Where is Netherlands located on the map? Netherlands is an independent nation located in Western Europe. Check out the following images to see location of Netherlands on maps.
Netherlands Location in World Map
The Netherlands is located in Western Europe and is a neighbor of Germany. If you still think of white sandy beaches and turquoise blue water in bright sunshine when you think of the Netherlands, that’s not so wrong. In addition to the mainland in Europe, the territory of the Netherlands also includes three Caribbean islands.
The mainland of the Netherlands is located in the north-west of Europe directly on the North Sea, which borders the country in the north and west. Germany borders in the east and Belgium in the south. The islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are in the Caribbean, but are part of the national territory of the Netherlands.
Here you can see a map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the top right you can see the Netherlands, i.e. the state in Europe. The islands on the left also belong to this Dutch territory as “special municipalities”. The lower islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is formed from them and the Dutch national territory.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Netherlands is an independent state. Together with three autonomous countries, they form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. These countries are three small islands in the Caribbean. They are called Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. So it makes a difference whether you speak of the Netherlands or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. So parts of the Netherlands are in the Caribbean, but belong to the Dutch national territory. At the same time, there is also the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is formed by the Netherlands (including its three Caribbean islands) and three autonomous islands.
What is Holland?
Many people use the words Netherlands and Holland as a synonym, that is, words with the same meaning. This is not entirely correct, however, because Holland actually only refers to the two provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland, so they are only parts of the Netherlands.
Mountains
The name Netherlands has its origin in the designation “lower country”, because the land area is not high, but very low. So the Netherlands is a very flat country and half of the entire national territory is less than one meter above sea level. A whole quarter of the country is even below it.
This can of course be dangerous during floods, which is why there are dikes in the Netherlands that are supposed to protect against storm surges. The highest mountain in the European part of the Netherlands is just 323 meters high. That is really quite low. Fortunately, there are still three Caribbean islands in the national territory and on the island of Saba there is Mount Scenery with a height of 877 meters.
Rivers and Lakes
The IJsselmeer (which is written as IJ in Dutch) is the largest lake in the Netherlands. It was created by damming a bay in 1932. The name is derived from the IJ, a former arm of the North Sea, or the IJssel, a river. Incidentally, IJsselmeer is called “Eisselmeer”. Today water sports are very popular here.
The three largest and most important rivers in the Netherlands are the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt. In a sense, the rivers divide the country into north and south. Small canals, artificial waterways, flow in many cities. They are called canals here.
Climate
The European part of the Netherlands has a temperate climate. Most of the time, a wind blows towards the southwest and makes for quite cool summers and mild winters. On the Caribbean islands of the Netherlands it is of course a lot warmer and there is a tropical climate.
Netherlands Facts
Size | 41,526 km² |
Residents | 17.3 million |
Language | Dutch |
Capital | Amsterdam |
Longest river | Maas (350 km in the Netherlands) |
Highest mountain | Vaalserberg (322 m) or Mount Scenery (877 m) on Saba |
Currency | Euro |