EUROPE

Kingdom of the Netherlands

A country that argued with the sea and won, reclaiming a sixth of its land from the water. The Netherlands runs on bicycles, canals and an unshakeable belief that flat is beautiful.

WHAT THE FLAG MEANS ◢

Three horizontal bands of red, white and blue, one of the oldest tricolours in use. It descends from the 16th-century Prince's Flag of orange, white and blue, with the orange later settling into red; no formal meaning is assigned to the colours.

Kingdom of the Netherlands FACTS ◢

Capital	Amsterdam
Continent	Europe
Population	18,087,633 (2025)
Area	42,201 km²
Population density	429/km²
Currency	Euro (EUR)
Official language	Dutch
Calling code	+31
Internet TLD	.nl
Time zone	UTC+01:00
Drives on the	Right
ISO codes	NL / NLD

DID YOU KNOW? ◢

About a quarter of the country sits below sea level, kept dry by an elaborate system of dikes and pumps.
Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, but the government and royal family are based in The Hague.
It's one of the flattest countries on Earth, with its highest point barely reaching 322 metres.
There are more bicycles in the country than people.
It's the world's second-largest exporter of agricultural goods despite its small size.