Netherlands, The

The, a kingdom of western Europe. The name means Lowlands. The kingdom includes not only the provinces of the country formerly known as Holland but adjacent territory as well. It occupies the territory about the mouths of the Rhine and the Zuider Zee (ziderze). It is built chiefly of soil brought down from the Alps by the Rhine.

DIKES. With the exception of a number of sand hills along the coast formed by the wind and others near the Danish frontier, the Netherlands may be described as a country without mountains, rocks, or springs. The greater part of the surface has, in fact, been reclaimed from the ocean by building immense earthen walls or dikes, and pumping out the water within. These dikes are of great width and not infrequently from forty to sixty feet high. They cross each other at various angles, forming a network. The areas of meadow and field thus inclosed are called polders. The railways and roads, as well as the canals, follow the tops of the wide embankments. People at work in the fields are surrounded by high embankments along the tops of which they can see trains or the masts of canal boats against the sky. Passengers in canal boats look down as from a railway embankment upon cattle in the meadows and people in the fields on either side. Sixty millions of dollars have been expended in the construction of these dikes and in pumping out water. Public pumps propelled by windmills are one of the features of the Dutch landscape. Over ninety lakes have been drained in this way. The government has of late begun the reclamation of large portions of the Zuider Zee, the waters of which are very shallow and cover mud flats of enormous productivity. There is, of course, constant danger that the sea may break through the embankments and flood the country within. Despite the utmost watchfulness this has happened more than once. Seventy villages and 100,000 people were swept away by an inundation in the thirteenth century. There are about 2,000 miles of canals. The greatest is a ship canal 26 feet deep and 197 wide, leading from the North Sea to Amsterdam. Others are almost as large.

CLIMATE. The winters of Holland are much colder than those of Great Britain. The canals, being practically without current, are frozen over with regularity and afford fine skating. Everybody skates. As might be expected from a country lying so low, the summer is foggy. It is said that nine days out of ten are cloudy or foggy.

AGRICULTURE. The soil of Holland is composed of fine silt brought down by the rivers or washed back by the sea. It is exceedingly fertile. Wheat is raised in parts of the country where the sky is brightest. The chief field crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, flax, and beets. The Dutch are famous raisers of vegetables and flowers. Flowering bulbs, as tulips, lilies, etc., form an important article of export. The export of bulbs and shrubs for 1902 was valued at $16,920,000. Vegetable and flower seeds are raised for sale to other countries. Bees and poultry are a source of wealth. Holland is one of the great dairy countries of the world. Enormous quantities of cheese and butter are exported to the English and German markets. About 6,000 ships and 20,000 seamen are employed in fishing for oysters, herring, and other fish in the North Sea.

MANUFACTURES. The Netherlands are not noted for manufactures. The country has a reputation for the fine linen known as holland, and for woolen cloth. Schiedam is noted for distilleries. The large pipes for which the Dutch are noted are made at home. There are manufactures of pottery, brick, tile, and glassware. Shipbuilding is carried on at some of the seaports. The extreme southeastern part of the country next to Belgium yields a supply of excellent coal.

COMMERCE. The merchants of the Netherlands carry on an extensive commerce; chiefly, however, with the colonial possessions in the East and the West Indies. These possessions embrace an area of 783,000 square miles, and have a population of 36,000,000, about seven times as large as that of the Netherlands itself. From Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Celebes, and other East Indian possessions, rice, coffee, sugar, indigo, pepper, tea, tobacco, oil-nuts, dyestuffs, pearls, tin, and other articles are imported. Cacao, bananas, coffee, rice, Indian corn, rum, and molasses are imported from Dutch Guiana and the islands owned in the West Indies.

INHABITANTS. The people of the Netherlands are of German stock. By way of distinction from the Germans of Saxony, Prussia, etc., they are called Low Germans, or Dutch. The people are, as a class, industrious and contented. The Dutch housekeepers are famous for neatness. It is, of course, an exaggeration to say that they require visitors to take off their boots before entering the cow stable. The inhabitants are partial to wooden shoes. Considerable sport has been made on this account. As a matter of fact, however, wooden shoes are very suitable for use in a muddy country. They not only keep the feet dry, but may be removed readily.

Holland has been called the "grocer of Europe." The merchants of this country buy and sell more goods per inhabitant than is true of any other country in the world. The Dutch are considered the greatest tobacco users in the world, the annual consumption being set at an incredible number of pounds per person. The people are also the greatest coffee drinkers in the world. The annual domestic consumption is twenty pounds per inhabitant. Holland is also the most thrifty country in the world. A gate off its hinges or a tumble-down house is unknown. There is comparatively little pauperism and crime.

RELIGION. About two-thirds of the inhabitants belong to the Reformed Church, a kind of Presbyterianism. Nearly one-third are Roman Catholics. The churches of both religions are supported at state expense. There is a complete system of state education. It is non-denominational in character, and is compulsory. There are numerous public preparatory schools. Although the country is not large, there are four universities, at Leyden, Utrecht, Groningen, and Amsterdam.

GOVERNMENT. During the seventeenth century Holland was the leading naval power of the world. It was during this period that New Amsterdam, now New York, was founded. The present government is a constitutional monarchy. Queen Wilhelmina ascended the throne in 1890. She is given an allowance of $320,000 a year. The real government of the country rests in a congress of two houses and a cabinet of ministers. The state owns about half of the railways and many of the telegraph lines. An express system is conducted in connection with the postoffices. There are twenty-four cities, each having a population of more than 20,000 inhabitants. Amsterdam, the metropolis, is the largest city. Rotterdam, the Hague, and Utrecht follow in the order named.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest available:

See Amsterdam; Rotterdam; The Hague; Utrecht; Limburg