The Netherlands.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815 and is located in the West of Europe, bordering the North Sea. Our climate is marine, cool summers and mild winters.

The Netherlands is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.

The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces. For more on this and other naming issues see terminology of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying and densely populated country. It is popularly known for its traditional windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), delftware and gouda pottery, for its bicycles, its dikes and surge barriers, and, on the other hand, traditional values and civil virtues such as its classic social tolerance. But primarily, the Netherlands is a modern, advanced and open society. An old parliamentary democracy, the country is more recently known for its rather liberal policies toward recreational drugs, prostitution, abortion, and euthanasia. The Netherlands is also one of the most densely cabled countries in the world; its internet connection rate is 87.8%, the 2nd highest in the world.

The Netherlands has an international outlook; among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is one of three member nations of the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international(ised) courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. All of these courts (except the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), as well as the EU's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), are situated in The Hague, which has led to the city being referred to as "the world's legal capital."

The terrain is mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders).

The population is about 16,067,754 (July 2002 EST.)

The city of Veenendaal.

The city of Veenendaal is located in the center of the Netherlands near Utrecht. It has about 60,000 inhabitants, 2900 enterprises and 553 shops. Veenendaal is a very active town with numerous public facilities and its a very attractive town with separate residential and industrial areas. The cities of Arnhem and Utrecht are less than 30 kilometres away. Within a short distance of the town you can admire the beautiful scenery of woods, hills and the national park.

Veenendaal is a municipality and a town in central Netherlands, it is part of the province of Utrecht. Veenendaal is the only population centre within its administrative borders. The municipality has 61,681 inhabitants and an area of 19,81 square kilometres, most of which is covered with built-up area. The original village was founded in the 16th century as a peat colony from which it got its name. 'Veenen' is the old (plural) Dutch word for peat and 'daal' for valley, so literally the name means 'peatvalley'.

Until just after World War II, Veenendaal remained a small community with only a few thousand residents. In the last fifty years the town grew rapidly to the 60,000+ inhabitants of today. Until the second half of the 20th century, Veenendaal was divided into two parts, a 'Gelders' and an 'Utrechts' part ('Gelders' comes from Gelderland and 'Utrechts' from Utrecht, both Dutch provinces). This is because in the first few centuries of the town's existence it was too small to be its own municipality. The southern half eventually became independent from Rhenen and Renswoude in 1795. The northern half separated from Ede in 1960.

In 1997 it was elected the greenest city of Europe and in 2004 of the Netherlands. In 2000 the town was elected best bicycle city of the Netherlands.