The Netherlands a short introduction concerning the main socio-cultural data

The Netherlands -Dutch: Nederland- are a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe and with territories in the Caribbean. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and share maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

The Netherlands are a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, with 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta.

The Netherlands were one of the first parliamentary democracies. Among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, OECD and WTO. With Belgium and Luxembourg it forms the Benelux economic union. The Netherlands have a capitalist market-based economy, ranking 15th of 157 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom.

In 1568 the Eighty Years' War began between Spain and the provinces of the Netherlands, belonging at that time still to the Habsburg King of Spain. After independence, the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelre formed a confederation known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. All these provinces were autonomous and had their own government, the "States of the Province". The States-General, the confederal government, were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives from each of the seven provinces. History

The Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers of the 17th century. In the Dutch Golden Age ("Gouden Eeuw"), colonies and trading posts were established all over the world. Dutch settlement in North America began with the founding of New Amsterdam, on the southern tip of Manhattan in In South Africa, the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in By 1650, the Dutch owned 16,000 merchant ships. During the 17th century, the Dutch population increased from an estimated 1.5 million to almost 2 million.

Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world. In early modern Europe it featured the wealthiest trading city (Amsterdam) and the first full-time stock exchange. The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as phenomena such as the boom- bust cycle, the world's first asset-inflation bubble, the tulip mania of 1636–1637, and, according to Murray Sayle, the world's first bear raider, Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount.

The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters", such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Jacob van Ruysdael and many others. In the Dutch Golden Age, also literature flourished as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P.C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. Culture

Famous Dutch painters of the 19th and 20th century, for that matter, are Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondriaan

In the Humanist area the Netherlands are the country of the philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam. In the seventeenth century a famous Dutch philosopher was Spinoza. All of Descartes' major work was done in the Netherlands. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms with a microscope..

Also the production of the famous Delftware and Delft China started in the seventeenth century.

The republic went into a state of general decline in the later 18th century. The Dutch Republic lasted from 1581 till 1795 when Napoleon made the territory part of his Empire. The Kingdom of the Netherlands as determined by the Congress of Vienna started on 16 March 1815.

At present the Netherlands have an estimated population of about 17,000,000. It is the 11th most populous country in Europe and the 61st most populous country in the world. The Netherlands is the 25th most densely populated country in the world, with 395 inhabitants per km 2 or 484 inhabitants per km 2 if only the land area is counted. The Dutch are among the tallest people in the world, with an average height of 1.81 metres (5 ft 11 in) for adult males and 1.67 metres (5 ft 6 in) for adult females. People in the south are on average about 2 cm shorter than those in the north.

The country is host to five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The struggle against the water has culminated so far in the so-called Delta-works. The Delta project, a vast construction effort designed to end the threat from the sea once and for all, was launched in 1958 and largely completed in 1997 with the completion of the Maeslantkering.

The official goal of the Delta project was to reduce the risk of flooding in South Holland and Zeeland to once per 10,000 years. (For the rest of the country, the protection level is once per 4,000 years.) This was achieved by raising 3,000 kilometres (1,864 mi) of outer sea-dykes and 10,000 kilometres (6,214 mi) of inner, canal, and river dikes to "delta" height, and by closing off the sea estuaries of the Zeeland province. New risk assessments occasionally show problems requiring additional Delta project dyke reinforcements.

The Delta project is one of the largest construction efforts in human history and is considered by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

Historically Dutch cuisine was closely related to northern French cuisine, which is still visible in traditional Dutch restaurants and the Southern regional cuisine. In the course of the 15th century haute cuisine began to emerge, largely limited to the aristocracy, but from the 17th century onward these kind of dishes became available to the wealthy citizens as well, often consisting of a rich variety of fruits, cheeses, meat, wine, and nuts. Cuisine

The national cuisine however became greatly impoverished at the turn of the 19th century, when there was great poverty in the Netherlands. As mass education became available, a great number of girls were sent to a new school type, the Huishoudschool (housekeeping school), where young women were trained to become domestic servants and where lessons in cooking cheap and simple meals were a major part of the curriculum, often based on more traditional Dutch dishes, a process which has been slowly turned.

Modern culinary writers distinguish between three general regional forms of Dutch cuisine. North-eastern cuisine The late (18th century) introduction of large scale agriculture means that the cuisine is generally known for its many kinds of meats. The relative lack of farms allowed for an abundance of game and husbandry, though dishes near the coastal regions of Friesland, Groningen and the parts of Overijssel bordering the IJselmeer also include a large amount of fish.

Western cuisine The provinces of North Holland, South Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and the Gelderlandic region of Betuwe are the parts of the Netherlands which make up the region in which western Dutch cuisine is found. The area is known for its many dairy products, which includes prominent cheeses such as Gouda, Leyden (spiced cheese with carmine, cumin or cloves), Edam (traditionally in small spheres) as well as Leerdammer and Beemster, while the adjacent Zaanstreek in North Holland is known for its mayonnaise and mustards.

Southern Cuisine Southern Dutch cuisine constitutes the cuisine of the Dutch provinces of North-Brabant and Limburg and the Flemish Region in Belgium. It is renowned for its many rich pastries, soups, stews and vegetable dishes and is often called Burgundian which is a Dutch idiom invoking the rich Burgundian court which ruled the Low Countries in the Middle Ages renowned for its splendour and great feasts. It is the only Dutch culinary region which developed a haute cuisine and it forms the base of most traditional Dutch restaurants.

All kind of sports are practised in the Netherlands of course, but well-known in the popular sports are soccer (football) in which the Dutch are vice-world champion and speed-skating in which for decades the Dutch have dominated in the all- round category and the middle- and long distances. Sports

But also in many other sports the Dutch are active with success. So are, for instance, the Dutch often world champion in hockey, as well with respect to the ladies teams as also the mens teams and recently also many successes have been recorded in the equestrian sports, mirroring the good results in Dutch horse breeding as well.

Apologies have to be made for all that has not been told yet about the Netherlands. However, in Spring 2012 the Grundtvig Learning Partnership CLINTEV will meet in the Netherlands. Perhaps many more can be learnt than of the Dutch and Dutch culture and of the Netherlands. Lets look forward to that. Thank you for your attention.