Netherlands - Useful information for your trip

The Netherlands is a state of the European union. The climate is temperate oceanic. Winters are not so cold and temperatures slightly surpass 0°. Rainfalls are not abundant and are well distributed all throughout the year, with a maximum in autumn and a minimum in spring. Its most popular and picturesque city is Amsterdam, the city of bikes and canals.

The Netherlands did not take part in neither of the World wars. At the beginning, this neutrality was respected, but subsequently the country was invaded by Nazi Germany during the campaign of France. During the occupation lots of Jews were deported in Nazi death camps. The country was released only in May 1945. Since the second after-war, Dutch foreign policy has been dominated by a commitment to create or strenghten international institutions in which it cooperates, like UN, NASA and the European union.

The Netherlands is a parliamentary monarchy. Amsterdam, its capital, is an economic and cultural important world tourism destination. The economy is prosperous and open, and the role of government is slowly disappearing from the 80s. In January 1999, the Netherlands changed the Dutch guilder with the Euro, even if the latter appeared only in 2002. The principal economic sector is the one of services, that contributes to more than half of GDP. Particulary developed is the architectural and urban planning sector, that concentrates in the country at least ten of the first one hundred architectural studies of the world. The most important tourism attraction is Amsterdam. Its historical centre, World Heritage Site, is crossed by lots of canals and so it is called "northern Venice". Amsterdam is also known for its cosmopolitan atmosphere that includes attractions like the red-light neighbourhood and its coffee-shops. Another very important Dutch city is Rotterdam, that has the biggest port in Europe. 

Vincent van Gogh, a very famous impressionist painter was Dutch and he contributed to change considerably art history. As for literature, one of the most famous books ever, the Diary of Anna Frank, was written while the Frank family took refuge in Amsterdam after they ran away from Germany in order not to be deported. Today, the house where Anna Frank hid is an open museum and it is one of the principal attractions of the city.