1.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
2.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
3.
Hofvijver
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The Hofvijver is a pond in the centre of The Hague. It is adjoined in the east by the Korte Vijverberg, in the south by the Binnenhof, in the middle there is a small island with plants and trees which has no name, it is usually referred to as the island in the Vijverberg. The term pond is actually a misnomer, as the Hofvijver has its origin in a natural dunelake fed by the Haagse Beek, the Haagse Beek still feeds the Hofvijver and so the pond is directly connected to the dunes in Kijkduin. In this dunelake there was an island on which William II built his palace in 1248, other sources say he built his palace alongside the pond and created a moat around it. The city of The Hague celebrated its 700 years of existence in 1948, Count Albert decided on the rectangular shape in the 14th century. In the 17th century the Hofvijver got quays and in the 19th century it was elongated, up to around 1800 the Binnenhof was still encircled by a moat and was only accessible by bridges. The island in the Vijverberg we know nowadays was only created around 300 years ago, how or why it was created is unknown. In the centre of the stands an flagpole and the island itself counts a number of trees. It is not open to the public, alongside the island there is a fountain in the water. During demonstrations the island has been occupied a couple of times, nowadays the Hofvijver is adjoined in the west by the Buitenhof, but until the 19th century that side was adjoined by houses. The pond is encircled by fairly high quays, but is shallow on some points. In 2004 an underwater gate was built to make sure nobody could swim to the prime ministers office without being detected. His office, the Torentje, adjoins the Hofvijver as it is located on the Binnenhof, on the bank across from the Binnenhof there is a statue of Jantje pointing to the Binnenhof. Jantje probably refers to John I, Count of Holland who died at the age of 15 years, located next to the Vijverberg are several museums, like the Mauritshuis, the Gevangenpoort, the Hague Historical Museum and the Gallery Prince William V. Leo van Heijningen, Duizend jaren Hofvijver, de Hofvijvergeest spreekt, Hapax Media related to Hofvijver at Wikimedia Commons
4.
States General of the Netherlands
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The States General is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets at the Binnenhof in The Hague, the States General originated in the 15th century as an assembly of all the provincial states of the Burgundian Netherlands. The States General were replaced by the National Assembly after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, only to be restored in 1814, the States General was divided into a Senate and a House of Representatives in 1815, with the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. On exceptional occasions, the two form a joint session known as the United Assembly. The President of the Senate serves as President of the States General during a United Assembly, ankie Broekers-Knol has been President of the Senate since 2013. The archaic Dutch word staten originally related to the classes in which medieval European societies were stratified, the clergy, the nobility. The word eventually came to mean the political body in which the estates were represented. Each province in the Habsburg Netherlands had its own staten and these representative bodies in turn were represented in the assembly that came to be known as Staten-Generaal, or Algemene Staten. The English word states may have a meaning as the Dutch word staten. The English phrases States General is probably a translation of the Dutch word. Historically, the term was used for the name of other national legislatures as, for example, the Catalan and Valencian Generalitat. Several geographic place names are derived from the States General, in 1609, Henry Hudson established Dutch trade in Staten Island, New York City and named the island Staaten Eylandt after the States General. Isla de los Estados, now an Argentine island, was named after this institution. Abel Tasman originally gave the name Staten Landt to what would become New Zealand, Staaten River is a river in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Later, regular sessions were held at Coudenberg in Brussels, Brabant, the next important event was the convocation of the States General by the ducal Council for 3 February 1477 after the death of Charles the Bold. In this session the States General forced the grant of the Great Privilege by Mary of Burgundy in which the right of the States General to convene on their own initiative was recognised, in 1576 the States General as a whole, however, openly rebelled against the Spanish crown. In 1579 the States General split as a number of provinces, united in the Union of Arras returned to obedience, while other provinces. After the Act of Abjuration in 1581 the northern States General replaced Philip II as the authority of the northern Netherlands
5.
Ministry of General Affairs (Netherlands)
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The Ministry of General Affairs is the Dutch ministry responsible for Government policy, planning, information and the Dutch royal house. The Ministry was created in 1937 and dissolved in 1945, the Ministry remained small until 1967, when it was greatly expanded by Prime Minister Piet de Jong. Since his premiership the Ministry has continued to expand to the present day, the Ministry is headed by the Minister of General Affairs, who is also the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, currently Mark Rutte. The Ministry is comparable to the German Chancellery, the British Cabinet Office or the U. S, executive Office of the President, but its designation as a Ministry emphasises the role of Prime Minister of the Netherlands as primus inter pares among the ministers of the government. The Ministry has three responsibilities, coordination of government policy, the Dutch Royal House, and government communications about the royal house, the Ministry also houses the Secretariat of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The main offices of the Ministry are located in the Binnenhof, with only about 400 employees, it is by far the smallest Ministry in the Netherlands. The most important divisions of the Ministry of General Affairs are, The Office of the Prime Minister, the following are also parts of the Ministry, but operate with a degree of autonomy, The Scientific Council for Government Policy, The Commission of Dutch Intelligence Services. For a list of the Ministers of General Affairs, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands
6.
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
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He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government. The current prime minister is Mark Rutte, although he is the most important political figure in the Netherlands, the Prime Minister is not as powerful as his British and German counterparts. This is mainly because, due to the Dutch system of proportional representation, therefore, the government is always a coalition between two or more parties. Because of his powers, the prime minister is described as primus inter pares. As a result of the review of 1983, the position of Prime Minister was inscribed into the Dutch constitution for the first time. According to the constitution, the Government is constituted by the King, the constitution stipulates the Prime Minister chairs the council of ministers and is appointed by royal decree. The royal decree of their own appointment and those of the ministers are to be countersigned by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chairs the meetings of the council of ministers and has the power to set the agenda of these meetings. The prime minister is also Minister of General Affairs, which takes an important role in coordinating policy and is responsible for the Government Information Service, the Prime Minister is also responsible for the royal house and has a weekly meeting with the King on government policy. Informally the Prime Minister functions as the face of the cabinet to the public, after the meetings of the cabinet on Friday, the Prime Minister hosts a press conference on the decisions of the cabinet and current affairs. The Prime Minister also has functions in international affairs, attending the European Council every six months. The Prime Ministers office is a hexagon shaped tower, named The Little Tower Het Torentje on the Binnenhof in The Hague, the official residence is the Catshuis. Conventionally, the party with the largest number of seats in the Second Chamber will initiate coalition talks after elections and these negotiations are concluded by means of a so-called government agreement. He or she usually appoints her/himself Prime Minister, a minister from the smaller coalition party usually becomes Deputy Prime Minister of the cabinet. If there is a party in the coalition, one of its ministers will become the second Deputy Prime Minister. For a list of historic Prime Ministers, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, for a list of Prime Ministers by age, see List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands by age. For a list of Prime Ministers by religious affiliations, see Religious affiliations of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, gradually the Prime Minister became an official function of government leader, taken by the political leader of the largest party. Since 1848 the role of the first minister has become relevant, until 1901 the position chair of the council of ministers officially rotated between ministers
7.
County of Holland
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The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of North and South Holland in the Netherlands. The oldest sources refer to the not clearly defined county as Frisia, before 1101, sources talk about Frisian counts, but in this year Floris II, Count of Holland is mentioned as Florentius comes de Hollant. This title was used after Holland was united with Hainault, Bavaria-Straubing. The titles eventually lost their importance, and the last count, Philip II of Spain, around 800, under Charlemagne, the Frankish Empire covered a great deal of Europe. In much of this empire an important unit of administration, corresponding roughly to a shire or county in England, was the gau. A comes or Count ruled over one or more gaue, because of the low trade, the negative trade balance with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim states, and the disappearance of currency, the economy was more or less reduced to bartering. The kings vassals could only be rewarded by giving them land, from this the system of Feudalism developed. The vassals, who were appointed by the king, strove for a system of inheritance. This become more and more the rule, and in 877 it was legalised in the Capitulary of Quierzy, upon the death of a king, the Frankish kingdom was frequently divided among his heirs. This partible inheritance often caused internal struggle which made centralized government problematic, the Viking Raids further undermined centralized government. At the end of the reign of Emperor Louis the Pious, the power had weakened because of the flood of 838. Upon Lothairs death in 855, the part of Middle Francia was awarded to his second son Lothair II. The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 added the Kingdom of Lotharingia — of which the Low Countries were part — to East Francia, which attempted to integrate it. However, there were no connections there were between the four German Stem Duchies of east Francia, the Franconia, the Saxony, the Bavaria. Lotharingia took a position with a large amount of self-determination. This became clear when Louis the Child, the last Carolingian of East Francia, while the Stem Duchies flocked to Duke Conrad I of Franconia, Lotharingia chose for the Carolingian Charles the Simple, king of West Francia. In Frisia the situation was complex, the power was in the hands of Roriks successor Godfrid the Sea King, who became embroiled in the high politics of the Frankish empire. He was allied with the children of the former Carolingian Lotharingian king Lothair II, the main actor in this murder was Everard Saxo, the count of Hamaland
8.
Dutch Republic
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It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
9.
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
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The Top 100 Dutch heritage sites is a list of rijksmonuments in the Netherlands, established in 1990 by the Department for Conservation. The Top 100 was a selection of historical monuments that were authorized to display the symbol of the Hague Convention of 1954, the list should not be confused with the UNESCO World Heritage list. The buildings on the list could expect extra security in the context of the policy, the Top 100 list is no longer official, as the extra cultural protection policy is no longer applied. The following Top 100 also includes a list of the most important stained glass, church bells and organs
10.
Floris IV, Count of Holland
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Floris IV, Count of Holland from 1222 to 1234. He was born at The Hague, a son of William I of Holland and his first wife, Floris IV succeeded his father in 1222. His regent was Baldwin of Bentheim and he acquired the Land of Altena. He had constant disputes with the bishop of Utrecht, Otto II of Lippe, Floris fought against the Stedingers north of Bremen in 1234. On 19 July 1234, he was killed at a tournament in Corbie and he was buried at Rijnsburg Abbey. He married before 6 December 1224 Matilde of Brabant, daughter of Duke Henry I of Brabant and Mathilde of Flanders also referred to as Maud of Boulogne and their children were, William II, Count of Holland. Floris de Voogd, Regent of Holland in 1256–1258, Adelaide of Holland, married, in Frankfurt am Main in 1246, Jean I of Avesnes, Count of Hainaut. She was Regent of Holland in 1258–1263, margaret, married c. 1249 to Count Herman I of Henneberg. Mechtild Floris IV, graaf van Holland Medieval Lands Project on Floris IV, Count of Holland
