Amsterdam, Netherlands
Part of the Advantage Travel Centre

Amsterdam is the capital and the largest city of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The city itself has 738,763 residents (7 September 2004) and over 170 nationalities, while the population of the greater Amsterdam area is ca. 1,450,000.

Introduction

Because the government is situated there, it is commonly assumed that The Hague (Den Haag) is the capital, but the formal capital is Amsterdam. The Netherlands is one of the few countries where the seat of government is not also the capital.

The city is administrated not only by the mayor and central city council (Centraal [Stads]Bestuur) but also is divided in several city parts/neighbourhoods (Stadsdelen), which have their own councils (Stadsdeelraad). Any local decisions are made there and only major infastructural decisions are delegated to the main city. Apart from the city center, the municipality comprises the following parts: Amsterdam Noord, Amsterdam Oud Zuid, Bos en Lommer, De Baarsjes, Driemond, Durgerdam, Geuzenveld-Slotermeer, Holysloot, IJburg (under development), Jordaan, Oost/Watergraafsmeer, Osdorp, Oud-West, Ransdorp, Ruigoord, Sloten, Slotervaart/Overtoomse Veld, Westerpark, Zeeburg, Zuider Amstel, Zuidoost (including Bijlmer; see also Bijlmerramp), Zunderdorp. (See also one of the external links.) Amsterdam Noord is separated from the rest of Amsterdam by the IJ waterway, for connections see there.

Amsterdam has one of the largest renaissance city centers in Europe. Countless buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries, also known as the Golden Age, now considered historical monuments, are to be found around a series of semicircular canals.

These face the old harbor which once opened onto the Zuiderzee (now cut off from the sea and known as the IJsselmeer or Lake IJssel).

The city is well known for the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, the Concertgebouw, Rembrandt House Museum, the Anne Frank house, the Homomonument and huge numbers of bicycles.

Amsterdam is also famous for its lively red-light district de Wallen and its numerous coffee shops selling cannabis. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands. Prostitutes are considered bona fide entrepreneurs; they pay taxes and are otherwise treated like any other self-employed tradesperson.

Cannabis, on the other hand, is not, strictly speaking, legal; rather it is tolerated, meaning the sale (6 grams maximum per client) and possession of small quantities (30 grams) is not prosecuted.

History

Amsterdam was founded as a fishing village around the thirteenth century. A dam was built on the river Amstel, hence its original name Amstelredam, dam on the river Amstel.

The early "Amsterdammers" acquired a talent for trade and from the fourteenth century onwards trade with the Hanseatic cities flourished. Amsterdam gained city rights in 1300 or 1301, granted by Guy van Henegouwen, the Bishop of Utrecht, but this was only a confirmation of the earlier rights given to the city by one of the Lords of Aemstel. Already on 27 october 1275 Amestelledamme [sic]] had been given freedom of tolls.

Then in the 16th century, the Dutch war of independence began against the Spanish. Although originally on the Spanish side, Amsterdam switched sides in 1578.

As a result, freedom of religion was reinstated, a very positive move at the time. Amsterdam had remained a Roman Catholic city, and Roman Catholicism remains the major religion in the city to this day. Amsterdam is still home to several old Catholic churches (which have in some cases been converted to Protestant churches), and each year the Stille Omgang is still walked in march, a procession commemorating the "Miracle of the Host" of 1345.

Religious wars were raging throughout Europe and many people were looking for a place of refuge where they would not be condemned for their religion.

Wealthy Jewish families from Spain and Portugal, prosperous merchants from Antwerp fleeing the destruction and ransacking of their city by the Spanish, and the Huguenots from France all sought refuge in Amsterdam.

Dam Square in the late 17th century: painting by Jan Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Gem ldegalerie, Dresden) The Seventeenth century was Amsterdam's Golden Age. Amsterdam's ships sailed to North America, Indonesia, Brazil and Africa, building an impressive empire in the process. Rembrandt also worked in this century, and the city expanded around its canals during this time. Amsterdam became the most important port of the world and an international center for banking.

The 18th and 19th century saw a decline in the prosperity of Amsterdam. Wars against the United Kingdom and France took their toll on the city and trade was lost to London.

At the end of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution reached Amsterdam. Waterways to the sea and to the river Rhine improved communication with the rest of Europe and the world.

Amsterdam got a new lease on life, but never reached the same supremacy as before. At this time the Netherlands felt it had to defend its main city, to do this the Stelling van Amsterdam was constructed, a unique ring of 42 forts and land that could be flooded.

World War I did not affect Amsterdam as the Netherlands remained neutral, although trade and industry suffered.

Between the wars, the Dutch built a dike separating the Zuider Zee from the North Sea, thus creating the IJsselmeer. Thus, the great waters to the east of Amsterdam were no longer salt water, but fresh water, and thus could be used for drinking, as rivers flow into the IJsselmeer.

During World War II German troops occupied the city starting on May 15, 1940 and about 100,000 Jewish people were deported from Amsterdam, almost completely wiping out the Jewish community in Amsterdam. Anne Frank was one of those people. Before the war, Amsterdam was the world's center for the diamond trade. Since this trade was mostly in the hands of Jewish businessmen and craftsmen, the diamond trade almost disappeared. Amsterdam is still important, but the city of Antwerp in Belgium is the main center for diamonds today.

The sixties and seventies put Amsterdam back on the map, for reasons other than trade. The tolerance of soft drugs made the city a popular destination for hippies, and squatting in unoccupied buildings became widespread. Riots and clashes with the police were frequent.

In 1980, while Queen Beatrix was inaugurated as the new Queen of The Netherlands in the New Church on Dam square, a group of protesters outside fought against a police force.

The Eighties, Nineties, and Noughties saw administrative changes, as the city was divided in several semi-autonomous city parts. In 1995 the national government proposed creating a city province consisting of Amsterdam and neighbouring towns, but this was rejected by the city population in a referendum with a percentage of over 90% against. The primary opposition was not against creating the city province, but the splitting up of the city: the city parts would have become towns in their own right with their own mayors. Opposers feared that this would destroy the city's cohesion. The city province proposal was shelved and forgotten. Nevertheless, since 1995 the city parts have gradually become more autonomous, and neighbouring towns have been drawn into the city more politically and economically, so in a sense the city province has arrived in the form of 'Greater Amsterdam'.

The eighties and onward also saw a small exodus of people leaving Amsterdam for the 'growth cities' of Purmerend, Almere and other cities near Amsterdam.

Cultural life

Amsterdam is the cultural center of the Netherlands, with much activity in the arts, dance, theater, and music.

The world-famous concert hall, the Concertgebouw, is the home of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The Muziektheater, a new (1986) opera house, in one building called Stopera with the city hall, facing the Amstel river, is the home of De Nederlandse Opera and the Dutch National Ballet.

Another famous theatre is the Carr.

, also on the Amstel.

In addition to the previously mentioned museums, Amsterdam is also the home of the Stedelijk Museum (20th century art), the Amsterdam Historical Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Nautical Museum, Madame Tussaud's, and others.

Also located here is the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, the Theatre Group Amsterdam, and the National Dance Theatre.

Founded in the early 1600s, Amsterdam's Hortus Botanicus is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, with many old and rare specimens.

Amsterdam's International Institute of Social History is one of the world's largest documentary and research institutions concerning social history, and especially the history of the labor movement.

There are numerous private art galleries in the center of the city.

Amsterdam's zoo is called Artis, a contraction of the Latin motto of the Zoo, "Natura Artis Magistra", meaning "Nature is the mother (or teacher) of art".

The RAI conference center center hosts many large commercial exhibitions and congresses each year.

Located near the Leidseplein is the nightclub Paradiso (previously a church) and the Melkweg, which both offer pop music and dancing almost every night of the week.

Public transport

• Amsterdam's public transportation system includes: 's Landsat 7.]]
  good national and international train connections, including a frequent service to Schiphol Airport; at night, once an hour there is a train to Schiphol Airport, Leiden, The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam and Utrecht.
• 3 metro lines, partly elevated, with no level crossings.
• a light rail line (sneltram = fast tram) to the neighboring town Amstelveen, partly using metro tracks, partly on the street with its own lanes, but with level crossings.
• 16 tram lines, on the street, partly mixed with all other traffic, partly on lanes shared with buses and taxis, and partly on separate lanes.
• many bus lines (urban and regional); bus traffic is often mixed with other traffic, but sometimes on lanes shared with trams and taxis or lanes for buses only.
• many taxis operate in Amsterdam.
• Several ferries across the IJ; at least one is frequent, operating 24 hours a day, free of charge.

Food

Any cuisine of the world can be found in Amsterdam. Close to the Centraal Station is the Zeedijk, populated by restaurants from every part of the Orient. Turkish kebabs and Arabic shwarma restaurants are everywhere. Typical Dutch food would be raw herring, which you can buy in stalls along the road. Please note that the fish is cleaned (compared with sushi). The way this fish is eaten differs from the rest of the country. It is cut into pieces and served with onions and pickles. Everywhere else it is eaten with some onions by holding the tail and letting it slide into your mouth.

Nightlife

Amsterdam has a very active nightlife with a lot of official clubs, but there are a lot of squat parties always going on as well. Some say it has been surpassed as the 'hippest' city by Rotterdam but it still has its own unique charm. There is a party about every day of the week. There are also a lot of bars and coffeeshops which all have their own unique charm. Some cool place to go clubbing are: Chemistry: Escape, iT, Mazzo, Jimmy Woo, Club 11.