Where is the Netherlands?
The Netherlands is in Europe. It lies on the North Sea, next to Germany and Belgium. She has a population of 16 million citizens within an area of 41,526 sq km. ‘Nether’ stands for “low” or “below” and indeed Netherlands are, literally the low lands.
The Netherlands is sometimes called Holland. This is not right, because Holland is the name of two of the twelve provinces that make up the Netherlands: North Holland and South Holland.
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch, HRH Queen Beatrix is the Dutch head of state and together with the ministers, make up the government. The Dutch flag is red, white and blue.
Most of the inhabitants of the Netherlands live in the west of the country, where the four largest cities are located: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. This area is known as the Randstad. Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but The Hague is the seat of the government.
The Netherlands is a multicultural society. Other than Moroccan and Turkish; many people from Suriname and Indonesia live in the Netherlands. This is because at one time, these countries belonged to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, a group of islands in the Caribbean, still belong to the Netherlands.
Out of the total 16 million populations in the Netherlands, 95%are of Dutch nationalities while the rest of the 5% consists of peoples of other nationalities. Moreover, 31% of the Dutch people are Catholic, 21% Protestant, 5.3% Muslim 2.7% with other religions with the remaining 40% do not belong to any religion.
The Netherlands became very rich in the 17th century, and that is why it is called the Golden Age. The Netherlands did a lot of trade in Indonesia and Malacca ( Melaka ) in the Far East and also to Japan where trading posts for buying and selling were set up in all these countries.
Dutch merchants ( traders ) made lots of money from their trade with foreign countries. They would sail to distant lands in ships loaded with silvers and gold, which they used to buy things they could not get in the Netherlands, such as spices ( pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves ), silk, cotton, porcelain, coffee, tea and sugar.
The ships that sailed to the Far East belonged to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch name of the company was Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or VOC for short. The VOC was set up by merchants in 1602 and existed for almost 200 years.
Today the one reason why the Netherlands has been able to grow and prosper is the fact that she has shaped her environment. The Dutch people are famously known for flood defences , dams, levees, and storm surge barriers. The history of the Netherlands is very much the history of water defence strategies and land reclamation. It is this history of adapting to change, inventing and reinventing, experimenting and innovating that have kept the Dutch people’s feet dry! If it weren’t for their sophisticated system of water defences, two-thirds of the Netherlands would be flooded. Incidentally, the lowest point is an area within the town of Nieuwerkerk aan de Ijssel, which is 6.74 meters below sea level.
Well-known Dutch companies in Malaysia include:-
Philips
Shell
Unilever
Oce
Thales.
Also visit www.netherlands.org.my the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malaysia
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Holland Days Opening Ceremony in Malacca ( Melaka )
Got up pretty early at 6.30 am this morning and before anything else sms a “wake up call” message to Jason. Met up at MAM at 8.30am and proceed straight to the Town Council Exhibition Hall with bags full of coins and laminated copies of data…….
4 numbers of empty 4 ft x 4 ft display cabinet were waiting for us there where it took us approximately 30 minutes and it’s all done. Not bad at all!
We proceeded to the Dutch Square where His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Lody Embrechts had already arrived. His Excellency commented personally to Jason on MAM www.maritime.emalacca.com ‘s contributions towards this Holland Days and He mentioned again TWICE during his speech soon after. He cited the 27 cows displayed during Holland Days were to represent the 27 members of the European Union ( E.U. ) where the Netherlands acted as the transit point to these EU nations and a center of agriculture excellent.
Before our Chief Minister YAB Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Bin Rustam declared opened the Holland Days exhibition; he touched on a few historical evident relating to Melaka Malay Sultanate, Johor Sultanate and Dutch VOC. In particular the Dutch expanded their influence in the Far East and got the co-operation of the Sultan of Johor to fight jointly Melaka governed by the Portuguese in 1640. The Portuguese finally surrendered to the Dutch in January 1641. For almost 150 years thereafter, the Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) monopolized trade in the Far East via Melaka, with little obstruction from other European powers. Last but not least, CM further encouraged the Dutch Authority to collaborate with Melaysian Government in general and Melaka in particular on agro-based and IT development industries where next year he had hoped that Melaka could send trade delegations and maybe Melaka cows too to the Netherlands instead!
Next our CM proceed to the Municipal Exhibition Hall and upon seeing MAM’s academic reports on Dutch-Melaka Numismatic Cultural Heritage and tin and copper coinage exhibits; he wondered why it wasn’t the governing Museum Authority ( PERZIM) but MAM – a private museum that had prepared this important document? To this our Jason just smiled and presented a VOC tin coin to our CM by saying “it’s our joined efforts with PERZIM too!”
When requested by Jason, CM proceeds to signed onto the prepared bunting thanking him for supporting and preserving Melaka’s cultural heritage.
After the press conference, CM and guest attended refreshments hosted by the organizers and before he left for other upcoming functions shortly after that.
Next, Dutch Deputy Ambassador Mr. Luc Schillings and Melaka City Mayor Datuk Zaini bin Mohd Nor came separately to MAM; expressing satisfaction over our contributions, both in exhibits and documentations towards the Holland Days in Malacca. Related photos of Holland Days in Malacca’s opening ceremony can be viewed at www.melakatoday.spaces.live.com .
On behalf of Maritime Archaeology Museum (MAM), we thank the Melaka Government, under the stewardship of our Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd. Ali bin Rustam, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Lody Embrechts and his delegation; Melaka City Mayor Datuk Zaini, PERZIM and all other relevant entities for various opportunities granted to MAM towards the Holland Days in Malacca.
4 numbers of empty 4 ft x 4 ft display cabinet were waiting for us there where it took us approximately 30 minutes and it’s all done. Not bad at all!
We proceeded to the Dutch Square where His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Lody Embrechts had already arrived. His Excellency commented personally to Jason on MAM www.maritime.emalacca.com ‘s contributions towards this Holland Days and He mentioned again TWICE during his speech soon after. He cited the 27 cows displayed during Holland Days were to represent the 27 members of the European Union ( E.U. ) where the Netherlands acted as the transit point to these EU nations and a center of agriculture excellent.
Before our Chief Minister YAB Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Bin Rustam declared opened the Holland Days exhibition; he touched on a few historical evident relating to Melaka Malay Sultanate, Johor Sultanate and Dutch VOC. In particular the Dutch expanded their influence in the Far East and got the co-operation of the Sultan of Johor to fight jointly Melaka governed by the Portuguese in 1640. The Portuguese finally surrendered to the Dutch in January 1641. For almost 150 years thereafter, the Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) monopolized trade in the Far East via Melaka, with little obstruction from other European powers. Last but not least, CM further encouraged the Dutch Authority to collaborate with Melaysian Government in general and Melaka in particular on agro-based and IT development industries where next year he had hoped that Melaka could send trade delegations and maybe Melaka cows too to the Netherlands instead!
Next our CM proceed to the Municipal Exhibition Hall and upon seeing MAM’s academic reports on Dutch-Melaka Numismatic Cultural Heritage and tin and copper coinage exhibits; he wondered why it wasn’t the governing Museum Authority ( PERZIM) but MAM – a private museum that had prepared this important document? To this our Jason just smiled and presented a VOC tin coin to our CM by saying “it’s our joined efforts with PERZIM too!”
When requested by Jason, CM proceeds to signed onto the prepared bunting thanking him for supporting and preserving Melaka’s cultural heritage.
After the press conference, CM and guest attended refreshments hosted by the organizers and before he left for other upcoming functions shortly after that.
Next, Dutch Deputy Ambassador Mr. Luc Schillings and Melaka City Mayor Datuk Zaini bin Mohd Nor came separately to MAM; expressing satisfaction over our contributions, both in exhibits and documentations towards the Holland Days in Malacca. Related photos of Holland Days in Malacca’s opening ceremony can be viewed at www.melakatoday.spaces.live.com .
On behalf of Maritime Archaeology Museum (MAM), we thank the Melaka Government, under the stewardship of our Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd. Ali bin Rustam, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Lody Embrechts and his delegation; Melaka City Mayor Datuk Zaini, PERZIM and all other relevant entities for various opportunities granted to MAM towards the Holland Days in Malacca.
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