Europe, and the largest container port in Europe. The main industries include refining, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, steel, food and machinery manufacturing. Rotterdam has universities, research institutes and museums.