Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands, is a city that doesn’t really need an introduction. Well known throughout the world as a party city with a tolerant attitude. When people think of Amsterdam some of the first things that often come to mind are the red light district and the many coffeeshops selling cannabis.
But Amsterdam is so much more than that! It was by far the most important city of The Dutch Republic during The Dutch ‘Golden Age’ and was the commerical center of the world for many decades in the 17th century. Ofcourse that is quite a while ago, but that period still benefits the city greatly. It was the period that some of the classic landmarks were built and most of the famous canals were dug. Next to that it was the age of the Dutch Masters, with famous painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer. Numerous paintings from that period can be found in museums throughout the city.
The city has over 7000 monumental buildings. Amsterdam is known for its large historic center with its vast amount of 17th century gabled houses, but the city has a lot of noteworthy modern architecture too. Like the Eye Film Institute or the ING House.
Amsterdam is a tourist destination that caters to a lot of different types of people. If you’re into history, architecture, art or just like to have a good time partying, Amsterdam is the place to be!
Some Amsterdam facts
- Amsterdam has almost 900,000 people living within the city and about 2.5 million in the urban area.
- Over 50 percent of the people living in Amsterdam have a (partial) foreign background and people from over a 180 different nationalities can be found in the city.
- Amsterdam stands on over 1,000,000 wooden poles.
- Before the Covid-19 pandemic Amsterdam atracted close to 20,000,000 visitors each year from all over the world.
- There are more bicycles than people to be found in the city.
For more interesting facts visit our trivia.