Portal:Netherlands
Welcome to the Netherlands Portal
Welkom bij het Nederlandportaal!
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The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories. People from the Netherlands are referred to as Dutch.
The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation (separation of citizens into groups by religion and political beliefs) and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the eleventh-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, cabinet, and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the fourth busiest in Europe. Being a developed country, the Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are in The Hague. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Robben was named F.C. Groningen's team player of the year during the Eredivisie 2000-01 season and the Netherlands' Young Player of the Year during his time at PSV Eindhoven. He was also the FA Premier League Player of the Month during the month of November 2005 at Chelsea F.C..
Born in the town of Bedum in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands, Robben took to football from an early age. He began playing with local club VV Bedum. Robben became an adherent of the Coerver Method, created and popularised by Dutch football coach Wiel Coerver. Robben's skill in ball control and technical footwork made him a valuable player, and he was quickly signed by local club F.C. Groningen.
Did you know (auto-generated)

- ... that the Dutch women's 4 × 400 metres relay team, having never won a medal before, won European titles in 2021, in 2022, in 2023, in 2024, and in 2025?
- ... that Dutch agriculturist Hermanus Johannes Lovink used a suitcase gramophone during his lectures?
- ... that lukken, a traditional dessert waffle from West Flanders, gets its name from the Dutch word for 'luck'?
- ... that Tobie Goedewaagen, a minister under the Nazi occupation government, fled the Netherlands with his belongings in a bedspread?
- ... that Gil Kim played professional baseball in the Netherlands, China, Australia, Spain, and Venezuela, scouted in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and coaches in Canada?
- ... that G. R. Pantouw supported the Dutch puppet state of East Indonesia because he wanted to push the Netherlands into abandoning colonialism?
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