North of Belgium on the North Sea coast is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, popularly known as Holland, after one of the provinces. About one-third of the land was reclaimed from the sea through the construction of dikes and canals. Without these structures, over half of the land area would be under water. The country reached the height of its financial and cultural glory in the seventeenth century, with the birth of the Dutch banking industry and the paintings of Rembrandt and Vermeer. The Netherlands is still an important international center for finance, fashion, and trade.

The Netherlands is famous for its prosperous cities, its rich cultural heritage, and its charming countryside dotted with quaint villages and picturesque windmills. The Dutch people are known for their love of the arts, their progressive attitudes, and their uninhibited pursuit of pleasure.

A system of dikes protects all of the western Netherlands. Most of Amsterdam is below sea level, making building extremely difficult. During the Middle Ages, houses were made from wood to keep their weight to a minimum. The use of brick and stone in buildings required the foundations to be built on wood pilings, to prevent them from sinking. The Royal Palace was built on 13,659 pilings.

Amsterdam is a city of scenic canals, medieval Gothic and Renaissance architecture, and public squares bustling with merry international travelers. Throughout the city, street performers entertain visitors at sidewalk cafes. The main tourism areas are the Leidseplein, the center of the entertainment district, and the Dam, the site of the Royal Palace. The Leidseplein is surrounded by restaurants, cinemas, theaters, and nightclubs. In summer, the square is a stage for fire-eaters, jugglers, acrobats, and singers, and, in winter an outdoor skating rink. Sightseeing tours are conducted from open-roof boats that navigate the interlacing canals.

The Rijksmuseum is a showcase for Dutch art, with a vast collection from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including Rembrandt's masterpiece, The Night Watch. The Vincent Van Gogh Museum has 200 paintings and 500 drawings by Van Gogh, as well as works by Gaugin and Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Amsterdam zoo, Natura Artis Magistra (which means "nature is the master of art"), was established in 1838 and has more than 6,000 animals. The zoo also houses a tropical greenhouse, a planetarium, a children's farm, and an aquarium with seals, penguins, and nearly 2,000 fish.

The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government, is the site of quiet boulevards, stately buildings, and pageantry. Founded in 1250 by Count Willem II of Holland, the city once was located in the middle of a vast forest. The Hague still has an abundance of woods and gardens, giving the city a tranquil, park-like atmosphere. An elaborate ceremony is held on the third Tuesday in September, when the Queen presides over the opening of Parliament. Works by Dutch painters are displayed in the Mauritshuis, a seventeenth-century mansion that has been converted to a museum. In June, the Festival of Opera and Ballet is held in the capital.

Madurodam, near the Hague, is a 1:25 scale model of a Dutch village, complete with a marching band, train, and interior lighting. Scheveningen, once a fishing village linked to the Hague by canal, is now a thriving resort center, with high-rise hotels and a profusion of beach cafes.

Rotterdam, noted for its futuristic skyline, was almost completedly rebuilt after World War II. Many of the buildings were destroyed by bombs in 1940 and replaced with modern structures. St. Lawrence Church, built in 1646, and Schielandshuis, a seventeenth-century mansion, are among the few original buildings that still stand. Europoort, built at the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg, is the world's largest boat harbor. Oberlooking Old Harbour is a row of modernist houses, the Kijk Kubus, shaped like tilted cubes.

Utrecht, in the central Netherlands, is the Dutch classical music capital. Choirs perform free concerts in the cathedral year-round, and the Festival of Early Music is held in September. The city is also known as the home of Adrian IV, the only Dutch pope. Utrecht's canals are lined with quaint restaurants and shops housed in converted warehouses. Boat trips transport visitors beneath cobblestone bridges and past ourteenth-century houses.

Beside sightseeing, arts, and entertainment, shopping is also a popular leisure pastime in the Netherlands. Traditional Dutch products include cheese, tulips, wooden shoes, cigars, diamonds, and gin. A cheese market and a cheese museum are located in Alkmaar, 22 miles from Amsterdam. Delft, the birthplace of Vermeer, is known for its pottery. The Keukenhof Bulb Gardens in Lisse are a showcase for tulips. Between April and early May, residents of the neighboring towns compete to create the best flower mosaics on their lawns. The Kinderdijk windmills, near Molenkade, are also a popular attraction.

Valkenburg, in the province of Limburg, is a fortified town with prehistoric caves and Roman catacombs. The castle ruins offer dramatic views of the sloping Geul valley. Drielandenpunt, at the border with Belgium and Germany is the highest point in the Netherlands. The people of Limburg speak a dialect similar to German and eat French-style cuisine.