The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a country in west Europe. has a total area of 37,290 km2. The climate is temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters. The terrain is mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (known as polders); some hills in south- east. Natural resources are natural gas, crude oil, fertilesoil. The religion is 36% Roman Catholic, 27% Protestant, 4% other, 33% unaffiliated. The language is Dutch with Frisian also spoken.
Historically, most Dutch towns were ruled by merchant groups until in 1504 the area was taken over by the dukes of Burgundy and the Spanish Hapsburgs. Opposition to Spanish rule led to rebellion led by William, Prince of Orange in 1568 and seven northern provinces formed the United provinces which in 1648 were recognised as the Dutch Republic. A civil dispute continued until 1672 when William III (William of Orange) of England became ruler of the area. In 1814 the Netherlands became a kingdom. Research Netherlands
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Netherlands