Netherlands

Located in the northwestern Europe, Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. Amsterdam is the capital city of Netherlands and The Hague is its seat of government.

It has Germany on its east, the North Sea on the west and north, and Belgium on its south. The country has a dense population. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, it ranks 12th as the most free market capitalist economy in the world.

Netherlands is known for many things such as Gouda cheese, bicycles, tulips, windmills and clogs. It also has a very high social tolerance level. The nation is divided in to two parts by three rivers and these rivers are the Meuse, the Waal and the Rhine.

There are hundreds of natural reserves in the country and this includes the twenty national parks. Majority of these natural reserves consist of woods, heathland and lakes.

Natuurmonumenten and Staatsbosbeheer own majority of these natural reserves. The economy of the country is open and it is flourishing. Netherlands’ main commercial activities include electrical machinery, petroleum refining, chemicals and food-processing.

It has been reported that the country is the tenth leading country, in terms of nominal Gross Domestic product per capita. It is also the sixteenth largest economy worldwide.

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    Fort near Kwadijk, North front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The function of the Fort near Kwadijk was to defend the accesses that were formed by the Amsterdam-Hoorn railroad and the Middelie-Axwijk road. Construction of the defendable earthwork with moat was completed in 1895, but work on the concrete fortress was abandoned with nothing but the foundations and part of the flooring put in place.

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    Fort near Marken-Binnen, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort Markenbinnen is currently being used by RBOC "Fort Markenbinnen", an education and training centre for firefighters and rescue workers. This foundation has refurbished the fortress. The wooden partitions in the fort’s premises and the sanitation facilities are still in place.

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    Fort near Spijkerboor, North front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Fort near Spijkerboor (1913) is one of 42 fortifications of the so-called Defence Line of Amsterdam. Recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage site, Mostly mostly due to the ingenious concept of using controlled flooding, to stop the enemy.

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    Fort near Uithoorn, South front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named Stelling van Amsterdam) is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. Fort near Uithoorn, South front, Defence Line of Amsterdam.

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    Fort near Veldhuis, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    The Fort near Veldhuis had the job of defending the causeway coming from Heemskerk/Assumburg. This dike served in part to regulate the accurate flooding of the land on both of its sides (inundation dike). The defensible earthwork was completed in 1893, the shellproof building in 1897.

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    Fort near Velsen, Northwest front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    This is the only Defence Line fortress made of concrete that has been partly demolished. The fort was outfitted, amongst others, with three turrets with 150 mm guns. These had a long range and could fire at targets as far as the estuary of the North Sea Canal and the area between the towns of Haarlem and Castricum.

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    Gunpowder Factory, Muiden

    The factory flourished during the First World War, was liquidated in 1919, and was restarted in 1922. During the 20th century its production steadily increased and the town grew towards the factory. In 1972 it was renamed "Muiden Chemie".

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    Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal

    The ir. D.F. Woudagemaal is a pumping station in the Netherlands, and the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world. On October 7, 1920 Queen Wilhelmina opened the pumping station. It was built to pump excess water out of Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands.

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    Kinderdijk

    Kinderdijk is a village in the Netherlands, belonging to the municipality of Molenwaard, in the province South Holland, about 15 km east of Rotterdam. Kinderdijk is situated in a polder in the Alblasserwaard at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers.

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    Middachten Castle

    Castle Middachten is a monumental manor house, located on the Middachten estate, De Steeg, Netherlands. The current building dates from 1693-1698.

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    Muiden Fortress, Zuiderzee front, Defence Line of Amsterdam

    Muiden Fortress (Dutch: Muizenfort - 'fort of mice') is a Dutch fortress in Muiden. It is part of the defence line of Muiden, that is part of the Stelling van Amsterdam, the UNESCO World Heritage site that consists of a set of forts around the city of Amsterdam.

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    Rietveld Schroder House

    The Rietveld Schroder House (Rietveld Schröder House) (also known as the Schröder House) in Utrecht was built in 1924 by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld for Mrs. Truus Schroder-Schrader and her three children.

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    Sassenpoort (Sassen gate), Zwolle

    The Sassenpoort (English: Sassen gate) is a gatehouse in the citywall of Zwolle, Netherlands. It was build in 1409 out of dimension stone, mostly trachyte and tuff, and restoration work was done in 1893-1898. The gatehouse is a rijksmonument and is part of the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites.

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    Schokland

    Schokland is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee, in the municipality of Noordoostpolder. Schokland was an elongated strip of peat land which ceased to be an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. It is now just a slightly elevated part of the polder, with a still partly intact retaining wall of the waterfront of Middelbuurt.