The Netherlands (Dutch: , ) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.

The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces. Still, many Dutch people colloquially refer to their country as Holland in this way, as a synecdoche. For more on this and other naming issues see terminology of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying and densely populated country. It is popularly known for its traditional windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), delftware and gouda pottery, for its bicycles, its dikes and surge barriers, and, on the other hand, traditional values and civil virtues such as its classic social tolerance. An old parliamentary democracy, the country is more recently known for its rather liberal policies toward recreational drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, and euthanasia.

The Netherlands has an international outlook; among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is one of three member nations of the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international (ised) courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. All of these courts (except the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), as well as the EU's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), are situated in The Hague, which has led to the city being referred to as "the world's legal capital.", specifically, "In the 1990s, during his term as United Nations Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali started calling The Hague the worlds legal capital"''

A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is its flatness. Hilly landscapes can be found only in the south-eastern tip of the country on the foothills of the Ardennes, the central part and where the glaciers pushed up several hilly ridges such as the Hondsrug in Drenthe, the stuwwallen (push moraines) near Arnhem and Nijmegen, Salland, Twente and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

The Amish () are members of an Anabaptist, Christian denomination. They are best known for simple living, plain dress and resisting modern conveniences such as electricity and automobiles. The Amish formed in Switzerland among Swiss Brethren in 1693 under the leadership of Jakob Ammann. They began immigrating to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century in response to intense persecution. Amish still speak the Pennsylvania German or Alemannic German of their former homeland. There have been several divisions among the Amish since that time. The Old Order Amish are those that have been the most successful at resisting change and retaining their traditional way of life. As of 2000, over 165,000 Old Order Amish live in Canada and the United States; no Amish remain in Europe.

Amish church membership begins in adulthood, with baptism. Church membership is required before Amish young people can marry. Church districts average about 170 adults and children, who meet every other Sunday for worship in a member's home. The district is led by a bishop and several ministers and deacons.

The rules of the church ? the Ordnung ? must be observed by its members. These rules cover many aspects of day-to-day living, such as limiting use of electricity and telephones, prohibition of automobiles and tractors, and style of dress. Amish do not buy insurance or accept government assistance such as Social Security. As Anabaptists, Amish practice nonresistance and will not perform any type of military service. Members who do not conform to these expectations and cannot be convinced to repent are excommunicated. In addition to excommunication, members are shunned ? a practice that limits social contacts in order to shame the wayward member into returning to the church. Teenagers who are not yet baptized and not bound by the rules that apply to members go through a period of rumspringa, often with certain amount of misbehavior that would not otherwise be tolerated.

The Amish seek to limit contact with the outside world, emphasizing church and family instead. They typically run their own one-room schools, and end education at grade eight. They value a rural life, where there is an abundance of manual labor for a large family. Because of intermarriage among this relatively small population, higher incidences of certain inheritable diseases occur. Their traditional way of living makes them an object of tourism and has caused many clashes with the modern world.