Map of the Netherlands

The Netherlands without dikes, or: above sea level

The geography of the Netherlands is unusual in that much of its land was reclaimed from the sea and is below sea level, protected by dikes. Another factor that shaped its physical appearance ^[1] is, that the country belongs to the most densely populated on earth. It is ranked 15th, but preceded in that list by only three countries with a population over 10 million. It's no wonder then that the Netherlands is very urbanised. Download high resolution version (1036x1178, 266 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1036x1178, 266 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) or Amsterdam Ordnance Datum is a vertical datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. ... For considerations of sea level change, in particular rise associated with possible global warming, see sea level rise. ... Afsluitdijk, a 32 km dike in the Netherlands. ...

Landscape

The country can be divided into 2 areas ^[2]:

• the low and flat lands in the west and north. These lands, including the reclaimed polders and river deltas, make up about half of its surface area and is less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) above sea level, and much of it is actually below sea level. An extensive range of seawalls and coastal dunes protect the Netherlands from the sea, and levees and dikes along the rivers protect against flooding from rivers.
• the higher lands with minor hills in the east and south. Even this portion is mostly flat, only in the extreme south of the country there are some foothills of the Ardennes mountains. This is where Vaalserberg is located, the country's highest point at 322.7 metres (1,053 ft) above sea level.

This article is about the geographical feature. ... Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... A seawall is a form of hard coastal defence constructed on the inland part of a coast to reduce the effects of strong waves and are built in the water. ... This article is about sand formations. ... The Ardennes (IPA pronunciation: ) (Dutch: Ardennen) is a volcanic region of extensive forests and rolling hill country, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes département and the Champagne-Ardenne région). ... The highest point in the Netherlands The Vaalserberg (Mount Vaals) is a mountain of 322. ...

Statistics

Geographic coordinates: ca. 51° - 53° N, 4° - 7° E This article is about longitude and latitude; see also UTM coordinate system Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (vertically) and longitude (horizontally); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which...

• 1 degree = 111 km NS, 68 km EW (the ratio is 0.61, the cosine of the latitude)
• 1 minute = 1,850 m NS (ca. 1 nautical mile), 1,140 m EW
• 1 second = 31 m NS, 19 m EW

Also the Dutch RD coordinate system (Rijksdriehoeksmeting) is common, see [1] (pdf, in Dutch; see little map on p.1) and converter. There is a west-east coordinate between 0 and 280 km, and a south-north coordinate between 300 and 620 km. A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. ...

The reference point is the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren (Our Lady's Tower) in Amersfoort, with RD coordinates (155.000, 463.000) and geographic coordinates ca. 52°9′N, 5°23′E. Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. ...

Rate of change of solar time: 1 minute per 17 km EW. Solar time is based on the idea that when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, it is noon. ...

Highest altitude of the Sun on a day varies at the center from 38.5 - 23.5 = 15 degrees in December to 38.5 + 23.5 = 62 degrees in June. This occurs, depending on east-west location, at ca. 11:40 UTC, i.e. local time 12:40 in winter and 13:40 in summer. Altitude is the elevation of an object from a known level or datum. ...

The coastal dunes are vital to the existence of the Netherlands.

Satellite overview of the Netherlands.

Map references: Europe Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2304 × 1728 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1232x1602, 540 KB) Satellite image of the Netherlands in May 2000. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1232x1602, 540 KB) Satellite image of the Netherlands in May 2000. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Area:
total: 41,526 km² (16,033 mile²)
land: 33,883 km² (13,082 mile²)
water: 7,643 km² (2951 mile²)

Land boundaries:
total: 1,027 km (638 miles)
border countries:

• Belgium 450 km (280 miles)
• Germany 577 km (359 miles)

Coastline: 451 km (280 miles)

Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km / 230 miles)
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km / 14 miles) A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. ...

Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters For the usage in virology, see temperate (virology). ...

Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast This article is about the geographical feature. ...

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Zuidplaspolder (Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel) 7 m (23 ft) below sea level.
highest point: Vaalserberg 321 m (1053 ft) above sea level. Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel (population: 22,344 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ... The highest point in the Netherlands The Vaalserberg (Mount Vaals) is a mountain of 322. ...

Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, arable land For other uses, see Gas (disambiguation). ... Petro redirects here. ...

Land use: (1996 est.)
arable land: 25%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 8%
other: 39%

Irrigated land (1996 est.): 6,000 km² (2300 miles²)

Natural hazards: flooding by sea and rivers is a constant danger. The extensive system of dikes, dams, and sand dunes protect nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded during the heavy autumn-storms from the north-west. Afsluitdijk, a 32 km dike in the Netherlands. ...

Environment - current issues: water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic compounds, and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain Air pollution Pollution is the introduction of pollutants (whether chemical substances, or energy such as noise, heat, or light) into the environment to such a point that its effects become harmful to human health, other living organisms, or the environment. ... For other uses, see Heavy metal (disambiguation). ... Nitrates are the salts of nitric acid. ... In chemistry, a phosphate is a polyatomic ion or radical consisting of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen. ... The term acid rain is commonly used to mean the deposition of acidic components in rain, snow, fog, dew, or dry particles. ...

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Scheldt) For other uses, see Rhine (disambiguation). ... The Meuse(Maas) at Maastricht Length 925 km Elevation of the source 409 m Average discharge 230 m³/s Area watershed 36 000 km² Origin France Mouth Hollands Diep Basin countries France - Belgium - Netherlands The Meuse (Dutch Maas) is a large European river rising in France, flowing through Belgium and... The Scheldt (Dutch: Schelde, French Escaut) is a 350 km[1] long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands. ...

Urbanisation

Largest cities (within the borders of one municipality)

Sources are CBS based

see [2]; and ^[3]

with their provinces in 2006:

1 Amsterdam (North Holland) 744,740 inhabitants
2 Rotterdam (South Holland) 581,615 inh.
3 The Hague ('s-Gravenhage) (South Holland) 474,245 inh.
4 Utrecht (Utrecht) 290,529 inh.
5 Eindhoven (North Brabant) 209,601 inh.
6 Tilburg (North Brabant) 200,975 inh.
7 Almere (Flevoland) 181,990 inh.
8 Groningen (Groningen) 180,824 inh.
9 Breda (North Brabant) 170,451 inh.
10 Nijmegen (Gelderland) 160,732 inh.
11 Apeldoorn (Gelderland) 155,328 inh.
12 Enschede (Overijssel) 154,311 inh.
13 Haarlem (North Holland) 147,179 inh.
14 Arnhem (Gelderland) 142,638 inh.
15 Zaanstad (North Holland) 141,829 inh.
16 Amersfoort (Utrecht) 139,914 inh.
17 Haarlemmermeer (capital city: Hoofddorp) (North Holland) 139,396 inh.
18 's-Hertogenbosch (North Brabant) 135,787 inh.
19 Zoetermeer (South Holland) 118,534 inh.
20 Dordrecht (South Holland) 118,443 inh.
21 Maastricht (Limburg) 118,378 inh.
22 Leiden (South Holland) 117,363 inh.
23 Zwolle (Overijssel) 115,144 inh.
24 Emmen (Drenthe) 108,929 inh.
25 Ede (Gelderland) 107,528 inh.
26 Westland (capital city: Naaldwijk) (South Holland) 99,067 inh.
27 Deventer (Overijssel) 96,958 inh.
28 Sittard-Geleen (capital city: Sittard) (Limburg) 96,024 inh.
29 Delft (South Holland) 95,237 inh.
30 Alkmaar (North Holland) 93,986 inh.
For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Sterker door strijd (Stronger through Struggle) Location of Rotterdam Coordinates: , Country Province Government  - Mayor Ivo Opstelten  - Aldermen Jeannette Baljeu Hamit Karakus Orhan Kaya Lucas Bolsius Jantine Kriens Dominic Schrijer Roelf de Boer Leonard Geluk Area [1]  - Total 319 km² (123. ... Hague redirects here. ... Utrecht refers to various cities and areas: Utrecht (province), of the Netherlands Utrecht (city), Netherlands, and capital of the province of the same name Utrecht (municipality), includes the city of Utrecht and two neighbouring villages (Vleuten / de Meern) Utrecht (agglomeration), in the Netherlands, includes the city of Utrecht Diocese of... Country Province Government  - Mayor G.Braks (CDA) Area (2006)  - Municipality 88. ... Tilburg ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant. ... For other uses, see Almere (disambiguation). ... Groningen can refer to: A province of the Netherlands. ... Grote Kerk (main church) or Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Church of Our Lady). ... Country Netherlands Province Gelderland Area (2006)  - Municipality 57. ... Satellite picture Apeldoorn ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a town in the province of Gelderland, about 60 miles east of Amsterdam, in central Netherlands. ... Raadhuisstraat in Enschede, with the Grote Kerk in the background Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Enschede Enschede or Eanske in the local dialect (Twents) is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel, in the Twente region. ... Coordinates: , Country Province Area (2006)  - Municipality 32. ... This article is about the Dutch city and municipality. ... Image:Http://www. ... Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. ... Haarlemmermeer (population: 127,750 in 2004) is a municipality in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Hoofddorp (literally translated as Main Village) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. ... s-Hertogenbosch ( ) (literally The Dukes Forest), colloquially known as Den Bosch ( (help· info)) — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch and in Spanish as Bolduque — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant. ... Zoetermeer (population: 118,483 on March 1, 2007) is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ... Satellite image of part of the Rhine-Meuse delta, showing the Island of Dordrecht and the eponymous city (7) Dordrecht (population 119,649 (2004)), or in English: Dort, is a city in the Dutch province of South Holland, the third largest city of the province. ... Coordinates: , Country Province Area (2006)  - Municipality 60. ... Coordinates: , Country Province Area (2006)  - Municipality 23. ... For other places with the same name, see Zwolle (disambiguation). ... Emmen ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a town in the northeastern Netherlands. ... EDE or Equinox Desktop Environment is a small desktop environment that is meant to be simple and fast. ... Westland is the name of several places: Netherlands: Westland, South Holland New Zealand: Westland, New Zealand United Kingdom: Westland, Shetland United States of America: Westland, Michigan Westland, Ohio Westland, Oregon Westland, Pennsylvania Westland, Texas Westland, Virginia Fiction: Westland (Sword of Truth) Westland Aircraft is a British aircraft manufacturer and part... Westland (population: 97,270 in 2004) is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ... Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. ... Sittard-Geleen is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. ... Sittard-Geleen is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province South Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 24. ... Accijnstoren Cheese market Canal and bridge Weighing house Alkmaar (West Frisian: Alkmare) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. ...

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Largest agglomerations (across the borders of one municipality)

Sources are CBS based

see [3] and ^[4]

- Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Diemen, Landsmeer, Oostzaan, Wormerland, Zaanstad)
- Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Barendrecht, Capelle aan den IJssel, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Spijkenisse, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Maasland, Maassluis, Rozenburg)
- The Hague ('s-Gravenhage, Rijswijk, Wateringen, Voorburg, Leidschendam, Wassenaar)
- Utrecht (Utrecht, Nieuwegein, IJsselstein, Maarssen)
- Eindhoven (Eindhoven, Veldhoven, Geldrop, Son en Breugel, Waalre)
- Tilburg (Tilburg, Goirle)
- Haarlem (Haarlem, Heemstede, Bloemendaal)
- Groningen (Groningen, Haren)
- Arnhem (Arnhem, Rozendaal)
- Leiden (Leiden, Katwijk, Voorschoten, Leiderdorp, Oegstgeest, Rijnsburg, Valkenburg, Warmond)
- Dordrecht (Dordrecht, 's-Gravendeel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Papendrecht, Sliedrecht, Zwijndrecht)
- Heerlen (Heerlen, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Brunssum)
- 's-Hertogenbosch ('s-Hertogenbosch, Vught)
- Sittard-Geleen (Sittard-Geleen, Beek, Stein)
- Amersfoort (Amersfoort, Leusden)
For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Sterker door strijd (Stronger through Struggle) Location of Rotterdam Coordinates: , Country Province Government  - Mayor Ivo Opstelten  - Aldermen Jeannette Baljeu Hamit Karakus Orhan Kaya Lucas Bolsius Jantine Kriens Dominic Schrijer Roelf de Boer Leonard Geluk Area [1]  - Total 319 km² (123. ... Hague redirects here. ... Utrecht refers to various cities and areas: Utrecht (province), of the Netherlands Utrecht (city), Netherlands, and capital of the province of the same name Utrecht (municipality), includes the city of Utrecht and two neighbouring villages (Vleuten / de Meern) Utrecht (agglomeration), in the Netherlands, includes the city of Utrecht Diocese of... Country Province Government  - Mayor G.Braks (CDA) Area (2006)  - Municipality 88. ... Tilburg ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant. ... Coordinates: , Country Province Area (2006)  - Municipality 32. ... Groningen can refer to: A province of the Netherlands. ... This article is about the Dutch city and municipality. ... Coordinates: , Country Province Area (2006)  - Municipality 23. ... Satellite image of part of the Rhine-Meuse delta, showing the Island of Dordrecht and the eponymous city (7) Dordrecht (population 119,649 (2004)), or in English: Dort, is a city in the Dutch province of South Holland, the third largest city of the province. ... Heerlen ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands and the fourth largest municipality in the province of Limburg. ... s-Hertogenbosch ( ) (literally The Dukes Forest), colloquially known as Den Bosch ( (help· info)) — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch and in Spanish as Bolduque — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant. ... Sittard-Geleen is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. ... Amersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. ...

References

1. ^ Welschen, Ad: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2000-2005.
2. ^ Welschen, Ad: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2000-2005.
3. ^ {{2006bevolkingskerneninnederlandart.pdf
   2005grootstedelijkeagglomeratiesstadsgewestenafgebakendart.pdf
   2004k4v4p037art.pdf}}
4. ^ {{2006bevolkingskerneninnederlandart.pdf
   - 2005grootstedelijkeagglomeratiesstadsgewestenafgebakendart.pdf
   - 2004k4v4p037art.pdf}}

See also

• List of places in the Netherlands
• Municipalities in the Netherlands
• Extreme points of the Netherlands

This is an alphabetical list of places (cities, towns, villages) in the Netherlands. ... All provinces of the Netherlands are divided into municipalities (gemeenten), together 467 (2005); among these we can distinguish: those comprising one main city, town or village with the same name as the municipality, and possibly some additional villages; for example Utrecht, comprising the city Utrecht and the villages De Meern... This is a list of the extreme points of the Netherlands, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Geography of the Netherlands

• Netherlands Geography
• Map showing first two digits of postal codes (see List of postal codes in the Netherlands), ditto
• Map showing first three digits of postal codes for the midwest of the Netherlands
• Locate town or village; find municipality it is part of, range of postal codes, and some other basic data
• Find postal code for a full address, and address for full postal code plus street number
• For each municipality a pdf file - with statistics in Dutch, and with (towards the end) a map showing the neighborhoods (together ca. 11,000), and listing (a few pages further) the population figures etc. as well as the grouping into quarters (together ca 2,400)
• Lists of "places" (towns, villages, and various smaller entities), with municipality: alphabetical (ca. 4,800) - by province (extended, ca. 7,000)

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Dutch Postal codes are codes consisting of 4 digits followed by 2 uppercase letters. ...

Maps

• Routenet.nl Most used website for maps and directions in the Netherlands, also gives address range for a full postal code, and shows the four-digit parts of the postal codes on the maps. Published by Locatienet BV
• Multimap - shows geographic coordinates and allows a direct link to a map for a given location and with a given zoom level; shows all railways from scale 1:500k, all railway stations from 1:50k
• Vialys
• http://www.map24.nl/index.php?language=en (also used by http://www.lycos.nl/lycos/route/ )
• http://www.welkeafslag.nl (Online website which can calcalute the directions to travel between two addresses)
• http://www.routemaster.nl/ ; similar or the same:
  • http://route.anwb.nl/zoek_plattegrond.html
  • http://www.andes.nl/ (select "Interactieve kaart"): the same but one has to know the postal code
  • http://www.travelmanager.nl/nl/contentimap/index.html: ditto
  • maps of public transport planner http://www.9292ov.nl
• http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=NL&zoom=3
  • to link directly to a city: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=NL&city=, type city at the end of the URL
  • to link directly to a postal code: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=NL&zipcode=, type four-digit code at the end of the URL
  • to link to given geographic coordinates: latlongtype=decimal&latitude=...&longitude=... - a red star shows the location on the map; in the largest scale one pixel is ca. 1.5 m or from 0.000015 degrees; therefore for the number of degrees up to five decimals can make sense for exact pinpointing (although the star size is 16x16 pixels and not transparent, hence a small map detail and ca. one letter of text may be covered by the star)
  • specify zoom level 0-9: add "&zoom=zoom level" (note that the zoom level in MapQuest's hoverbox have numbers which are one more, the range is 1-10)
• http://de.maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?country=nl
• Michelin
• NS rail travel planner - contains a detailed map of the whole country; to view a location, specify it as destination and choose an arbitrary point of departure, then ask for the route map of the post transport from the train station. Of course the map shows railroads and train stations clearly. If you specify "Public transport" as means of pre or post transport, you will be redirected to http://www.9292ov.nl (see above).
• Yellow pages / Telephone directory - A map (plattegrond) is provided after searching for a company or person; if one just wants to use the map, do an arbitrary search like [4], select Plattegrond and by zooming out and selecting an area to zoom in go to any part of the map.
• Topographical Service map selection tool (can to some extent be used as a map by itself)
• Single png-map (zip)
• See also the links of:
  • http://www.landkaartenindex.nl/nederland/nederland.htm ; includes [5], a list of links to towns maps
  • Detailed town maps of Rijnland/Citoplan (note that on the overview maps, for enlargement one can often either select a box or a town and then a box)
  • Detailed town maps of Falkplan (see at the bottom of that webpage)

For public transport maps see Transportation in the Netherlands#External links. Transportation in the Netherlands // Rail transport Railway tracks (2001) all standard gauge (1. ...

Beach locations are defined by km-pole numbers, indicated on wooden poles every 250 m. See map (zip-file) with beach from Den Helder to Hoek van Holland, showing these numbers and also public transport info. Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Ferry terminal on the Nieuwe Waterweg Hoek van Holland (literally Corner of Holland, but known in English as the Hook or Hook of Holland) is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. ...

Satellite images and aerial photograps

Google Maps [6] has aerial photographs of the entire country, combined with a full map with town and street names. This is also available through Google Earth. Google Maps (for a time named Google Local) is a free web mapping service application and technology provided by Google that powers many map-based services including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder and embedded maps on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps... Google Earth is a virtual globe program that was originally called Earth Viewer and was created by Keyhole, Inc. ...

Miscellaneous

• Overview of paper atlases

Footnotes and References