The Netherlands is a country in the continent of Europe . It is located in North-Eastern Europe. It is bordered by the sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south and Germany to the east . The Netherlands is also often referred to as Holland . The word ‘Dutch’ is used for the inhabitants of the Netherlands and its language. Let us know some interesting facts about this country.
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34 Interesting Facts About Netherlands – Netherlands
1. In the Netherlands, it is not necessary for a soldier to salute an officer superior to him.
2. Due to the large part of the Netherlands being below sea level, it has built 1400 km long walls on its sea shores so that sea water does not enter the country. If these walls were removed, 40% of the Netherlands would be submerged in water.
3. The people of Netherlands have the highest average height in the world. The average height for men here is five feet eleven and a half inches, but in the southern Netherlands the average is less than an inch.
4. The Netherlands is the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. The law was enacted in 2001 and a month later the two men got married in the Netherlands.
5. The Netherlands sends the largest number of pork and its products to other countries in Europe.
6. Holland is called the western part of the Netherlands. But the official name of the country is ‘Netherlands’.
7. Prostitution is legally recognized in the Netherlands, subject to the condition that girls must be over 18 years of age and their clients, i.e. boys, must be above 16 years of age.
8. 8 prisons in the Netherlands had to be closed because they were short of criminals.
9. There is a ‘Christmas tree’ on the main square of every city in the Netherlands.
10. On average, a Dutchman drinks 74 liters of alcohol a year. Not only men but also women are included among the drinkers .
11. The year 1672 is called ‘disaster year’ (disaster year) in the history of this country because this year it was completely destroyed by attacking many states including England and France. It is also said that a mob of angry Dutch people killed and ate their own prime minister because of the defeat of the Netherlands.
12. In 2007, a reality show named The Great Donor Show took place in the Netherlands. In this show, 25 people who needed a kidney fight for the kidney of a dying 37 year old woman.
13. 86% of people in the Netherlands use English as a second language.
14. The total area of the Netherlands is 41,543 square kilometers, which is 131st in the world and has a population of 17.2 million. Its area is less than 20 states of India while population is less than 24 states. Its area is slightly less than Haryana (42,212).
15. Dutch people have been making cheese since 400 AD. Apart from this, it also exports cheese worth 7 billion euros every year which is the highest in the world.
16. Despite being such a small country, there are about 100 strange houses in it.
17. Wind-powered windmills have been used in the Netherlands for hundreds of years to extract water. Here 1000 windmills of several hundred years ago are still present here, which still work today. Once upon a time there were close to 10,000 windmills at this place.
18. Due to the rainy weather of the Netherlands, people here use ‘raincoat’ more instead of umbrella, because when the rain comes, strong wind also blows with it, due to which their umbrellas fly away.
19. People here cycle a lot. Almost everyone has a bicycle.
20. Only 3% of the people here do agriculture.
21. The International Court of Justice is in the city of ‘Hague’ in the Netherlands.
22. There are 1,281 bridges in the country’s capital, Amsterdam .
23. Netherlands means “low country” in Dutch language. A quarter of it is less than a meter above sea level.
24. According to a 2007 report, the Netherlands is the best country for children.
25. The National Anthem of the Netherlands is the oldest. It was written in 1568 but it got official recognition in 1932. The flag of the Netherlands also dates back to 1572 which is the oldest flag with three colors.
26. Orange colored carrot was first grown in Netherlands and orange color is the national color of Netherlands.
27. The Dutch were the first Europeans to discover Australia and New Zealand . He named Australia as ‘New Holland’.
28. Just as India was a settlement of England till 1947, Indonesia was a settlement of Netherlands till 1945. Many Indonesians still speak Dutch.
29. When Hitler’s Nazi army attacked the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, the Netherlands surrendered on the 5th day itself.
30. The Parliament House of the Netherlands ‘ Binnenhof ‘ is one of the oldest parliamentary buildings in the world which is still in use today. The parliamentary buildings in Binnenhof were built in the 13th century.
31. Microscope, telescope, pendulum clock were invented in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries.
32. The Dutch company ‘Philips’ invented audiotape in 1967, videotape in 1972, CD in 1982 and CD-ROM in 1985.
33. In 2010, Netherlands has the largest number of people having broadband connection in terms of percentage. (about 38% of the people have it)
34. In the Netherlands 55% of the total cars and in Norway 53% are electric.
