On this page we are going to tell you a little about our country.

dutch facts

Country name - Netherlands or Holland.
Population - 16.334.378 (1-11-2005) 
Area: 41,160 sq km
Language - Dutch
Capital city - Amsterdam
Head of state - Queen Beatrix van Oranje Nassau
Currency - Euro

Since 1813 Holland has been a constitutional monarchy with a royal family. Our queen is Beatrix of Orange. Her actual date of birth is 31 January. But in honor of her mother, Princess Juliana, whose birthday is on 30 April, Queen Beatrix celebrates her birthday on that day each year. The highlight of the day is her visit to two different towns in Holland. The local populations welcome her with lots of festivities. Prince Willem Alexander is the one who will follow her up as King as she retires. Did you know Willem-Alexander and his girl friend Maxima got married on February the 2nd 2002? They now have two children: Catharina-Amalia and Alexia.

our national anthem

Our national anthem is called "Wilhelmus" you can listen to it by clicking here. 

our flag

Our national pride is de "Dutch Red White and Blue". Did you know that in the past our national flag was Orange, white and Blue referring to the prince of Holland? In 1938 former Queen Wilhelmina declared that the colors should be Red White and Blue.

our currency

The Netherlands is one of the 12 members of the Euro zone. Therefore since January the 1st 2002 our currency the Guilder changed to the new Euro currency. Did you know that school children in the Netherlands learn which countries are part of the Euro zone by this: "ding-flof-bips" referring to the first letter of each country participating in the Euro?

weather

Our weather is under influence by the sea, that is why our weather can change a lot but basically our weather during wintertime is around or a little below zero (Celsius) In wintertime Dutch people love ice skating not indoors but outside on our canals. Our spring time is mild with temperatures from 10 to 15C. Our summer time is nice hot with a temperatures from 20 to 30C in summer time Dutch people like to visit our famous waters to cool down. Autumn is wet with an average temperature of 10-15C and lot's of rain.

basic dutch

• good morning - goede morgen;
• good afternoon - goede middag;
• good evening - goede avond;
• thank you - dank je wel;
• hello - hallo;
• welcome - welkom
• have a good meal - eet smakelijk;