1.
Sint Maarten
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Sint Maarten is an island country in the Caribbean. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, before 10 October 2010, Sint Maarten was known as the Island Territory of Sint Maarten, and was one of five island territories that constituted the Netherlands Antilles. However, though he claimed it as a Spanish territory, Columbus never landed there, the French and Dutch, on the other hand, both coveted the island. While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam and Brazil. With few people inhabiting the island, the Dutch easily founded a settlement there in 1631, jan Claeszen Van Campen became its first governor, and soon thereafter the Dutch West India Company began its salt mining operations. French and British settlements sprang up on the island as well, taking note of these successful colonies and wanting to maintain their control of the salt trade, the Spanish now found St. Martin much more appealing. The Eighty Years War which had been raging between Spain and the Netherlands provided further incentive to attack, Spanish forces captured Saint Martin from the Dutch in 1633, seizing control and driving most or all of the colonists off the island. At Point Blanche, they built what is now Old Spanish Fort to secure the territory, although the Dutch retaliated in several attempts to win back St. Martin, they failed. Fifteen years after the Spanish conquered the island, the Eighty Years War ended, since they no longer needed a base in the Caribbean and St. Martin barely turned a profit, the Spanish lost their inclination to continue defending it. In 1648, they deserted the island, with St. Martin free again, both the Dutch and the French jumped at the chance to re-establish their settlements. Dutch colonists came from St. Eustatius, while the French came from St. Kitts, after some initial conflict, both sides realized that neither would yield easily. Preferring to avoid a war, they signed the Treaty of Concordia in 1648. During the treatys negotiation, the French had a fleet of ships off shore. In spite of the treaty, relations between the two sides were not always cordial, between 1648 and 1816, conflicts changed the border sixteen times. The entire island came under effective French control from 1795 when Netherlands became a state under the French Empire until 1815. In the end, the French came out ahead with 53 km2 against 34 km2 on the Dutch side, with the new cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and sugar, the French and the Dutch imported a massive number of slaves to work on the plantations. The slave population grew larger than that of the land owners. Subjected to cruel treatment, slaves staged rebellions, and their overwhelming numbers made it impossible to ignore their concerns, in 1848, the French abolished slavery in their colonies including the French side of St. Martin
2.
Tropical cyclone
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds
3.
Crown Princess (ship)
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Crown Princess is a Grand-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises. Her maiden voyage took place on June 14,2006, departing Red Hook, Brooklyn for Grand Turk, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, as of 2015, the Crown Princess sails to Mexico for the Winter season, and Alaska for the Summer season. Like her sister ships Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess her Skywalkers Night Club is built aft of the rather than suspended over the stern. In December 2012, the Crown Princess made a crossing from Venice to Galveston. When the ship arrived in Galveston on December 22,2012, the Crown Princess had previously been plagued by two separate outbreaks of norovirus in January/February 2012. On July 18,2006 at approximately 3,30 pm ET, one hour after departing her last port of call in Port Canaveral, the U. S. Coast Guard was contacted shortly after and crews arrived within minutes to assist the troubled vessel. The second officer turned the wheel first to port and then from port to starboard several times, eventually causing the vessel to list even more, the severe listing tumbled passengers, crew members, pool water, and everything else not secured about the decks. Fourteen passengers and crew members were injured, one suffering breathing difficulties after being hit in the chest by an airborne chair. Water from the four on-board pools poured into staircases and lift shafts, most injuries were on the outdoor areas of Decks 15 and 16, where large beach chairs and tables hit and injured passengers. The other area that had many injured passengers was the areas in the grand atrium. Many there were hit by falling objects and heavy marble tables, one woman who had an extended hospital stay was thrown against the glass wall on Deck 15 and covered by pool chairs and water from the pools themselves, being trapped underwater for several seconds. One passenger said Afterward it was like a war zone with people walking around bleeding, and another added All the windows were smashed. The top deck looked like a hurricane had hit it, no passengers or crew went overboard. The matter was referred to the National Transportation Safety Board and United States Coast Guard for investigation, after an internal review by Princess Cruises, its president Alan Buckelew publicly stated that the incident was due to human error and the appropriate personnel changes have been made. With approval from the Coast Guard and the Bermuda flag authorities, since then, Crown Princess has resumed her normal schedule. Crown Princess until November 2012 was sailing the Mediterranean, in November 2012 the ship sailed to Galveston, Texas for the first time, marking the return of Princess to Galveston, where she sailed 7-Day western Caribbean cruises. In April 2013 she sailed to Southampton, where she sailed to northern Europe/the Mediterranean & the Canary Islands, following that stint, Crown Princess will returned to the United States to Fort Lauderdale, Florida sailing alternating 7-Day eastern/southern Caribbean cruises to February 2014. On January 18,2013 it was announced that Crown Princess will sail around South America, during that cruise Princess Cruises marked the first ever call in Ilhabela, Brazil
4.
MS Oasis of the Seas
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MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and delivered to Royal Caribbean in October 2009, at the time of construction, Oasis of the Seas set a new capacity record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The first of her class, she was joined by sister ships MS Allure of the Seas in December 2010, Oasis of the Seas conducts cruises of the Caribbean from her home port of Port Canaveral in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Oasis of the Seas surpassed the Freedom-class cruise ships to become the largest cruise ship in the world at that time, in May 2016, her second sister ship Harmony of the Seas became the new record holder with a length of 362.12 metres. The vessel was ordered in February 2006 and designed under the name Project Genesis and her keel was laid down on 12 November 2007 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. The company announced that funding for Oasis of the Seas was secured on 15 April 2009. The name Oasis of the Seas resulted from a competition held in May 2008, during the first float-out of the vessel the tugboats that were pulling the ship from its dock failed to control the ship, resulting in the port side of the ship hitting the dock. This resulted in some damage and minor damage to the hull. The ship was completed and turned over to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2009, two days later, she departed Finland for the United States. While exiting the Baltic Sea, the vessel passed underneath the Great Belt Fixed Link in Denmark on 31 October 2009 at 23,18 UTC, the bridge has a clearance of 65 m above the water, Oasis normally has an air draft of 72 m. Approaching the bridge at 23 knots, the passed under it with less than 60 centimetres of clearance. The ship arrived there on 13 November 2009, where plants were installed prior to some introductory trips. Oasis had a refit in winter 2011, adding the DreamWorks Experience which allows passengers to interact with characters, such as Shrek. The Oasis-class also now features 3D movies, Oasis underwent a second drydock refit in October 2014. In addition, the Broadway-style production of Hairspray was replaced with a production of Cats, the gross tonnage of Oasis of the Seas is 225,282. Her displacement—the actual mass of the vessel—is estimated at approximately 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. To keep the ship stable without increasing the draft excessively, the created a wide hull,9.3 metres of the ship sits beneath the water. Wide, shallow ships such as this tend to be snappy, meaning that they can snap back upright after a wave has passed and this effect, however, is mitigated by the vessels large size
5.
Boeing 747
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The Boeing 747 is an American wide-body commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet. Its distinctive hump upper deck along the part of the aircraft makes it among the worlds most recognizable aircraft. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years, as of January 2017, the 747 has been involved in 60 hull losses, resulting in 3722 fatalities. The four-engine 747 uses a configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions, the 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold, but it exceeded critics expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. By February 2017,1,528 aircraft had been built, the 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0. 85–0.855 with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles. The newest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production, deliveries of the 747-8F freighter version began in October 2011, deliveries of the 747-8I passenger version began in May 2012. In 1963, the United States Air Force started a series of projects on a very large strategic transport aircraft. The payload bay had to be 17 feet wide by 13.5 feet high and 100 feet long with access doors at the front. Featuring only four engines, the design required new engine designs with greatly increased power and better fuel economy. After a downselect, Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed were given study contracts for the airframe, along with General Electric. All three of the airframe proposals shared a number of features, as the CX-HLS needed to be able to be loaded from the front, a door had to be included where the cockpit usually was. In 1965 Lockheeds aircraft design and General Electrics engine design were selected for the new C-5 Galaxy transport, the nose door and raised cockpit concepts would be carried over to the design of the 747. The 747 was conceived while air travel was increasing in the 1960s, the era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, had revolutionized long-distance travel. In 1965, Joe Sutter was transferred from Boeings 737 development team to manage the design studies for a new airliner, Sutter initiated a design study with Pan Am and other airlines, to better understand their requirements. At the time, it was thought that the 747 would eventually be superseded by supersonic transport aircraft. Boeing responded by designing the 747 so that it could be adapted easily to carry freight, in the freighter role, the clear need was to support the containerized shipping methodologies that were being widely introduced at about the same time. Standard containers are 8 ft square at the front and available in 20 and 40 ft lengths and this meant that it would be possible to support a 2-wide 2-high stack of containers two or three ranks deep with a fuselage size similar to the earlier CX-HLS project
6.
Princess Juliana International Airport
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Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, located on the Dutch side of the island in the country of Sint Maarten. In 2010, the airport handled 1,645,105 passengers and 60,870 aircraft movements. The airport serves as a hub for Windward Islands Airways and is the gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy. It is named after Juliana of the Netherlands, who as crown princess landed here in 1944, there is also an airport on the French side of the island, called Aéroport de Grand Case or LEspérance Airport. The airport is perhaps best known for very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore, the airport was started as a military airstrip in 1942. It was converted to an airport in 1943. In 1964 the airport was remodeled and relocated, with a new terminal building, the facilities were upgraded in 1985 and 2001. Phase I was a program in order to upgrade existing facilities. This included widening, strengthening and renovating the runway, increasing the capacity of the taxiways, construction of a new apron. Phase I was completed in 2001, the new air traffic control tower and the radar station commenced operations on 29 March 2004, while the new terminal opened in late October 2006. The terminal has 4 jetways for large aircraft like 747s, if traffic develops as forecast, Phase III of the masterplan will be executed, consisting of an extension of the new terminal building and the construction of a full parallel taxiway system. The new terminal building also have more jetways and services etc. In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, after some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands, and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. In July 2016, KLM announced to serve the airport with flights from Amsterdam instead by a triangle route via Curaçao from October 2016. Due to this change, the airport lost its last regular Boeing 747 service - which was a photo opportunity on the nearby beach - as KLM uses Airbus A330s for the changed schedule. Because the approach to Runway 10 is over water, pilots can become disoriented regarding their perceived altitude when operating under visual flight rules, normal instrument checks, coupled with experience and situational awareness, mitigate potential problems. The departure from Runway 10 presents more difficulties than the approach, arriving aircraft approach the island on the last section of the final approach for Runway 10, following a 3° glide slope flying low over the famous Maho Beach. Pictures of low flying aircraft were published in news magazines worldwide in early 2000
7.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
8.
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
9.
Oranjestad, Aruba
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Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the end of the island country. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to simply as Playa, as of 2015, the population of the capital was around 35,000. The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796, initially the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses, a place from which native-bred horses were raised and exported to neighboring Curaçao. The town has ever since been the city of the island. The city is named after the first King William I of the Netherlands, the name was conferred on the city in the 1820s when interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of gold deposits. Air Aruba once had its headquarters in Oranjestad, Air Aruba suspended its operations on October 23,2000. Tiara Air has had its office in Oranjestad since 2006 except between 2014 and 2016 when the company suspended services due to the Venezuelan Airline Crisis. Small portions of the city are formed from a series of expansions of land into the sea. Present-day Renaissance Marketplace, as well as the adjacent Queen Wilhelmina Park, Oranjestad has a hot semi-arid climate with significant tropical influence. Temperatures are hot and the climate is humid with low diurnal temperature variation year-round, there is some Dutch Colonial architecture. Several modern recreations have emerged, including the shopping mall at Royal Plaza. Fort Zoutman is one of the attractions, others being the tax-free harbour. There are about eight museums on the island, the city received international publicity when tourist Natalee Holloway disappeared there in 2005. Renaissance Island is a 40 acres artificial island off the coast near Oranjestad and it is privately owned and has the only private beaches on Aruba. There are two beaches, Iguana Beach and Flamingo Beach, a Beechcraft 18 and a Convair 400 were both deliberately sunk about 50 yards offshore to create a diving site. Flamingoes can be seen on the island, Oranjestad is served by the Queen Beatrix International Airport,2.5 kilometers from the city center. Its downtown is served by a tramway line inaugurated in December 2012 and this is in part because the boulevard is closer to the cruise ship terminal and harbour area
10.
Willemstad
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Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Punda was established in 1634, when the Dutch captured the island from Spain, the original name of Punda was de punt in Dutch. Otrobanda, which was founded in 1707, is the section of the city and is considered to be the cultural centre of Willemstad. Its name originated from the Papiamentu otro banda, which means the other side, the Curaçao synagogue was built by Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam and Recife, Brazil. Insel Air, the airline of Curaçao, has its corporate head office in Maduro Plaza. Tourism is an industry and the city has several casinos. The city centre of Willemstad has an array of architecture that is influenced by Dutch styles. Archaeological research has also been developed there, owing to its location near the Venezuelan oilfields, its political stability and its natural deep water harbour, Willemstad became the site of an important seaport and refinery. Willemstads harbour is one of the largest oil handling ports in the Caribbean, the refinery, at one point the largest in the world, was originally built and owned by Royal Dutch Shell in 1915. It was sold to the Curaçao government for the sum of one guilder in 1985 and is now leased to PDVSA. Schlumberger, the worlds largest oil field services company is incorporated in Willemstad, numerous financial institutions are incorporated in Willemstad due to Curaçaos favourable tax policies. Avalon University School of Medicine is located in Willemstad, Caribbean Medical University is located in Willemstad - close to downtown. Major League Baseball players Jair Jurrjens, Wladimir Balentien, Jurickson Profar, Andruw Jones, Kenley Jansen, pabao Little League has appeared in five Little League World Series, winning in 2004. S. Willemstad is served by Hato International Airport, Punda and Otrobanda are connected by Queen Emma Bridge, a long pontoon bridge. Although it is still in use, these days most road traffic now uses the Queen Juliana Bridge built in 1967 which arches high over the bay further inland, nearby is also the now non-functioning Queen Wilhelmina Bridge drawbridge. Willemstad has a tropical savannah climate, Baseball player Andruw Jones was born in Willemstad
11.
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
12.
Assen
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Assen is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809, Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Sunday in June the Dutch TT is run, and also for the annual Assen Dance Festival. Anreep, Assen, De Haar, Graswijk, Loon, Rhee, Schieven, Ter Aard, Ubbena, Witten, Zeijerveen and his successor ordered the nunnery to be built as a penalty. As it was located in a barren area, which also happened to flood from time to time. A better and especially drier spot for the Cistercian abbey was found in a known as Witten. Around it were village communities like Deurze, Witten and Peelo, the latter has a history which goes back to the times from when Dolmens were built, but it is now situated between two new districts of Assen. The relocated abbey probably was erected in the 1260s, and over the centuries Assen developed around it, the abbey was built at what now is the Brink of Assen. On the abbey now stands the Drents Museum, which was built in 1882 as provinciehuis. Only the abdijkerk, the grounds, and bits and pieces of walls remind us of the beginnings of the city. The coat of arms is borrowed from the seal of the abbey. It is just like the coat of arms of the province of Drenthe - in both cases Mary with child - but Jesus switches to the other knee, the history of the city is connected with the provincial governing board, around 1600 the abbey property was secularised. Marienkamp no longer existed, but the buildings did, Assen was not a municipality yet, not even ecclesiastical sense. Even though there was a church, Assen fell ecclesiastically and administratively under Rolde. In 1615 Assen got its own preacher, in 1807 Assen administratively freed itself from the control of Rolde when the village got to establish its own municipal authorities. A municipal authority which moreover in most cases operated in the shadow of the provincial government, the municipal authority mainly got there because of matter of provincial governors like Governor Petrus Hofstede, to which the city also thanks its uniquely located park. From that time Assen also obtained its nickname het Herenbolwerk, Assen has been an official city since 1809. After Coevorden, then a village of about sixteen hundred people, Assen became the place in Drenthe with city rights, granted by King Louis Napoleon. A plan to make it a city was set up at the time, but the Kingdom of the Netherlands was incorporated into Napoleon Bonapartes French Empire, as an administrative centre, Assen attracted well-to-do inhabitants and with that also new enterprises and initiatives
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Sint Maarten
