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Netherlands? Holland? Dutch? How can
one country have so many names? Here’s
a brief explanation:
Holland used to be a country, but it no
longer exists. The land that used to be
Holland is now just a small part of the
Netherlands.
Just as the United States is divided into
50 states, the Netherlands is divided into
12 provinces. The land that used to be the
country of Holland is now two of those
provinces—North Holland and South Holland.
North and South Holland border the sea and are home to the country’s major cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. This means that the majority of the country’s
population technically does live in “Holland.” However, if you call the country by its old name, the people who live in the other 10 provinces are likely to correct you. |
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Have you ever heard the story of the little Dutch boy? The legend goes like this: A young boy was walking to school one morning when he noticed a crack in the village dike. Water was leaking through it, threatening to break the dam and flood the town. The boy stuck his finger in the crack, plugged the dike, and in doing so, saved his village.
 Believe it or not, this story can teach you something about the geography of the Netherlands. The country sits on low-lying land that borders the North Sea. And actually, 25 percent of the country is below sea level, including the biggest city, Amsterdam. Plus, several of Europe’s major rivers meet the ocean along the Netherland’s coast, the Rhine, the Scheldt and the Meuse to name a few. The mouths of these rivers create wide deltas of soggy, marshy land.
For the Dutch, therefore, the ability to control the flow of water is a huge priority. A system of dikes, damns and dunes surrounds and protects the people from tides, surges and floods. Without this system, vast portions of their land would be underwater. In fact, a common Dutch saying goes like this: God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.
And guess what? The Dutch are making land! Dutch engineers have mastered the art of reclaiming land. It takes a lot of money, effort and time, but they steal land from the sea. First they build dikes around a shallow area; then they drain all water until the space is completely dry. They do this by building canals and running pumps.
In 1986, the Netherlands actually grew a new province. The province of Flevoland is all reclaimed land.
All this means that the Netherlands is comprised of flat, flat terrain. In other words, it’s the perfect place for a leisurely bike ride.
Besides the straight and even paths, the weather also helps. Even though the Netherlands is located in northern Europe, it sits on the North Sea. Temperate, ocean air blows in, keeping the summers from getting too hot. Winters are mild; snow rarely sticks around for long. In the Netherlands, you can ride your bike year round. You don’t have to stick it in storage and haul it out for just a couple months each year.
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