The Foundation of the Netherlands
About twenty percent of the area of the Netherlands and twenty-one percent of its population is located below sea level, and fifty percent of its land lies less than one meter above sea level (Molenaar) This makes the Netherlands out of all the countries in the world the land with the most land below sea-level. The Netherlands currently has more than seventeen thousand kilometers of flood defenses (Molenaar) Dikes were the foundation of the Netherlands because they made the Netherlands grow, well-known, and made them a pro at building them, but the dikes also wounded the Netherlands.
There have not always been dikes in the Netherlands. Before there were dikes, the lower lands used to overflow at high tide. The inhabitants who were hunters, fishermen and farmers build artificial mounds to live on in order to protect themselves. These mounds were called terpen. As the terpen grew larger, entire villages and churches were built on them. There are still many villages in the Netherlands that began as a terp village.
The word 'terp' comes from an old Frisian word for village meaning height (Wintle). Churches have been built on terpen for a long time. As a rule, the church was built on the highest point of the terp, so that it was the most protected building during floods. If the highest point was already built upon, then a new terp was built next to the village, especially for the church (Wintle). This means that the people would fled to the church when there was a flood and that the churches are the oldest buildings on terpen.
The terpen are a big help, but the land is still getting wet. So the Dutch inhabitants started the reclamation of swamps and shallow lakes into livable space. By erecting a dike ...
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...nd to inland rivers made that trade possible.
Dikes are the foundation of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is built of dikes literally and figuratively. Literally because the early houses were already build on terpen. Later the dikes protected them. If there were no dikes big parts of the Netherlands would have been drowned. Figuratively because they got their prosperity also from dikes. The extra land gave income, mainly because building all those dikes made the Netherlands good at hydraulic engineering. And that gave the Netherlands the ability to help other countries with their flood defenses. Therefore the Netherlands would not have been the same without dikes. The Dikes are a part of the Netherlands and nobody can change that. It gave the Dutch the opportunity to bike trough a Dutch polder and think that meters above their head, there were fisherman fishing.
When she went to the Netherlands, she found that the rising sea level was expected to take up a large portion of the country. However, in areas where there is already periodic flood, they have already started construction on amphibious home and buoyant roads.
The national trust was founded in 1895. It protects over 350 historic houses, gardens and ancient monuments. This organisation is a charity which does not rely funds from government but depends on membership fees and donations from members.
"Canada - Netherlands.” Veterans Affairs Canada. Government of Canada, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
The most destructive problem that occurred a hundred years ago and is still practiced is that of tavy. Tavy is a process of forest clearing, also known as slash and burn. Humans living on the island use this system to create farmland for harvesting their most precious crops. What they do is they cut down all trees and or shrubs then set fire to the area of land that they want to farm. They use the burnt materials as fertilizers and then plant their crop. Next season the farmer must move to another area and continue to burn more of the forest down. Due to this form of farming, humans have turned vast wetlands into deserts and luscious forests into tundra. In the...
This is a project about the U.S.A. we have to do this for the subject history. We have to answer a main Question. As main question I chose; what was the influence by the Dutch on the New Netherlands? I chose this question because I thought this would be an interesting thing about the history of the New Netherlands. I’m going to use sub questions to answer the main question. The three sub questions are about the drive for the Dutch to look for new colonies, what did the Dutch get from the New Netherlands and what did they bring to the New Netherlands and what was the influence of the colony on the hinterland. For my research on the sub questions I had to use the internet. This three question will be worked out beneath
Outlandishly the near by Collect Pond was meticulously documented as it served the Dutch as a fresh water supply, through British rule, to a sewer. In 1811 the pond wa...
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative research organization whose main purpose is to influence conservative public policies that are based on personal freedoms, limited government intervention, free enterprise and promotion of basic American values. Heritage Foundation is an influential organization that has promoted policies within the United States for many years. The foundation is funded through direct mail fundraising from donors. Much private and public cooperation have funded the organizations course for many years. Presidents of the United States have worked with the organization so as to promote their policies within the government. Heritage Foundation is highly regarded by the government because of its conservative nature to the public policies.
...all, Mark. “Its Cheaper to Go Dutch.” Newsweek 148 (2006): 36. Military and Government Collection. EBSCO. Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile. 26 Oct. 2006.
Initially the Netherlands attempted to stay neutral during World War II, as it had been in the First World War, however, the Nazis still attacked. The final Nazi-free moments for the Dutch were those on May 10, 1940, the day Hitler invaded the Netherlands...
When thinking of the Netherlands, or Holland as most people recognize it, what comes to mind is typically a picture of a blond haired girl wearing wooden shoes and holding a basket of bread standing in a field of tulips with a windmill turning in the background, or the idea of standing in a busy city in the red-light district surrounded by bicyclists, drunk teenagers and people selling drugs legally. While both cliches hold their own truth about the country, much more lies beneath the tulips and drugs. Because the Netherland's government focuses on the overall well being of its people, the Netherlands is a better country to live in than the United States.
This paper introduces the environmental concerns of the loss of coastal wetlands. The paper will discuss the significance of wetlands and the devastation that is occurring because of human activity. Wetlands are an essential element of our environment both ecological and societal; conservation will be essential for the preservation of these precious ecosystems.
Germans used Gable roofs with hoods in building their dwellings. Germans used hoods, or abbreviated roofs, to protect the people walking, from rain, and helped with the removal of rain from the roof. Dutch settlers built their homes using intricate, stepped gables.
The graph shows the results that were expected from the land use questionnaire. In the tables, the trend in the graphs show the total’s and average’s over 147 years.
Dutch people are generally tall with light hair and eyes. They are also very house proud, meaning they keep their houses well-kept and tidy. Most people live in the cities, which are very well urbanized. Christianity is the main religion, split between Protestants and Catholic Faiths. Although, many people in Netherlands have no religion. Many Dutch spend their free time alone with family or tending their gardens. Cafes are also an important part of the Dutch lifestyle, with either a brown or white café. Brown cafes are older and cozier, while white cafes are modern. Dutch are also the main producers of cheese! They are very fond of cheese, with their main kinds being either Gouda or Edam. Six major types of cheese are produced by the Dutch and exported around the world. So without Netherlands, there would be no cheese. The arts have a large role in Dutch culture. Painting is a huge part of Dutch history and culture. The paintings produced in the Golden Age of Netherlands are cherished around the world. Music is also a part of culture the Dutch are fond of. Musicians are regularly playing on the streets, and many families have one or more members who play an instrument. “The Netherlands has produced many talented musicians. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague are two of the finest ensembles in the world.” This just goes to show how arts has been a main part of Dutch life and
One very important advancement was the irrigation system. This system supplies dry land with water by means of ditches, pipes, or st...