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Holland Region is in the western Netherlands and consists of an urbanized ring located around a rural area. Holland Region – also known as the ‘Randstad’ - is the largest urban area in the Netherlands. The name Randstad is said to have been conceived by the founder of KLM, Albert Plesman, when he was looking for a location for a national airport. While flying over the western Netherlands he saw 'a ring of cities on the edge of a large, green area'. The Dutch word for edge is ‘rand’, and city is ‘stad’. Holland Region covers four provinces: Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland. The most important cities of Holland Region are the four largest in the Netherlands: Amsterdam (the constitutional capital), Rotterdam, The Hague (the seat of government) and Utrecht. The region also has 168 other towns and cities and smaller boroughs. Around 6.8 million people live here, more than forty per cent of the whole Dutch population. This makes Holland Region the sixth largest conurbation in Europe in terms of population. Compared with other urban areas in Europe, Holland Region’s population is quite young, with the percentage of those aged 14 and under in particular being relatively high. Holland Region is of very great importance, both nationally and internationally. Nationally, because of the presence of the Dutch parliament in The Hague, television and radio stations around Aalsmeer and Hilversum, and the largest railway station in the Netherlands, in Utrecht. Holland Region is a centre for culture, with many museums, theatres, concert halls and cinemas. The Holland Region is also home to countless events. The proportion of natural beauty is limited, although the country’s oldest nature reserve, the Naardermeer lake, is located here. Internationally, Holland Region is a highly significant conurbation. In The Hague, for example, are the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, Europol, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and Eurojust. Various organisations have designated Amsterdam a world city, partly thanks to the city’s extensive cultural offerings. The national airport, Schiphol, is one of the largest in the EU, ranking fourth after London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt International Airport. And Rotterdam is still one of the largest ports in the world. |