Netherlands is a small country in the North Sea in North Western Europe. The Netherlands is called Holland, though this name actually refers to only one part of the country. The people of Netherlands are commonly known as the Dutch.

They have a saying that God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland. More than two- fifths of the country's land was once covered by the sea, or by lakes or swamps.

The Dutch created this land by pumping out the water. In this drained areas called polders, are the richest farmlands and largest cities of the Netherlands. Amsterdam, the capital and largest city is on a polder.

To make a polder, the Dutch build a dyke around the area to be drained of water. The water is pumped into a series of canals that flow into the North Sea.

Windmills were once used to run the pumps but electric motors have replaced most of them. Most polders are below sea level so they have no natural drainage. As a result, pumping must be continued after the polders are built.

The Zuider Zee, once a large bay was cut off from the sea in 1932 by a dyke 20 miles long. The development changed the Zuider Zee into a fresh water lake called IJsselmeer. Since then, much of the lake has been drained to make several large polders. This project has added 710 square miles or 1838 square kilometres of land for new farms and cities. The people of Netherlands have great pride in their long battle against the sea.

It is positioned in the North-West of Europe a good position where she can easily get access to other industrial countries of west Europe for example  Britain, France, German, etc

The theme of the Rhinelands finds its completion in the study of the Netherlands, or as it is more popularly known, Holland. In this country we witness the work of the River Rhine over the centuries as it has wandered over its own depositional material on its way out to the North Sea. The Rhine has been perhaps the biggest factor in the development of Holland into one of the world's major manufacturing and trading nations.

Together with Holland's unique geographical position, i.e. its close proximity to Europe's industrialized and developed nations, Britain, Germany and France, and its central position within the North Sea (the world's busiest shipping lane), it is understandable that Holland should have grown into an important trading country.

 Map of The Netherlands showing location and major features

 

However, the fact that the Dutch have added to that the status of being amongst the world's leading industrialized and agricultural countries, has only been achieved by sheer hard work, inventive brilliance, a capacity for far-sighted planning, and the unfailing will to protect, preserve and where possible to extend their land.

Location

It is in the extreme North of the Rhine Basin next to the North sea. It lies between 51°N and 54° N, and 4E to 7E.

Size

It has an area of about 34,000 km². This is a very small country compared to Uganda which has a size of 243,000 square kilometres.

Population

Netherlands has a population of over 13 million people with a population density of about 400 persons per km².

Handicaps of Small Size

Initially, small size can be a favourable factor in nation-making, but although the country's small area assisted its early development, to-day it suffers several handicaps because of its limited size.

The population, which is continuing to expand, is already cramped and there is virtually no room for expansion. With the loss of most of her overseas possessions, the Netherlands now has very limited overseas outlets.

Larger areas usually imply enlarged resources; think, for example, of the abundant and varied resources of the U.S.A. or the U.S.S.R. The Netherlands's resources are extremely limited, and she is sadly lacking in power and mineral resources.

Because of the limited area there is little sectional diversity of crops; moreover, adverse weather conditions resulting in crop failure becomes a national calamity instead of a sectional one.

A small state tends to reach the limit of its resources earlier than does a larger one for the simple reason that its resources tend to be fewer and more limited and are, therefore, more readily consumed. A small state can seldom fall back upon its reserves because it has none.

A small state is highly vulnerable in time of war. There can be no defence in depth (as in the Second World War) nor any hope of survival in space (as in any nuclear war).