HOLLAN

LOCATIO
N
• HOLLAND IS A HISTORICAL AND
CULTURAL REGION LOCATED AN
THE WEST COAST OF THE
NETHERLANDS. SINCE 1840, IT
HAS BEEN DIVIDED INTO TWO
PROVINCES, NORTH HOLLAND
AND SOUTH HOLLAND.
• ITS CAPITAL IS AMSTERDAN.
 POLITIC AND
• THE NETHERLANDS HAS A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY WITH A

ECONOMICS
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. EVEN TODAY, THE TWO CHAMBERS
OF LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION ARE CALLED THE STATES GENERAL OF THE
NETHERLANDS, THEREFORE EQUIVALENT TO THE CORTES GENERALES IN SPAIN.
• THE COUNTRY'S CONSTITUTION WAS FIRST PROMULGATED IN 1815. IN 1848 THE
CONSTITUTION WAS APPROVED, INTRODUCING CENSUS SUFFRAGE AND A
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM. THE NETHERLANDS HAS HAD MALE SUFFRAGE SINCE
1917 AND UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE SINCE 1919. A HEREDITARY MONARCH IS THE
• ITHEAD
HASOFA STATE.
HIGHLY DEVELOPED ECONOMY THAT HAS AS CHARACTERISTICS
STABLE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT, A SIGNIFICANT
SURPLUS IN THE TRADE BALANCE, AND THAT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN THE
ECONOMY OF EUROPE AS AN IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL CENTER.1 DURING THE
17TH CENTURY, THE THE NETHERLANDS BECAME THE MAIN COMMERCIAL
POWER IN THE WORLD, DUE TO ITS STRATEGIC LOCATION ON THE EUROPEAN
CONTINENT, BUT ABOVE ALL THANKS TO THE IMMENSE COLONIAL EMPIRE THAT
THIS SMALL NATION MANAGED TO BUILD BOTH IN ASIA AND IN AMERICA.
 TRADITIONS
FLOWER FESTIVALS: SINTERKLAAS:
HOLLAND IS FAMOUS FOR OR SAINT NICHOLAS, IS A
ITS TULIPS AND FLOWER VERY IMPORTANT HOLIDAY
PRODUCTION. FOR THIS IN HOLLAND. IT IS
REASON, THERE ARE CELEBRATED ON DECEMBER
SEVERAL FLOWER 5 AND COMMEMORATES THE
FESTIVALS THROUGHOUT ARRIVAL OF SAINT
THE COUNTRY. THE MOST NICHOLAS, WHO ARRIVES
FAMOUS IS THE FROM SPAIN WITH HIS
KEUKENHOF, A FLOWER HELPERS KNOWN AS
PARK IN LISSE THAT "PIETEN". DURING THIS
ATTRACTS THOUSANDS OF HOLIDAY, DUTCH CHILDREN
VISITORS EACH YEAR. PLACE THEIR SHOES IN THE
DURING FLOWER WINDOW SO THAT SAINT
FESTIVALS, YOU CAN ALSO NICHOLAS CAN FILL THEM
FIND PARADES OF FLOATS WITH SWEETS AND GIFTS. IT
DECORATED WITH IS ALSO COMMON FOR
FLOWERS AND FLOWER PARADES AND PROCESSIONS
TO BE HELD IN HONOR OF
 CULTUR
• AT FIRST GLANCE, THE DUTCH MAY SEEM SOMEWHAT RESERVED AND

E
DISTANT, BUT ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW THEM, YOU WILL REALIZE
THAT THEY ARE SOME OF THE FRIENDLIEST, FAMILY-ORIENTED AND
OPEN PEOPLE. IN FACT, THEY ARE KNOWN WORLDWIDE FOR BEING
ONE OF THE MOST TOLERANT COUNTRIES.

• THEY HAVE A TYPICALLY NORTHERN EUROPEAN CULTURE, WHERE

HAVING A GOOD EDUCATION, BEING PRODUCTIVE AND EFFICIENT,
BEING PUNCTUAL, CORRECT AND POLITE IS VALUED. "NUCHTERE
HOLLANDERS" IS ONE OF THE WAYS THE DUTCH DESCRIBE
THEMSELVES AND MAKES DIRECT APPEAL TO THEIR CALVINIST
CULTURE OF WORKING HARD AND LIVING WITHOUT EXCESS.
 FLAG
• THE FLAG OF HOLLAND WAS USED FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE
16TH CENTURY WHEN THE DUTCH
PROVINCES REBELLED AGAINST SPAIN.
THEIR LEADER WAS PRINCE WILLIAM OF
ORANGE. THE FLAG WAS NAMED
"PRINSENVLAG" ("PRINCEFLAG").
• IN THIS CASE, IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE
RED COLOR IS DUE TO THE BLOOD OF ALL
THOSE WHO DEFENDED THE NATION AND
FELL IN BATTLE, WHILE WHITE WOULD BE
THE SYMBOL OF PEACE, AND BLUE WOULD
REFLECT THE SEAS AND RIVERS OF THE
EUROPEAN COUNTRY.
 OUTFIT
• THE DUTCH HAVE BEEN LUCKY
ENOUGH TO CHOSSE A VERY
ATRACTIVE TRADITIONAL
CUSTOME THAD REPRESENTS ALL
ASPECTS OF THEIR CULTURE AND
TRADICION VERY WELL.
 GASTRONOMY
• THE TRADITIONAL CUISINE OF
HOLLAND IS CHARACTERIZED BY
THE CONSUMPTION OF BREAD,
POTATOES AND FISH FROM THE
NORTH SEA, AS WELL AS TYPICAL
CHEESES AND SOME VEGETABLES
THAT SERVE MAINLY AS AN
ACCOMPANIMENT OR FOR THE
PREPARATION OF SOUPS AND
STEWS FOR THE COLD WINTER.
 RELIGION
• DUTCH RELIGION IS MOSTLY
CALVINISTIC (GOD WORKS IN ALL
SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL, AND
INTELLECTUAL ASPECTS); THE LATEST
STATISTICS REVEALED THAT THERE ARE
20% CATHOLICS, FOLLOWED BY
PROTESTANTS (15%), MUSLIMS (5%)
AMONG OTHER RELIGIOUS CULTS THAT
COMPRISE 6%. TODAY, THERE IS A
PREDOMINANCE OF THOSE WHO DO
NOT PRACTICE ANY RELIGION, 54%.
 TOURISTIC
• THE

CENTRES
ANNE FRANK HOUSE ON THE
PRINSENGRACHT IN AMSTERDAM, IS A
MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THE JEWISH WAR
DIARIST ANNE FRANK, WHO HID FROM NAZI
PERSECUTION WITH HER FAMILY AND FOUR
OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ATTIC AND ATTIC OF
THE BUILDING, THE ENTRANCE COVERED FOR
A FALSE SHELF
• THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM IS AN ART GALLERY
LOCATED IN AMSTERDAM, WHICH HOUSES A
COLLECTION OF WORKS BY THE DUTCH
PAINTER VINCENT VAN GOGH.
• THE MUSEUM CONSISTS OF TWO BUILDINGS.
THE ORIGINAL WORK IS THE WORK OF THE
DUTCH ARCHITECT GERRIT RIETVELD AND
WAS INAUGURATED IN 1973
 FA M O U S
• BORN IN GROOT-ZUNDERT, NETHERLANDS, VINCENT VAN GOGH

PEOPLE
IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS OF ALL TIME. HIS
SUNFLOWERS ARE ICONIC, HIS CROPPED EAR IS LEGENDARY,
AND YET THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE VAN GOGH WAS VIRTUALLY
UNKNOWN AND CONSIDERED HIMSELF A FAILURE.
• VAN GOGH SUFFERED FROM MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR
MANY YEARS. IN APRIL 1889 HE VOLUNTARILY ENTERED THE
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL OF SAINT-PAUL-DE-MAUSOLE IN SAINT-
RÉMY, WHERE HE SPENT A YEAR. IT WAS FROM HIS WINDOW IN
THIS ESTABLISHMENT THAT HE CREATED SOME OF HIS BEST-
KNOWN PAINTINGS, INCLUDING THE STARRY NIGHT.
• ON JULY 27, 1890, TWO MONTHS AFTER LEAVING THE
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, THE PAINTER WOULD HAVE WALKED
TO A FIELD NEAR THE HOSTEL WHERE HE WAS STAYING AND
WOULD HAVE SHOT HIMSELF IN THE CHEST WITH A GUN THAT
HE HAD STOLEN FROM HIS HOST, ACCORDING TO THE MOST
RECENT VERSION. ACCEPTED FOR HIS DEATH.
THANK
YOU