Archive for July, 2010

Amsterdam the largest city of the Netherlands has its name derived from ‘Amstel Dam’, a dam built on river Amstel. Amsterdam was a small fishing village founded in the 12^th century. However, it gained importance by becoming one of the important ports during the Dutch Golden Age, a leading center of finance and diamonds. The world famous Indian diamond the “Kohinoor” was cut in Amsterdam.

With most people preferring to commute by bicycle the city houses more than 1 million bikes.

The Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum of Amsterdam contain the largest Van Gogh collections in the world.

The city lies below sea level and is entirely built on piles, by means of huge stakes driven into the ground.

Though the city is the capital of the Netherlands, it does not have a parliament.

Amsterdam has more than 150 canals and 1,200 bridges within its bounds hence the title Venice of the North.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the center of the city is the oldest stock exchange in the world.

Amsterdam made the sale of cannabis legal and is home to more than 300 coffee shops, which are legally allowed to sell up to 5 gm of soft drugs per person.<

ABN AMRO, Akzo Nobel, Heineken International, ING Group, Ahold, TomTom, Delta Lloyd Group and Philips, are among the large Dutch corporations and banks headquartered in Amsterdam.

The best car rental companies in Amsterdam are Avis, Alamo, Dollar, Europcar, Thrifty, Hertz and Budget.