Hello everybody. If you read the last post you know very well that our trip to Belgium is over but don’t worry because today we will begin a new adventure to discover the Netherlands (you know or you will know the nation for the rich vegetation, tulips, clogs and especially the bicycle, the means of transport par excellence).

First of all it must be remembered that the Netherlands isn’t “Holland” because with it is indicates only two provinces that form the Netherlands and they are: the North Holland and South Holland.

Having clarified this, we can start.

The Netherlands borders Belgium to the south and Germany to the east and the North Sea to the northwest. The nation also includes the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius that are municipalities with special status. The Netherlands is divided in 12 provinces (North Brabant, Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Holland, North Holland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Zeeland).
The Netherlands is divided into two parts by a complex system of rivers that originate from the Scheldt, the Meuse and the Rhine. This division also shows differences in the cultural aspect (as the different dialects spoken to the north and to the south of rivers) but also differences in the religion aspect (Calvinist to the north and Catholic to the south).

As for the climate, the winter is not very rigid and the summer is pretty cool.

The official language is Dutch but, as in any country of the world, you can’t forget about the dialects (an example is the Low Saxon).

The religion of this nation is Christianity although it must be said that the Netherlands is the country with the highest percentage of atheists inhabitants. Certainly accompanied to Christianity there are always religious minorities. Think that the Netherlands, because of its multicultural aspect (pronounced especially in recent years), makes it the second country (the first is Switzerland) with the highest percentage of immigrants.

The economy is very prosperous and important. The port of Rotterdam (considered the largest port in Europe) is the center where starts the economy.

There are many things to do and see so stay tuned to find out what will be the first city where our adventure will start.