The Netherlands Peter Down This is an introductory Power Point presentation designed for Year 4 students to give them an understanding of the Netherlands and the people known as the Dutch.

History In the 17 th Century the Dutch Empire grew to be the most powerful sea-faring and economic powers in the world.Dutch Empire In the Dutch Golden Age colonies and trading posts were established all over the world.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to have an elected parliament and many historians consider it as one of the first capitalist countries in the world. Today the Netherlands is regarded as a liberal country with freedom of choice for everybody.

Culture The Dutch see themselves as having a ‘national’ rather than an ‘ethnic’ identity, with traditional forms of music, dancing, architectural styles and clothing. The Dutch have their own version of Santa Claus called Sinterklass, who for three weeks rides on a grey horse over the rooftops giving toys to the good children.Sinterklass

Monarchy Prinsjesdag Day When the reigning monarch addresses a joint sitting of Parliament Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard is the current Queen Regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She has been the Head of State since her mother abdicated in 1980.

Government The Monarch and her ministers form the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of Aruba, Curacao, the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.Netherlands

Provinces of the Netherlands Drenthe Flevoland Friesland Gelderland Groningen Limburg Noord-Brabant Noord-Holland Overijssel Utrecht Zeeland Zuid-Holland

Tourism Many tourists visit the Netherlands with many beautiful natural sights to see as well as man made amusement parks.tourists Amsterdam is regarded as an International City of tourism with the most amount of museums and galleries in the world.

Landmarks There are many beautiful sights to see across the Netherlands from the old architecture to the modern buildings and cube houses.old architecture modern buildings cube houses There are numerous old windmills as well as the tulip fields but none are as spectacular as the constructions made to prevent the water from reclaiming the land such as this massive dike.

Teacher’s Resource Icons Return to Home Page Go to History Page Go to Culture Page Go to Monarchy Page Go to Government Page Go to Tourism Page Go to Landmarks Page Go to Environment Page Go to Artists Page Go to Transport Page References Travel and Adventure. (2010). Retrieved from Channels Amsterdam. (2010). Retrieved May 2011, from Essential Architecture. (2010). Retrieved May 2011, from Aqualine Marine Limited. (2011). Retrieved May 2011, from virtualtours.co.uk/ Bosch. (2011). Retrieved from Rebrandt Paintings. (2011). Retrieved from Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. (2011). Retrieved 2011, from Aurobrain. (2010). Explore the World. Retrieved from sea-protection-works.html Hilton, R. (2008). Windmill in Old Amsterdam. Retrieved from You Tube: Posse, O. (Composer). (2007). De goeie in t vloeie (The Good in the Maken') LAOS Projects. [O. Posse, Performer] Amsterdam, Amsterdam. Valerius, A. (Composer). (2005). Het Wilhelmus. Netherlands. chitecture.com

Environment The Netherlands is a low-lying country with a quarter of it below sea level and half of the entire land lying only ONE METRE above sea level. A significant amount of land has been reclaimed and protected from the sea by large dams known as dikes. The Dutch know how important it is to preserve their resources and the environment as a whole. In Amsterdam they have the international headquarters of Greenpeace.Greenpeace

Artists There have been many famous Dutch painters, the most famous would be Vincent Van Gogh ( ), whose paintings today are worth millions of dollars. It is surprising that he sold only one painting while he was alive but still painted everyday. In 1993 a merchant unknowingly sold drawings by Van Gogh for 5 cents. Other famous Dutch painters include Hieronymus Bosch ( ) and Rembrandt ( ). Hieronymus Bosch Rembrandt

Transport As some of the cities have canals through them a lot of people travel by boat. It is very easy to travel around the cities on bicycles as most of the area is flat and very accessible.