Interesting Facts About Holland

Holland was a potent economic power in the 17th century and now houses two major Dutch provinces, namely North Holland and South Holland. Holland is made up of various regions that, for various reasons, have their own identities. The main cities in Holland are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. And it is at ‘The Hague’ that the International Court of Justice sits, in the Peace Palace. At the same time, the Rotterdam Port located here is the most important port of Europe. Holland is a major cultural hub as well. Holland was also one of the first countries to have an elected parliament and the country is also known as the founding member of some of the elite organizations including EU, NATO, OECD and WTO. If you want to learn some more interesting and fun facts about Holland, read on.

• There are around 16 million bicycles in Holland, which supposedly means almost one for every inhabitant.
• The highest point in the country is called the ‘mountain’ and it is as much as 323 meters high.
• Hollanders usually have a bunch of flowers in their living rooms.
• Holland has the highest museum density in the world, with almost 1000 museums.
• The Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum of Holland house the largest Van Gogh collections in the world.
• The first World Press Photo Exhibition was held in Holland only.
• The landscape of Holland is dotted with windmills, which have become its hallmark.
• A consistent drainage is necessary to save Holland from flooding. For the purpose, windmills were used in the previous centuries.
• Other uses of windmills in Holland are corn milling and saw milling. Over the years, the use of windmills has changed. Though still used for drainage, they are predominantly considered as tourist attractions.
• Holland makes up roughly 13 percent of The Netherlands.
• The country has over 4,400 km of navigable rivers, canals and lakes.
• The inhabitants of Holland are best known for their unique and colorful costumes. One can easily find people wearing their traditional costumes - a culture inherited from their ancestors. They often accessorize their costume with a pair of wooden shoes.
• Talking about the eating habits, Dutch cuisine is renowned in the world for its rich taste and aroma. Potato is the prime ingredient for a number of traditional Dutch recipes. Holland is also known for its wide variety of cheese.
• Holland is 6.7 meters below sea level, at its lowest point, which is a polder near Rotterdam.
• The country was one of the six founding members of the European Community.
• Holland is quite often termed as a ‘land of compromise’, as it always has a coalition government.
• Horticulture and greenhouse agri-businesses are abundant in the arable lands of Holland.
• Holland is the third largest exporter of agricultural produce, after U.S. and France, even though only 3% of the Dutch population is employed in the agriculture sector.
• Geography in the region is very dynamic. This is the reason why the land occupied by Holland has never been stable.
• Rhine and the Meuse (Maas) are the main rivers of Holland.
• Until the 9th century, Frisians occupied the present-day Holland.
• As many as 300 castles in the country are open to the public.
• St. Lucia's flood in 1287 which affected both Holland and Germany, killed more than 50,000 people which is considered to be one of the most cataclysmic floods in the human history.
• Holland became a constitutional monarchy in 1815 and more than three decades later in 1848 it became a parliamentary democracy. Holland is a multi-party democracy but since the 19th century no party has been able to attain absolute majority and hence coalition governments have been running the country.
• The war between Holland and Japan ensued on 8th December 1941. Netherland met defeat and lost one of its strongholds Indonesia to the Japanese army in March 1942.
• Holland appeared at the first spot in the list of the "happiest" country published by the OECD.
• Though Holland remained neutral during the Second World War, on the 10th of May, 1940 the country was invaded by the Nazi Germany.