Portal:Netherlands
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Welcome to the Netherlands Portal
Welkom bij het Nederlandportaal!
The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and three overseas special municipalities. European Netherlands has land borders with Germany to the east and with Belgium to the south, and a coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium in the North Sea. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories. People from the Netherlands are referred to as Dutch.
The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation (separation of citizens into groups by religion and political beliefs) and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the eleventh-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, cabinet, and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the fourth busiest in Europe. Being a developed country, the Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are in The Hague. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Rienks won the gold medal in the men's double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Ronald Florijn. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, he repeated his gold medal performance winning the eight with coxswain event with the Holland Acht (Holland Eight). He also competed at the 1984 and 2000 Olympics but finished outside the podium.
With Henk-Jan Zwolle he won the gold medal in the double sculls competition at the 1991 World Rowing Championships. He also won three silver medals at the world championships in 1989 (double sculls), 1994 and 1995 (eights).
Did you know (auto-generated)

- ... that colonial-era bureaucrat Tan Jin Sing's close relationship with Europeans led to the saying that he was "no longer a Chinese, not yet a Dutchman, a half-baked Javanese"?
- ... that the Dutch author of books for children and adults Clare Lennart finally turned to full-time writing after her husband retired and took care of the household?
- ... that the Jewish cemetery in the Dutch city of Hoorn was cleared in 1968 to make room for a roadway, and the bodily remains and gravestones were moved to the public cemetery?
- ... that Dutch rabbi Meijer de Hond, who grew up in poverty, was known as the Volksrebbe ('people's rabbi') for his popularity among the Jewish poor of Amsterdam?
- ... that the Dutch women's 4 × 400 metres relay team, having never won a medal before, won European titles in 2021, in 2022, in 2023, in 2024, and in 2025?
- ... that Jacob Christiaan Koningsberger, a biologist who catalogued the flora and fauna of Java, also served as the Dutch minister of the colonies?
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![Image 1 A newspaper advertisement for Kedok Ketawa from SurabayaKedok Ketawa ([kəˈdɔk̚ kəˈtawa]; Indonesian for 'The Laughing Mask', also known by the Dutch title Het Lachende Masker) is a 1940 action film from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Union Films' first production, it was directed by Jo An Djan. Starring Basoeki Resobowo, Fatimah, and Oedjang, the film follows a young couple who fight off criminals with the help of a masked man.Advertised as an "Indonesian cocktail of violent actions ... and sweet romance", Kedok Ketawa received positive reviews, particularly for its cinematography. Following the success of the film, Union produced another six works before being shut down in early 1942 during the Japanese occupation. The film, screened until at least August 1944, may be lost. (Full article...)](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Blank.png)















