Amsterdam is that the capital and most thickly settled town of Holland. Found among the province of North European country, capital of The Netherlands is informally said because the "Venice of the North", attributed to the massive variety of canals that type a UNESCO World Heritage website.

 

Amsterdam was based at the Amstel, that was dammed to manage flooding, and therefore the city's name derives from the Amstel dam. Originating as atiny low fishing village within the late twelfth century, capital of The Netherlands became one among the foremost necessary ports within the world throughout the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century and have become the leading center for finance and trade. within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, town expanded and plenty of new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned and engineered. The 17th-century canals of capital of The Netherlands and therefore the 19–20th century Defence Line of capital of The Netherlands area unit on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sloten, annexed in 1921 by the municipality of capital of The Netherlands, is that the oldest a part of town, qualitative analysis to the ninth century.

 

Amsterdam's main attractions include its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw, the Anne Frank House, the Scheepvaartmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Heineken Experience, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, Natura Artis Magistra, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, NEMO, the red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops. town is additionally renowned for its nightlife and pageant activity. with many of its nightclubs (Melkweg, Paradiso) among the world's most far-famed. Primarily familiar for its inventive heritage, elaborate canal system, and slim homes with gabled façades; healthy legacies of the city's 17th-century Golden Age. These characteristics area unit arguably answerable for attracting innumerable Amsterdam's guests annually. sport is vital to the city's character, and there area unit various bike ways.

 

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is taken into account the oldest "modern" exchange exchange within the world. because the business capital of Holland and one among the highest monetary centers in Europe, capital of The Netherlands is taken into account associate degree alpha world town by the economic process and World Cities (GaWC) study cluster. several massive Dutch establishments have their headquarters within the town, as well as the Philips conglomerate, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, TomTom, and ING. Moreover, several of the world's largest corporations area unit based mostly in capital of The Netherlands or have established their European headquarters within the town, like leading technology corporations Uber, Netflix, and Tesla. In 2012, capital of The Netherlands was hierarchal the contender town to measure in by the economic expert Intelligence Unit (EIU) and twelfth globally on quality of living for atmosphere and infrastructure by Mercer. The Port of capital of The Netherlands is that the fifth largest in Europe. The KLM hub and Amsterdam's main airdrome, Schiphol, is that the Netherlands' busiest airdrome yet because the third busiest in Europe and eleventh busiest airdrome within the world. The capital of The Netherlands is taken into account one among the foremost ism cities within the world, with a minimum of 177 nationalities painted.

 

A few of Amsterdam's notable residents throughout history embrace painters Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, the writer Anne Frank, and thinker Baruch de Spinoza.