Amsterdam

Amsterdam (in Dutch: Amsterdam) is the capital of the Netherlands. The city is located between the bay of the IJ, to the north, and the banks of the Amstel river, to the southeast. Founded in the 12th century as a small fishing village, it is now the country's largest city and major financial center and culture of international projection.

It has a population of about 905,234 inhabitants and approximately 1.5 million reside in its metropolitan area. It should be noted that Amsterdam is part of the large Dutch conurbation called Randstad (along with the cities of The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht), which has more than 6.5 million inhabitants. This core is one of the largest conurbations in Europe.

The historic center of the city was largely built in the 17th century and is today one of the largest historical centers in Europe. At that time, a series of semicircular canals were built around the existing old part of the city. Then the new streets were built that had now been created with houses and warehouses in a typical Dutch style that is one of the most famous images of Amsterdam and the country. Like other northern European cities with an abundance of water, such as Bruges, Hamburg, and Stockholm, it is colloquially known as the "Venice of the North."

Although for most of its history (except between 1808-1810) it has been the official capital of the Netherlands, it has never been the seat of justice, government or the Dutch parliament, as all these bodies are located in the city of The Hague, which is therefore the country's main city in terms of politics and justice. Amsterdam is also not the capital of the province of North Holland, which has always been Haarlem.

Toponymy

The first documented use of "Amsterdam" appears in a certificate dated October 27, 1275, according to which the inhabitants, who had built a bridge and a dam over the Amstel River, were exempted from duty by order of Count Florentine V The certificate, in Latin, describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme ("people living near Amestelledamme"). In the following centuries it appears in different forms: Aemstelredam, Aemstelredamme, Amestelledamme among others. In 1327, it became Aemsterdam.

The name is due to the aforementioned "earth dam", in Old Dutch: erddam (erde: "earth 34; and "dam": dike) built on the Amstel (also from Old Dutch: Aeme-stelle, "place of water"), thus Amsterdam is " the earthen dike on the Amstel".

An alternative hypothesis based on the form Amestelledamme, considers that stelle in this case means "jetty" y Ame, indicates a river in general, which is why Amsterdam would be: "the dike of the river port".

In Dutch the pronunciation of the name is acute: [ɑmstər'dɑm]. However, in Spanish the esdrújula pronunciation is widespread, which is why ASALE recommends the spelling Amsterdam, with tilde.

History

Foundation and Middle Ages

Around the 13th century Amsterdam was a fishing village. According to legend, the city was founded by two fishermen from the northern province of Friesland, who by chance ended up on the banks of the Amstel River in a small boat, along with their dog.^{[citation needed ]}

The traditional date of the founding of the city is October 27, 1275, when the obligation to pay was withdrawn from its inhabitants tolls, which were then associated with Dutch bridges.^{[citation needed]} In the year 1300 it was granted official city rights, and from 14th century Amsterdam began to flourish as a commercial center, largely based on trade with other Dutch and German cities, known as the League Hanseatic.

Conflict with Spain

In the 16th century the conflict between the Dutch and Philip II of Spain began. This confrontation caused a war that lasted eighty years (known in Spanish as the Flanders War), which finally gave the Netherlands its independence. Already at that time, after the break with Spain, the Dutch republic was gaining fame for its tolerance towards religions. Among others, Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain, Protestant merchants from Antwerp, and Huguenots from France, who were persecuted in their countries for their religion, sought refuge in Amsterdam.

Center of the Dutch Golden Age

The 17th century is considered the Golden Age of Amsterdam. At the beginning of that century, Amsterdam became one of the richest cities in the world. Ships sailed from its port to the Baltic Sea, North America, Africa, and the lands now represented by Indonesia and Brazil. In this way, the basis of a worldwide commercial network was created.

The Dam Square at the end of the centuryXVIIpainted by Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Germany)

The Amsterdam merchants owned most of the Dutch East India Company, or VOC. This organization was installed in the countries that would later become colonies of the Netherlands. At that time, Amsterdam was the main commercial port in Europe and the largest financial center in the world. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was the first to operate on a daily basis.

The population of the city grew slightly from 10,000 in the year 1500, to 30,000< /span> around the year 1570. By the year 1700 this number had already reached 200,000. During the 18th and 19th centuries" and even before the First and Second World Wars, the number of inhabitants increased by no less than 300%, reaching 800,000 inhabitants. Since then, and up to the present, the number has been relatively constant.

Decline and modernization

After the wars between the Republic of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and France, during the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century, Amsterdam's prosperity ceased to flourish. Above all, the Napoleonic wars took away the fortunes of Amsterdam. Despite this, when the Kingdom of the Netherlands was officially established in 1815, the situation began to improve. In this period one of the key people for the new initiatives was Samuel Sarphati, a doctor and urban planner, who brought his inspiration from Paris.

The last decades of the 19th century are often referred to as the «second Golden Age of Amsterdam», among others because, new museums, a train station and the Concertgebouw, the city's concert hall, were built. In the same period the Industrial Revolution came to the city. New canals and sea lanes were built to improve the connection between Amsterdam and the rest of Europe.

20th century

Amsterdam to 1912

A few years before the start of World War I, the city began to expand, building new residential neighborhoods on the outskirts. During World War I, the Netherlands took a neutral position, but even so the population suffered from severe hunger and a severe lack of gas supplies.

Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, taking control of the country after five days of fighting. The Germans installed a Nazi civilian government in Amsterdam, which was in charge of the persecution of the Jews. Also the Dutch who helped and protected the victims were persecuted. More than 100,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps. Among them was Anne Frank. Only 5,000 Jews survived the war. During the last months of the war, in 1945, communication with the rest of the country was interrupted and the population suffered from severe food and energy shortages. Many inhabitants of Amsterdam had to go to the countryside in search of some kind of food. To survive, dogs, cats, and flower bulbs were consumed. Many trees in Amsterdam were used for energy, as was the wood from the houses of those who had disappeared.

Geography

Amsterdam Satellite View

The city lies approximately 2 m below sea level.

Climate

The city has a moderate climate, strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the winds that come from it. Winters are usually cold, but not extreme, although freezing temperatures are very common. It does not usually snow more than 26 days a year. Summers are warm with temperatures around 22 °C, without extremes, except for some heat waves.

In the city there are many rainy days, although it is almost always very moderate rains due to very unstable weather and situations of sun, rain, clouds, hail, etc. can occur on the same day. Total annual rainfall is 838mm and occurs regularly throughout the year, but more frequently in the fall and winter months.

Amsterdam average climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	13.9	16.6	21.1	27.0	31.5	33.2	36.3	34.5	29.4	25.0	17.5	15.5	36.3
Average temperature (°C)	5.8	6.3	9.6	13.5	17.4	19.7	22.0	22.1	18.8	14.5	9.7	6.4	13.8
Average temperature (°C)	3.4	3.5	6.1	9.1	12.9	15.4	17.6	17.5	14.7	11.0	7.1	4.0	10.2
Temp. medium (°C)	0.8	0.5	2.6	4.6	8.2	10.8	13.0	12.8	10.6	7.5	4.2	1.5	6.4
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-15.4	-15.0	-11.1	-4.7	-1.1	2.3	5.0	5.0	2.0	-3.4	-6.9	-14.8	-15.4
Total precipitation (mm)	66.6	50.6	60.6	40.9	55.6	66.0	76.5	85.9	82.4	89.6	87.2	76.3	838.2
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	12	10	11	9	10	10	10	10	12	13	13	13	133
Days of snowfall (≥ 1 mm)	6	6	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	26
Hours of sun	63.2	87.5	126.3	182.7	221.9	205.7	217.0	197.0	139.4	109.1	61.7	50.5	1662.0
Relative humidity (%)	88	86	83	78	76	78	79	80	83	86	89	90	83
Source No. 1: Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (1981–2010 normal, snowy days normal for 1971–2000)
Source No. 2: Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (1971–2000 extremes)

Government

Symbols

The coat of arms of Amsterdam consists of three crosses called the "St. Andrew's Crosses" in honor of the Apostle Andrew who was martyred on an "X"-shaped cross. In the 16th century lions were added. Some historians believe that the crosses represent the three dangers that most affected Amsterdam: flood, fire, and the Black Death.

The city's official motto is: "Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig" ('Heroic, Resolute and Merciful'). These three words come from the official name granted by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1947, in honor of the courage of the city during World War II.

The Imperial Crown of Austria was given to the city in 1489 by Maximilian I of Habsburg in order to thank the services and loans that Amsterdam had offered him. The crown signified imperial protection and was useful to Dutch merchants when they moved abroad.

The flag of Amsterdam consists of three horizontal stripes, the upper and lower ones are red, the central one is black with three inclined white crosses. It is based directly on the shield.

Districts

Urban planning and architecture

Channels

Amsterdam is made up of a large number of canals, which is why it has been called the "Venice of the North". The canals are created by the urban development of the city. This separates the bridge units for each (approximately 1,300 bridges) linking 160 canals around the entire city. The canals are wide and full of houseboats where families and people live. They can be visited through guides and boat excursions.

Expansion

Amsterdam Districts.

In 1975 the authorities decided to develop the eastern part of the port, creating four islands linked to the rest of the city by bridges: KNSM, Java, Borneo and Sporenburg. In the first place, the infrastructure was made, building streets and bridges and providing them with public transport; a density of 100 dwellings per ha was approved. There are differences between the different islands:

• KNSM, designed as a set by architect Jo Coenen in 1987, has large housing blocks separated by large spaces.
• Java, designed by Sjoerd Soeters, is divided by channels and has two types of constructions: blocks destined each to specific inhabitants: families, residents of the old age, singles... and some single homes.
• Borneo and Sporenburg have, for the most part, single-family homes, without any trade between them.
• The Amsterdam Zuidoost district is the most remote district in central Amsterdam and where most of the city's new neighbourhoods are grouped.

Economy

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands in terms of business and finance. It is in fifth position on the list of European cities with the greatest potential for international business companies, behind London, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona. Various banking and multinational corporations are headquartered in Amsterdam, including AkzoNobel, Heineken International, ING Group, TomTom, Delta Lloyd Group, Booking.com, ABN Amro, Ahold, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, KPMG and Philips. KPMG's international headquarters are in nearby Amstelveen, where many non-Dutch companies have also established themselves, as the surrounding communities allow full ownership of land, contrary to Amsterdam's land-leasing system.

The AEX index of the Amsterdam stock exchange (the oldest in the world) is part of Euronext, a holding to which the Paris, Brussels and Lisbon stock exchanges also belong.

Tourism

Amsterdam is home to many internationally renowned museums, including the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum of modern art, and the Museum het Rembrandthuis or 'Rembrandt House Museum,' which was the home and workshop by Rembrandt, and exhibits an interesting collection of etchings by him; the Van Gogh Museum, which has the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world; Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, or the Film Museum, also known as Filmmuseum.

The Anne Frank House, which has been converted into a museum, is also a popular tourist destination, as is the Amstelkring Museum, whose attic houses a 17th-century underground Catholic church XVII.

Tourist promotion «I am sterdam», in front of the Rijksmuseum

The Hortus Botanicus, founded in the early 1660s, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, with many ancient and rare species, including the coffee plant from which the cutting was made. as the basis of plantations in Central and South America.

Also in this city is the well-known Heineken brewery, which also has its museum.

The prestigious Concertgebouw concert hall is also home to the equally famous Royal Concertgebouw symphony orchestra, which gave its first concert on November 3, 1888.

Regular events held in the city include the Amsterdam Marathon, the Amsterdam World Film Festival, the Koninginnedag and the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.

Red Light District

Amsterdam Red Quarter

Among the most popular areas of the city is the red light district (in Dutch Rosse buurt, or Red Light District in English), due to the color of the lights that illuminate the premises where the prostitutes who work in this area of the city are exhibited, in a kind of shop window. Prostitution in the Netherlands is completely legalized in areas designated for it, where prostitutes have the right to social security and unemployment. The Red Zone, colloquially called «De Wallen» in reference to the wall) of two canals that cross it, is located in the heart of Amsterdam center, between Warmoesstraat, Zeedijk, Nieuwmarkt, Kloveniersburgwal and Damstraat streets. Other cities, such as Utrecht, The Hague, Groningen and Haarlem, also have their own red light districts.

Coffee shops

Bizcochos with hachís sold in coffee shops of Amsterdam in 2007

In the red light district, as in other parts of the city, there are so-called coffee shops that sell small amounts of marijuana, generally of very high quality. organic quality, this is tolerated as long as they are small amounts (up to 5 grams per person per day), and provided that the buyer is of legal age (although some coffee shops do not allow entry to those under 21 years of age). This policy is called gedoogbeleid or “tolerance policy”. Likewise, marijuana sellers in coffee shops are not allowed to have more than half a kilo of marijuana on the premises. Coffee shops are one of the main attractions in Amsterdam, especially among young tourists and thanks to these, the State obtains a good income through the taxes on these products. Coffee shops are, in addition to a place to consume marijuana, a meeting place, since many people tend to go to these cafes throughout the day.

Gay vibe

Amsterdam has quite a gay scene, especially in the streets Reguliersdwarsstraat, which leads to the Rembrandtplein, and Warmoesstraat, near the station central.

Since 1989 there is Club iT, one of the biggest gay clubs in Europe. Despite the fact that today many other European cities such as London, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona and Sitges are famous for their tolerance towards gays, Amsterdam remains the most important gay city in Europe, and is still one of the most diverse in the world, despite their relatively small size.

That's because the sexual revolution started very early in the Netherlands and more than anything in Amsterdam. In the late 1960s, when it was one of the main cities for hippies (with London and San Francisco), many taboos of that time disappeared, such as inequality between men and women, and freedom of expression was fought for in general and in particular for the right to use condoms, or the right to artificial insemination for single women; matters that in the 1960s were still taboos throughout Europe.

LGBT-acceptance for the Dutch is a thing of the past. Perhaps, due to the little importance that the Dutch give to issues such as sexual orientation or gender identity of people, since it is considered something of little relevance. For all these reasons, in Amsterdam it is common to see a gay or lesbian couple embracing, or with one or more children, since both same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by same-sex couples are legal and are fully approved.

There is a commemorative monument in the center of Amsterdam, the Homomonument, consisting of three triangular slabs of pink granite, which symbolize the pink triangles that homosexual prisoners of Nazism during World War II were forced to sew on their uniforms. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 Dutch homosexuals died in the concentration camps.

Culture

Museums

Amsterdam has a high concentration of museums within the city, more than seventy-five, among them the most important are: Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, Heineken Museum, Madame Tussaud, Museum of Amsterdam History, Navigation Museum, Nemo Science Museum, EYE Filmmuseum, Rembrandthuis, Royal Palace on Dam, Museum of Cultures, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam City Archive.

Music

• Bimhuis
• Concertgebouw
• Melkweg
• Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ
• Paradiso

Festivals

Amsterdam has a variety of festivals, including SLAM! Koningsdag and Amsterdam Music Festival in which DJs from all over the world perform and make the attendees dance with their mixes of the well-known EDM genre. These festivals, like others, are presented once a year and their fame has reached every corner of the world, causing more and more foreign attendees to visit Amsterdam to enjoy these great events.

Sports

AFC Ajax is one of the top three soccer clubs in the Netherlands, leading the Eredivisie record with 33 championships and 24 runners-up. Internationally, they won the European Champion Clubs' Cup three years in a row from 1971 to 1973 and then for the fourth time in 1995, and triumphed in the 1972 and 1995 Intercontinental Cup.

Amsterdam hosted the 1928 Summer Olympics, for which the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium was built. The Olympic Stadium hosted the 2016 European Athletics Championships. The Amsterdam Marathon has been held since 1975, starting and finishing at the Olympic Stadium.

The Wagener Estate, located in the suburb of Amstelveen, has hosted numerous international field hockey tournaments. The Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Center has hosted international gymnastics championships.

Equipment	Sport	Competition	Stadium	Creation
Ajax Amsterdam	Football	Eredivisie	Amsterdam Arena	1900
BC Apollo Amsterdam	Basketball	FEB Eredivisie	Sporthallen Zuid	?
ABC Amsterdam	Basketball	FEB Eredivisie	Sporthallen Zuid	1995
Amsterdam Crusaders	American Football	Netherlands League of American Football	Sportpark Sloten	1984
Amsterdam Admirals (extinct)	American Football	NFL Europe	Amsterdam Arena	1995-2007

Mobility

Public transport

Amsterdam Central Railway Station.

Public transport in Amsterdam consists of

• Train connections to any part of the Netherlands and international destinations such as Antwerp, Aachen, Basel, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Marseille, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Warsaw and Vienna.
• Amsterdam Metro. 5 lines with 84 km long.
• 16 tram lines, allies of the bicycle.
• Bus:
  • Several regional bus lines.
  • 55 urban bus lines.
  • The Dutch Fleet is an amphibian electric bus to travel through the city's canals.
• Several collective boats and ferris (also for cyclists).

Cycling in Amsterdam.

Urban Engineering

The garbage containers are being collected, mostly, by electric trucks.

Road traffic

Amsterdam is famous for its sheer number of bikes and is the world center of bike culture. Almost all the main streets have cycle paths, and you can leave your bike anywhere; in Amsterdam there are about 700,000 cyclists, more than 7 million bicycles ^{[citation needed]} and 750,000 inhabitants. Every year, around 80,000 are stolen and 25,000 end up in the city's canals.^{[citation needed]} In the center, driving by car is complicated, the fees parking spaces are very high, and many streets are for pedestrians or cyclists. The A10 motorway is the great ring road of Amsterdam and connects with the A1, A2, A4 and A8 to go anywhere in the country.

Airport

	Airport	IATA Code	ICAO Code
	Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport	AMS	EHAM

It is located about 3 meters below sea level, making it the lowest airport in the world. In terms of people traffic, it is the largest airport in the Netherlands by far, the fourth largest in Europe (after London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle) and the tenth largest airport in the world. It is the third airport in Europe with the highest number of cargo operations (1,450 tons in 2005, after Paris and Frankfurt). Every year some 51 million travelers pass through Schiphol. It is the main base for the airlines Martinair and Transavia and one of the most important bases of operations for the Air France-KLM binational consortium and its US ally Delta Air Lines.

It is the main airport connecting North America with Europe. There are daily direct flights to Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Cancun, Mexico City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Philadelphia, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, New York, Newark, Orlando, City from Panama, Paramaribo, CartagenaColombia San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington D.C. In addition, Schiphol Airport is the main airport between Europe and Asia.

The airport premises have a train station in the basement that facilitates the connection with the central station of the city of Amsterdam, with a frequency of 10 minutes and the main cities of the country. It is a stop, in addition to the high-speed train Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris, the so-called Thalys and the "DB" bound for Berlin.

Education

	University	Foundation	Acronym	Type
	University of Amsterdam	1632	UvA	Public University
	Vrije Universiteit	1880	VU	University of Protestant inspiration

Other university institutions include an art academy, the Rietveldacademie, and two higher schools, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten.

The Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis ('International Institute of Social History') is a research center with a large archive, specifically oriented to the history of the labor movement.

Twinned cities

It is twinned with the following cities:^{[citation required]}

Agreements

• Zapopan