Located in northwestern Europe , the Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. The literal meaning of Netherlands means Low Lands. It is thus named because geographically it is one of the low-lying countries.

Netherlands is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, by Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east. Netherlands is the most densely populated area and is famous for the beautiful array of windmills, dikes, tulips, wooden shoes, bicycles and social harmony. Netherlands has always attracted international bewilderment regarding its liberal policies, especially regarding towards drugs and prostitution. Amsterdam is the official capital city of Netherlands . But Hague is the seat of government and home to the monarch. It is the location for most of the international embassies.

The English phrase of "relating to the Netherlands " is "Dutch", which is also the name of the Dutch language. A remarkable aspect that the tourists would note in Netherlands that it is the flatness of the terrain. It is an amazing fact that about half of the surface area of Netherlands is less than one meter above the sea level. The large parts of Netherlands are in fact below the sea level. These areas are protected from flooding by many dikes and dunes. The authorities have to keep running numerous big pumping stations that work continuously to keep the ground water level in control.

The economy of Netherlands is prosperous and open. It is the founding member of the Euro and Netherlands has accepted the Euro currency. The Netherlands is ranked as the 15th most densely populated country in the world, with 393 inhabitants per square km.

Netherlands has two official languages, Dutch, which spoken by the majority and Frisian that is spoken by a low percentage. Both of these languages are Germanic languages. Frisian is only spoken in the northern province of Friesland .