Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is a state with territory in Western Europe (the Netherlands) and in the Caribbean (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles). The three parts are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom. However, their constitutional positions are not the same. Both Caribbean countries are autonomous as provided for in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has been the Kingdom's leading document since 1954.
(The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu: Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the political relationship between the three different countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands: the Netherlands in Europe and the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the two other countries are legally subjected to the Charter.)
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is a state with territory in Western Europe (the Netherlands) and in the Caribbean (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles). The three parts are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom. However, their constitutional positions are not the same. Both Caribbean countries are autonomous as provided for in the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has been the Kingdom's leading document since 1954.
(The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu: Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the political relationship between the three different countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands: the Netherlands in Europe and the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the two other countries are legally subjected to the Charter.)
Netherlands
The Netherlands (pronounced /ˈnɛðərləndz/ ); Dutch: Nederland, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑnt]) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.
The Netherlands is often called Holland, a pars pro toto, as North and South Holland are actually two of its twelve provinces. The word Dutch is used to refer to the people, the language, and anything pertaining to the Netherlands. This lexical difference between the noun and the adjective is a peculiarity of the English language and does not exist in the Dutch language. The adjective 'Dutch' is derived from the language that was spoken in the area, called 'Diets', which equals Middle Dutch. Windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, cheese and Delftware pottery are among the items associated with the Netherlands by tourists.(pars pro toto : Latin word mean "(taking) a part for the whole" where a portion of an object or concept represents the entire object or context. A similar term, synecdoche, comes from Greek, meaning 'simultaneous understanding'.)
The Netherlands was 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 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 first four are situated in The Hague as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol and judicial co-operation agency Eurojust. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capital". The Netherlands has a capitalist market-based economy, ranking 15th of 157 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom.
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% 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. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers (the Rhine (Rijn) and its main distributaries, the Waal and the Meuse (Maas)), form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts.
To guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. In the first millennium AD, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. By the 13th century, windmills had come into use in order to pump water out of areas below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders. Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes.
The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is southwest, which causes a moderate maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters
(overall temperature characteristics vary among oceanic climates; those at the lowest latitudes are nearly subtropical from a thermal standpoint, but more commonly a mesothermal regime prevails, with cool, but not cold, winters and warm, but not hot, summers. Summers are also cooler (often much cooler) than in areas with a humid subtropical climate. Average temperature of warmest month must be less than 22 °C (72 °F) and that of the coldest month warmer than -3 °C (27 °F)).
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% 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. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers (the Rhine (Rijn) and its main distributaries, the Waal and the Meuse (Maas)), form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts.
To guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. In the first millennium AD, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. By the 13th century, windmills had come into use in order to pump water out of areas below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders. Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes.
The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is southwest, which causes a moderate maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters
(overall temperature characteristics vary among oceanic climates; those at the lowest latitudes are nearly subtropical from a thermal standpoint, but more commonly a mesothermal regime prevails, with cool, but not cold, winters and warm, but not hot, summers. Summers are also cooler (often much cooler) than in areas with a humid subtropical climate. Average temperature of warmest month must be less than 22 °C (72 °F) and that of the coldest month warmer than -3 °C (27 °F)).
source and edited from:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands
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