The Netherlands is sometimes called "Holland" after its provinces of North and South Holland.
The Netherlands has twelve provinces: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland and Zuid-Holland.
Historically windmills were used as a source of energy in the Netherlands, especially for drainage.
The fourteenth century Cathedral tower in Utrecht is the tallest church tower in the country.
The name Amsterdam is a combination of the words, Amstel and dam: in early times a dam was built at a fishing village on the River Amstel.
Today, Amsterdam has one hundred and sixty canals and over a twelve hundred bridges.
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