Tuesday 12 July 2016

TRAVEL TUESDAY #35 - AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND

“In Amsterdam, the river and canals have been central to city life for the last four centuries.” - Janet Echelon

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel!


There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us! Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.


Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 840,486 within the city proper, 1,337,743 in the urban area, and 2,431,000 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country, and is also North Holland’s largest city. It comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

Amsterdam’s name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin as a dam of the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age (17th century), a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds.


In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the world’s 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city.


In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city in which to live by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer . Famous Amsterdam residents included Anne Frank the diarist, the artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and the philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city centre.


Amsterdam’s main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, its red-light district, and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 5 million international visitors annually.


This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below,and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post!

5 comments:

  1. After Berlin, Amsterdam is my (second) favorite city. They each have their own specific atmosphere that I love - and lots of cultural things like you pointed out.
    I commuted my first year of college to this city, which brought me eventually to do the rest of my training in clinical psychology to the USA.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amsterdam is definitely in my list of places to visit. It looks so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You chose one of my favourite places in the world to visit! Regularly!

    But with 2,431,000 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, living there always seems squashy. [Mind you I feel the same in Israel, Lebanon, Belgium and any other tiny country with a substantial population]. So people don't do their socialising in their front or back yard. They live it up in public spaces. Amsterdam has super parks, cafes, restaurants, museums and galleries, music sites etc etc

    ReplyDelete
  4. It warms my heart and I love seeing all those bicycles.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely shot. I must visit one day soon.

    ReplyDelete