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The Netherlands is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), which is formed by the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, located in northwestern Europe. It borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east. The current borders were formed in 1839. The Netherlands is often referred to by the name Holland. This is, however, ambiguous as Holland is the name of a region in the western Netherlands.
Amsterdam is the capital city, but The Hague (Dutch: Den Haag or 's-Gravenhage) is the Netherlands' seat of government (regeringszetel), the home of the monarch (residentie), and the location of most foreign embassies.
The largest cities are: Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Tilburg, Haarlem, Nijmegen, Apeldoorn, Enschede.
The Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative regions, called provinces, each under a Governor, who is called Commissaris van de Koningin (Commissioner of the Queen).
The official languages are Dutch and Frisian.
The gulden (sometimes called guilder in English), represented by the symbol f or fl., was the name of the currency used in the Netherlands from the 15th century until 1999, when it was replaced by the euro (coins and notes were not introduced until 2002).
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