THE NETHERLANDS

Population: 15.6 million
Size: 41,160 sq. km.
Official Language: Dutch
Capital: Amsterdam
Currency: Euro
The Netherlands has managed
to combine liberal attitudes
with one of the most orderly
societies on earth, in a
community that manages to
be radical and sensible
without being silly or staid.
The Netherlands is easy to
travel in and the locals are
friendly and speak excellent
English, but towns are still surrounded by canals and castle walls, the endlessly flat landscape which inspired the nation's early artists still stretches unbroken to the horizons, and the dykes still occasionally threaten to give way.

Most of its land has been reclaimed from the sea over the centuries and the drained polders are protected by dykes, very few of which are plugged by little boys' fingers. More than half of the country lies below sea level and only in the south-east Limburg province will you find hills. The Netherlands is bordered by the North Sea, Belgium and Germany. The Rhine is the major river, slurping up runoff from the proper mountains in Germany and Switzerland and slopping it out all over the flat lands.

The Netherlands early history is linked with Belgium and Luxembourg; the three were known as the 'Low Countries' until the 16th century when the present-day Netherlands boundaries were roughly drawn. Originally the land was inhabited by tribal groups: the Germanic Batavi drained the sea lagoons while the Frisii lived on mounds in the remote north.

Visit this link for more information about The Netherlands:
The Lonely Planet Guide - The Netherlands