About Holland, the Netherlands
|Living|Government|Transportation|Sports|Holidays|Attractions|Map|
If you have any question about Holland or comments about this page please email me at: [email protected]
The capital of Holland is Amsterdam|History of Amsterdam
27 percent of the country is below sea level. However it is well secured by natural dunes and man made dykes. Neder in the word Nederland" means "low." The Netherlands has over 15 million inhabitants and a surface area of 1.864 square kilometers.
Life expectancy is high: A Dutch man may expect to live over 72 years and a woman over 77.
Holland is very different compared to America. The houses are very condensed. For example, what Americans would call a apartment is a house here in Holland. And for the size of the houses it is very expensive to buy a house.
Most people here are friendly, and most people here can speak or understand English or both.
The countries color is orange even though the flag is red, white & blue. The reason for the color is because of the name of the Royal family. Oranje means orange.
Here is a
link for more info about Holland: Info
Or click
on this link to find out more about Holland: The Netherlands
Here are
some other useful links:
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Click here to learn about the political system in Holland: System
Holland has a Queen/King instead of a president. The first king of Holland was King Willem van Oranje I
We have a queen now, "Queen Beatrix" but if she steps down her oldest son will become King. " The oldest child always becomes the queen or king."
This
is Queen Beatrix..................
On 31 January 1956, Princess Beatrix celebrated her 18th birthday. From that date, under the Constitution of the Netherlands, she was entitled to assume the royal prerogative. From that date too, she was installed in the Council of State.
The Queen enjoys sculpting, horse-riding and sailing. Her favorite sailing boat is De Groene Draeck, her 18th birthday gift from the nation. She also enjoys playing tennis and skiing.
She was married to Claus von Amsberg on 10 March 1966.
At the official opening of parliament on the third Tuesday of September (Prinsjesdag), the Queen rides in the Golden Coach. The Queen delivers a Speech from the Throne in which the government announces its policy plans for the coming year.
If you would like to know more about the Royal family then check out this link: Royal When you get there click on Navigation and then the links are in English.
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There are alot of people here in Holland and alot of them ride bikes. When you are driving you have to be really careful because there is always a person on a bicycle going somewhere. When I moved here I was really amazed at all the people that rode bikes. There is no age or weight limit for riding bikes. I see young, teenagers, middle aged, older, skinny people and heavy people. Trust me I am not a skinny person and they even got my riding. It is a sight for sore eyes. :-) But they do have other transportation like: auto's, trains, buses, motorcycles, trams and trolley's. I think the public transportation is expensive, I take a bus to work and it costs me around 4.60 guilders ($2.30) each day and the trip is only 3-4 miles. The train is also expensive. And owning a vehicle is also expensive but for the other transportation, I don't know what they cost I have never used them.
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I think the biggest sports over here are soccer and cycling. Marcel has been playing waterpolo since he was 16 years old (he is 33 now). You can click on the links below to learn about the sports. Because I am not a sports fan so I can't tell you anything about them.
Here is a link with more info about dutch sports
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New Year.....Jan.1
Good Friday.....in April
Easter.....April 13 & 14 (Holland celebrates for 2 days)
Queens Day.....April 30 (It is actually Queen Juliana's birthday that Holland celebrates, not Queen Beatrix's)
Liberation Day.....May 5
Ascension Day.....May 21
White Monday.....June 1 (also a 2 day celebration)
Prinsjesdag(Prinse Day).....Third Tuesday in September
Sinterklaas.....December 5
Christmas.....December 25
Boxing Day.....December 26 ( also called the 2nd Christmas Day)
Sinterklaas is a big dutch
tradition in Holland and Belgium.
Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas) was born in Myra in Western Turkey. Sinterklaas looks like an old, wise man with long white hair and dito beard. He is dressed like an ancient bishop and has a golden (shepard) staff in his hand. He also carries a large leatherbound book with gold print in which he has written down which children have been good and which children haven't. Every year Sinterklaas arrives by a steamer in a little Dutch port and this event is broadcasted on TV. Sinterklaas has helpers and they are called zwarte pieten. Sinterklaas makes his journey to all the houses by riding a white horse on the rooftops.
Children places wooden shoes by the fire place and they often fill them with straw or carrots for Sinterklaas's horse, Sinterklaas replaces them with little gifts like candy or something. On the evening of Sinterklaas's birthday, December 5, a basket or bag of presents are placed in front of the front door and then a zwarte piet knocks at the door and the children run to their presents.
Click on
this link to find out more about Sinterklaas: Sint History
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Click here
for info: Tourist
These are just some of the attractions in Holland. You can click on these pictures to learn about them.
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It is the west coast of Europe(kinda like California in America)
Here is a photo of Holland........Amsterdam is one of the major cities. Harderwijk is where Marcel and I live, it is about a 45 minute drive from harderwijk to Amsterdam. You can look here for the cities in Holland.
