Netherlands Facts

More than a quarter of the Netherlands is below sea level. Shocked? You will find out a lot more if you continue to read these amazing facts about this country in Europe!

• The Netherlands is the most densely populated nation in Europe.

• The Netherlands is a very flat country.

• The capital city of The Netherlands is Amsterdam.

• 86% of the population speak English as a second language.

• The Netherlands is a republic with a constitutional monarchy.
  

  Wooden shoes or clogs or “Klompen” have been popular in the Netherlands for about 700 years as industrial footwear worn by farmers, fishermen, factory workers, artisans and others to protect their feet from injury and keep them dry.

• Rotterdam is the second largest port in the world.

• Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges. Venice, by comparison, has 409.

• Keukenhof Park is the largest flower garden in the world.

• There is over 4,400km of rivers, lakes and canals.

• Amsterdam’s soil is so sandy that pretty much every building is sitting on wooden piles.

• Tulips do not originate from the Netherlands. The first tulip bulbs were imported from Turkey to the Netherlands.

• Dutch electronic dance music has conquered the world with DJs like Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and Afrojack.

• One of the largest electronics companies in the world, Phillips, is Dutch.

• After Scandinavians, the Dutch are the world’s biggest coffee drinkers.

• The Dutch beer brands Heineken, Grolsch and Amstel are among the most famous brews in the world.

• 70% of the world’s bacon comes from Netherlands.

• Dutch cheese is the best cheese in the world.

• The Dutch invented Gin, though it’s called Jenever here.

• The famous Dutch windmills were used to pump away water for hundreds of years.

• It is the bicycle capital of the world with more than 18 million in the country.

• The microscope, the telescope, pendulum clock and the mercury thermometer are all 16th or 17th century Dutch inventions.

• The Dutch are on average the tallest people in the world. Men are six feet tall (182.5cm) and women are 5 feet 7 inches (170.5cm).

• The Dutch love to play football, although as yet the Netherlands have not won the World Cup.

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