Holland Facts & Figures

Holland, officially known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was formed as a nation in 1815. The country is bordered in the west and north by the North Sea, in the east by Germany, and in the South by Belgium. With a surface area of 41,526 sq km, the Netherlands is slightly less than twice the size of the American state of New Jersey.

The flag of the Netherlands consists of three colors: red, white, and blue. It's very similar to the flag of Luxembourg and is one of the oldest flag designs in use.

Holland is mostly flat, with the highest point - the Vaalserberg in the province of Limburg - being just 322 meters (352 yards) high. About half the country is actually below sea level, which is why most of the Dutch coastline is protected by an interconntecting series of dams or dikes.

The population of the Netherlands is approximately 16.4 million (mid-2005). About 83% of the population of Holland is Dutch; the main non-Western nationalities are Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese, and Indonesians.

The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam; however, Amsterdam is not the official seat of the government. That honor is reserved for The Hague, which is also where you will find most foreign embassies.

The country is made up of 12 provinces: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland (Fryslan), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, and Zuid-Holland. Holland also has two dependent areas, the islands of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

Although Holland is officially a hereditary monarchy (with Queen Beatrix as the current head of state), it is also a stable democracy with regular government elections. The country is very safe for smart foreign travelers, with the most prevalent crime being pickpocketing (mostly in Amsterdam).

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