• The Netherlands is the "Gateway to Europe".
• The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy in western Europe bounded to the north and west to the North Sea, to the south by Belgium and to the east by Germany.
• The Netherlands is strategically located at the mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse and Schelde).
• Total land area is 41 500 km².

• The Hague is the seat of the government.
• Amsterdam is the principal financial, commercial and culture centre.
• Rotterdam is the world’s largest and busiest port.
• Amsterdam and Rotterdam have become centres of large industrial complexes with oil refineries, petrochemical plants and shipyards.
• Much of the Dutch industry is concentrated in an area known as the Randstad, which, besides Amsterdam and Rotterdam also includes The Hague, and Utrecht, which has become an important exhibition centre.
• Other important centres include Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Tilburg, Apeldoorn, Haarlem, Enschede and Arnhem.

The metric system is utilised.