Netherlands

What to know about Netherlands

The Dutch East India Company was established in 1602, and by the end of the 17th century, Holland was one of the great sea and colonial powers of Europe.

The nation’s independence was not completely established until after the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) when the country’s rise as a commercial and maritime power began. In 1688, the English Parliament invited William of Orange, stadtholder, and his wife, Mary Stuart, to rule England as William III and Mary II. William then used the combined resources of England and the Netherlands to wage war on Louis XIV’s France. In 1814, all the provinces of Holland and Belgium were merged into one kingdom, but in 1830 the southern provinces broke away to form the kingdom of Belgium. A liberal constitution was adopted by the Netherlands in 1848. The country remained neutral during World War I.

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The Netherlands is a country that boasts a typical maritime climate with mild summers and cold winters. Wind and rain are common throughout most of the year with July and August being the wettest months. March is the driest month of the year.

Because the Netherlands features flat landscapes, wind may be a concern for tourists, especially during the winter and summer months. Winds are typically much stronger along the coast than they are further inland.

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The Netherlands, like most European countries, use the Euro as its official currency. The Euro was adopted as the country’s official currency in 2002, although the currency itself has been in use in the Netherlands since 1999 but only by electronic means and traveller’s check. Travellers visiting the Netherlands are often advised to convert their currencies to the euro since no other currency apart from the euro is accepted in the country. The euro currency, like in other EU countries, is meant to eliminate headaches that European travellers would experience prior to the introduction of the Euro. The euro came in both coins and banknotes in a wide range of denominations. Prior to the adoption of the Euro, the Dutch guilder was the Netherlands’ currency.

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