Page 23 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands
P. 23
INTRODUCING THE NE THERLANDS 21
A PORTRAIT OF
THE NETHERLANDS
From the Frisian Islands in the north to Zeeland in the south, the Netherlands is
a place of contrasts, with fine sandy beaches, picturesque villages and vibrant
towns with multilingual and outward-looking people. The mighty River Rhine
bisects the country, bringing trade and prosperity from far and wide.
The landscape of what is now the The Netherlands covers an area of
Netherlands has changed considerably 41,547 sq km (16,040 sq miles), about
over the past 2,000 years. Since Roman one-tenth the size of California. With
times, large tracts of land have been just over 17 million inhabitants, this means
swallowed up by the sea in areas such as a population density of around 380 per
Zeeland and the former Zuiderzee. Old sq km (1,000 per sq mile), making it the
maps show that during the Middle Ages third-most densely popu lated country
almost half of today’s pro vinces of North in Europe after Monaco and Malta.
Holland and South Holland were under However, this is not something that is
water. Since then, large parts of this land readily noticeable to visitors outside the
have been reclaimed. The constant battle main cities, as the flat landscape seems
with the sea reached its height with anything but crowded.
the Delta Works. This massive hydraulic Dutch people are friendly, outgoing and
engineering achievement (see pp250–51) direct. They care about social issues and
was designed to protect the southwestern the environment and almost everyone
part of the country against flooding. The speaks English, many fluently. They live
project was started after the disastrous in a country that is neat and tidy, where
floods of 1953, in which more than 1,800 there is excellent public transport and
people died. where visitors find it easy to get around.
The pier, the focus of social life on the beach at Scheveningen
Flowers in the Keukenhof garden near Lisse, the largest flower garden in the world
020-025_EW_Netherlands.indd 21 16/01/17 12:02 pm
