Netherlands

The Netherlands, a strip of fertile and reclaimed land, is strategically positioned in Northwest Europe. With more than 17 million inhabitants the Royal Kingdom of The Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy, is the most densely populated country in the world. Over half of the country’s total surface (41.538 km²) is in use for agriculture. The country enjoys its state of the art: sea, rail and trucking ports and distribution networks of European’s most vital waterways (Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt). Important old cities are the capital Amsterdam with its 7.000 monuments, residential The Hague and Utrecht; Rotterdam, with its international container harbour, is the modern place to be. The Netherlands is known for milk, dairy and cheese, arable and horticulture farming; vegetables and flowers in fully computerized greenhouses. Precision farming and automatic milking systems are well developed. In 2016 the total value of agricultural exports amounted to an unprecedented nearly 90 billion euros. After the United States, The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural products. Other treasures of the country and its culture include art and paintings, and Dutch design.