Amsterdam 2007
Group II
OUR JOURNEY BEGINS...
SCHIPHOL AIRPORT Largest airport in the
country Fourth largest in
Europe In 2002, more than 40
million passengers passed through which is twice the population of Amsterdam
It is also the home of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the world’s oldest airline
THE NETHERLANDS It lies on the North
Sea, next to Germany and Belgium
More than 16 million people live here
Making it one of the most crowded countries of the world.
Is it the Netherlands or Holland It is sometimes called as HollandHolland is the name of two of the twelve provinces that make up Netherlands
These provinces play an important role so that name has stuck
RED, WHITE & BLUE Earlier, the top of
the flag was orange Also known as
Prince’s flag Named after Prince
William of Orange, the most famous ancestor of the Queen
Orange ribbon attached to the flag on special occasions
The Cities Large proportion live
in the West. Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht
Area also known as Randstad
Amsterdam is the capital
The Hague is the seat of the government
The Language
It is the DUTCH Many people in Belgium,
Suriname, Indonesia and Aruba also speak Dutch
DID YOU KNOW?In the north of Netherlands is the province of Friesland. People here speak Frisian which is a mix of English & Scandinavian languages
Welcome toTHE BICYCLE CAPITAL OF EUROPE
Amsterdam- by far…“ the freest city in the world”.
Amsterdam recognizes freedoms fraternal twin is…RESPONSIBILTY.
Demographics Population- 743,000
(plus an estimated 20,000 unregistered).
Dutch- 95% Netherlands- Approx.
16,400,000. Population aged
between 20-40:40%. Ethnic minorities:47%. Two farthest points in
Netherlands-350 km apart.
Climate Gentle climate. Winters are mild,
average temperature in Jan
(2 degrees Celsius) Summers- fairly cool,
average temperature in July (17 degree Celsius)
Summers can be warm, while extreme winters at times.
Often rainy and windy.
DUTCH PEOPLE
What are they all about? The Dutch- known to tolerate and accept
different opinions. Very fond of their freedom. According to Law - “everyone is equal
and should have the same chances in life”
Very down to earth- do not like to fuss. One well known Dutch saying…“ Just act normally, that’s crazy enough as
it is”
A City of Multi Cultures
Netherlands – multi cultural society.
More than 200 nationalities in Amsterdam.
Moroccan Turkish Indonesian Suriname
The Dutch – The Famous
The known…
Anne Frank (1929-1945) – The Dairy of Anne Frank
Dick Bruna – Dutch children’s author and illustrator- famous character is rabbit ‘Miffy’.
Inventors – Philips, inventors of the first C.D, 1982.
Christians Huygens (1629-1695)- famous for inventing the pendulum clock.
Antony van Leeuwenhok (1632-1723)- invented the microscope, discovered bacteria.
ART
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) - Greatest painter of the Golden Age
Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890)- Special
style of his own, museum in Amsterdam named after him.
The Dutch masters are the best known painters ever to come out of Northern Europe.
Amsterdam, one of the world’s greatest creative centers.
Art- A part of everyday life. Amsterdam- has an entire section of
town with streets named for artists and musicians.
Food Most Dutch people eat sandwiches
for breakfast and lunch In the evening they have a hot
meal, which often includes potatoes Some typical Dutch dishes, pea
soup, Kale with sausage and hutspot
School children usually cheese sandwiches on brown bread with peanut butter and chocolates sprinkles as part of their breakfast
Parents give money to their children, to buy milk at lunch time
Literature Cees Nooteboom – Most prolific, non- fiction,
fiction book introductions writer. Nicholas Freeling – ‘Love in Amsterdam’ ,
inaugural book of Van der Valk, detective series.
Tracy Chevalier – ‘Girl with a pearl earrning’, offers real insight into life in the Golden Age.
Xaviera Hollander- ‘The Happy Hooker’, talks of ins and outs of sex trade.
Deborah Moggach – ‘Tulip fever’, offers a feel of Amsterdam and importance of tulips.
“Many can grow flowers. Many can sell flowers, but only the Dutch can deliver an Easter lily grown in Columbia to a purchaser in Maine and guarantee that it will bloom on Easter. Because of this ability, the Dutch make most of the money in the flower business”.
TYPICAL DUTCH
Wooden ShoesAlso called Clogs.Worn by farmers working in fields.
Clogs- Very hard and long lasting, so they protect the feet.
Wind Mills Used hundreds of years
ago. More than 10,000 wind
mills in the Netherland at one time.
Now, only about 1,000 left.
Modern wind mills- used to generate electricity in an environment friendly manner.
DUTCH SPORTS
Soccer Extremely
popular. Few Dutch soccer
clubs- Ajax, Feienoord.
Famous Players- Johan Cruijiff, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dennis Bergkamp.
Swimming
Very common in a country with so much water.
Children learn to swim at a very young age.
Famous swimmers- Inge de Bruijn, Pietre van den Hoogenband.
Skating The Dutch- very good
at skating. World champions-
Jochem Uytdehaage, Erben Wennemars.
Cycling
Country of
cyclists. Amsterdam –
Bicycle capital of Europe.
More bicycles than people.
Both a sport plus means of commutation.
The City
Some facts
Houses are built on wooden piles to prevent sinking their house from sinking
City busy even during the night Some people live right on water in
houseboats Lots of tall apartment blocks have
been built because of dense population
NATURE
Lots of woods, heathland, dunes and lots and lots of water
Flevoland province – a paradise for birds, geese, spoonbills and cormorants which go to breed
De Hoge Veluwe – national park with lots of woods and heathland
WORK
World’s sixth biggest exporter and investor
Make lots of money from growing fruits, vegetables, grain and cattle farming
Some major Dutch companies – Philips, Heineken and Unilever
Cooperation One of the first
six members of the European Economic Community
Also a member of the European Union in order to follow the established norms
FARMING – A modern business
More than half of the land is used for growing fruit, vegetables and cattle farming
The pastures are full of grazing cattle and pigs are kept in big sheds
Farmers have become modern businessmen
Using modern, computer-controlled farming machinery and equipment in the work
Flowers and Bulbs Famous all over the
world Bulb fields at
Keukenhof They sell tulip, daffodil
and hyacinth bulbs to the world
Almost two thirds of all imported flowers come from Amsterdam
Flowers sold in Aalsmeer, worlds largest flower auction
Music Organ music in churches in
17th century today- local musicians excel
in classical music, jazz In summer- free Jazz,
classical and world music performers stage free lunch time concerts and festivals- provide free music
Dance
• Amsterdam’s national ballet performs classical ballet
• World leaders in modern dance
• Amsterdam’s Julie dans festival in July brings dancer all over the world
• Popular forms of the dance : pop, jazz, rock
CATTLE FARMING
MILK CHEESE
A Dutch cow produces approx 20 ltrs of milk per day
Cows are fed and milked by machines
Used to make butter, yoghurt and different types of cheese
They export about 55 million kilos of cheese
Dutch cheese are from Edam and Gouda
Cheese come in ages – young and old
DUTCH GOVERNMENT Queen Beatrix – the
head of the state Decisions are made
together – Queen and the ministers
Also known as a democratic country
Similar to that of India
Queen Beatrix – 3 sons – William Alexander, Johan Friso, Constantijn
William Alexander – the crown of prince
Queen Beatrix was married to Claus Van Amsberg who died in 2002.
Prince William Alexander Studied history at
state university Learnt to fly planes Keen on sports Has also
participated in the skating marathon
Married Maxima Zorreguieta from Argentina
HISTORY The early days• The first people – There were already
people living 250,000 yrs ago• Favourite tools – Sharpened stone
called a hand axeThe Golden Age• People became rich • Did many great things in the field of
painting, literature and science
Contd.. Trade• Dutch have always sailed the seas and
oceans• During the golden age – they did a lot of
trade in Indonesia and other countries in South East Asia
• They set up trading posts for buying and selling things in all the countries they did business with
• Usually traded silk, cotton, porcelain, coffee, tea and sugar
The Dutch East India Company Set up by
merchants in 1602 and existed for 200 years
One had to become members in order to trade
Life on the ship was pretty tough as the quarters were pretty small
THE 20th Century
The First World War (1914-1918)
The Second World War (1940-1945)
Dutch didn’t choose sides
Germans wanted to continue trading to the world through Netherland
Compared to other countries in the world, things were not too bad
Netherlands occupied by Germany in 1940
South liberated by the Allies in 1944
Many Dutch people died because they had nothing to eat
DID YOU KNOW? Amsterdam has over 1 million bikes but only
700,000 Amsterdammers When you land at Schiphol Airport, you are
actually 4 meters below sea level Amsterdam has about 300 coffee shops which
can sell upto 5 grams soft drugs to each person
They cover all weird and wonderful topic from painters, museums to sex and marijuana
The world famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was cut in Amsterdam
Continued… Amsterdam has about 15000 km of
bicycle lanes If global warming causes the sea levels to
rise even a little, it will be time for Amsterdam to say bye bye because it will be the first city to get flooded
Amsterdam is built entirely on piles, huge stakes driven into the ground
Every Dutch person has at least one bike and there are twice as many bikes as cars.
THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE NO MONEY
You can take a stroll along the wonderful canals, up one side and down the other while admiring beautiful buildings and amazing architecture
If you have to escape the rain and the sun, you must visit the historic museum and explore the paintings of the 16th century
You can also drop into Begijnhof surrounded by town houses and are extremely peaceful
We suggest
So rush to you nearest travel agent,
book the Royal Dutch KLM Airlines and reach
Amsterdam.
Feel the freedom, explore the beauty, be cool and
BE VIVID
And say I amsterdam