Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Netherlands
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Facts & Stats
Images, Videos & Interactives
Netherlands Netherlands windmills in Netherlands Netherlands
Explore Holland's population, waterways, and vast tulip cross-breeding and cultivation program
Exploring Amsterdam: Canals, design, and museums
Netherlands Urk, Netherlands north dam across the IJsselmeer
For Students
Netherlands summary
Quizzes
Flags of all countries of the world. Flags of the world. National flags. Country flags. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, geography and travel, explore discovery
The Country Quiz
7:023 Geography: Think of Something Big, globe showing Africa, Europe, and Eurasia
Which Country Is Larger By Area? Quiz
Flags of the world against blue sky. Countries, International. Globalization, global relations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Poland, Palestine, Japan. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
Which Country Is Larger By Population? Quiz
Flags of all nations of the world. Grouping of various country flags on a world map.
Which Country Is Larger? Quiz
Opened passport with visas, stamps, seals, world map. (travel, tourism)
Guess the Country by Its Neighbors Quiz
Read Next
Map of the Netherlands
Is "Holland" the Same Place as "the Netherlands"?
Colorful mulitcolord illuminated gallery tunnel rainbow passage under NAI building, Netherlands Architecture Institute near Museum Park, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
6 Buildings You'll Want to Visit in the Netherlands
Boat travels down a canal in Amersterdam, The Netherlands
11 Amazing Paintings in the Netherlands
poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).
World Poetry Day
Discover
Charles Darwin, carbon print photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868.
What Darwin Got Right (and Wrong) About Evolution
earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.
The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950
Close up of papyrus in a museum.
Before the E-Reader: 7 Ways Our Ancestors Took Their Reading on the Go
Gills of three old specimens of webcap fungus (Cortinarius) in Gloucestershire, South West England. toxic, fungi, poisonous mushroom
7 of the World’s Most Poisonous Mushrooms
Ice Sledge Hockey, Hockey Canada Cup, USA (left) vs Canada, 2009. UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver, BC, competition site for Olympic ice hockey and Paralympic ice sledge hockey. Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver Olympics
10 Best Hockey Players of All Time
Encyclopaedia Britannica First Edition: Volume 1, Plate XXXVIII, Figure 2, Ark, Ark of the Covenant, a small chest, coffer, contains Aaron's rod, manna pot, tables of covenant, Schechinah, Divine Presence, oracle, shittim-wood, acacia tree
Where Is the Ark of the Covenant?
Bolshoy Ice Dome during ice hockey Men's Prelim. Sochi 2014 XXII Olympic Winter Games
7 Ways Hosting the Olympics Impacts a City
Netherlands
Netherlands

Netherlands

Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: Holland, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, Nederland
Written by
Herbert H. Rowen
Emeritus Professor of History, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Author of The Princes of Orange and others.
Herbert H. Rowen,
Henk Meijer
Director, Information and Documentation Centre for the Geography of the Netherlands, State University of Utrecht. Author of A Compact Geography of the Netherlands.
Henk Meijer•All
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
A stabbing attack in Amsterdam wounds five people, including four foreigners • Mar. 27, 2025, 4:34 PM ET (AP)
America's European allies are trying to pry their unspent money back from USAID • Mar. 23, 2025, 7:37 AM ET (AP)
Kosovo ex-president Thaci visits father's tomb after Hague court bars him from attending funeral • Mar. 21, 2025, 10:02 AM ET (AP)
Here’s how some human rights and LGBTQ+ groups prepared for major foreign aid cuts under Trump • Mar. 20, 2025, 9:09 PM ET (AP)

Netherlands, country located in northwestern Europe, also known as Holland. “Netherlands” means low-lying country; the name Holland (from Houtland, or “Wooded Land”) was originally given to one of the medieval cores of what later became the modern state and is still used for 2 of its 12 provinces (Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland). A parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, the kingdom includes its former colonies in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government The Hague. The country is indeed low-lying and remarkably flat, with large expanses of ...(100 of 24002 words)

Access the full article
Trust your source with Britannica Premium
• 7-Day Free Trial
• No Ads
• Unlimited Access
Subscribe Today