NETHERLANDS

Flag of the Netherlands

Indruduction

The total size of the Netherlands is 41 543 sq km which is about half the size of New Jersey. The Netherlands have cool summers and mild winters and has mostly lowlands and some hills. Some of the natural resources' you find their are: gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel. The population is about 16.7 million. The religions are: Roman Catholic 30%, Dutch Reformed 11%, Calvinist 6%, Muslims 5.8%, Protestant 3%, other 2.2%, none 42%. There are 105 thousand males and 100 thousand females in the military. The two main languages are Dutch and Frisian.

Government

The Netherlands have a Queen who is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Although the capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam the government is in The Hague. The voting age is 18

The Queens name is Beatrix

Holidays

The Netherlands have lot’s of the same holidays as us such as: Christmas, Easter and

Queens day but they celebrate it different than us. For example Christmas. In the Netherlands you only get two days for Christmas (25-26th December.) On Christmas day you don’t open presents but feast, you instead open presents on Christmas eve. During Christmas St Nicholas rides on a white horse and leaves gifts in shoes. He also rides in parades and visits children while his servant Black Peter throws gingerbread for the children to eat.

Foods they Eat

For breakfast: Bread toast with jelly Dutch cheese or meats Boiled eggs, hot cereal

(oatmeal) Coffee or tea For Lunch: Open faced sandwich Deep fried sausage Vegetable soup

Foods they Eat 2

Sea food important to Dutch diet Dutch pastries world famous Dessert For desert instead of using forks they use

small spoons Eat there fries with mayonnaise instead

of ketchup

Transportation

The Netherlands have some of Europe's best transportation, with a network of trains to all the major cities. Most people have cars but only use them for daily trips.

Rotterdam one of worlds largest ports

1 third of transportation is bikes

Housing

Houses are built like condos and are made of reddish brown brick or tiles. Most houses have gardens instead of garages.

Famous People

Jacob van Heemskerck A naval conquest and

explorer Ann Frank Lived in Holland

Credits

World fact book Culturegrams Contrey studies

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