Dutch Fun Facts: Size & Population
Fun facts about the size and population of the Netherlands compared to United States, Canada, UK, Cuba. Trivia about Dutch provinces, largest and smallest municipalities, Amsterdam city districts, lowest elevation point and more…
NETHERLANDS VS. HOLLAND
Many people mistakenly believe that the Netherlands and Holland are the same thing. Here are some differences…
- The Netherlands (country) has a total of 12 provinces. Holland (region) accounts for 2 of the 12 provinces (North Holland and South Holland).
- There are 342 municipalities in the Netherlands (as of 01 January 2023). 94 of those municipalities are in Holland.
DUTCH CITIES & PROVINCES
- South Holland (Zuid-Holland) is the Netherlands most populated province with 3,734,481 residents (Aug 2021)
- Zeeland is the Netherlands least populated province with 383,689 residents (Nov 2019)
- Friesland is the Netherlands largest province in area (5,749 km² or 2,220 mi²)
- Utrecht is the Netherlands smallest province in area (1,449 km² or 560 mi²)
- Amsterdam is the Netherlands most populated city with 873,338 residents (Jan 2021)
- Schiermonikoog is the Netherlands least populated municipality with 931 residents (Jan 2021)
- Sudwest-Fryslan is the Netherlands largest municipality in area (522.2 km² or 201.6 mi²)
- Westvoort is the Netherlands smallest municipality in area (7.7 km² or 3 mi²)
- The Hague is the Netherlands most densely populated city with 6,131 residents/km² or 15,880/mi²
Amsterdam has 8 boroughs: Centrum, Noord, Nieuw-West, Oost, West, Zuid, Zuid-Oost and Westpoort. The largest number of residents (150,000) live in Nieuw-West (17.6% of the city’s total). Westpoort is a non-residential borough.
Rotterdam has 14 boroughs: Centrum, Charlois, Delfshaven, Feijenoord, Hillegersberg-Schiebroek, Hoogvliet, Hoek van Holland, Ijsselmonde, Kralingen-Crooswijk, Noord, Overschie, Pernis, Prins Alexander and Rozenburg. Prins Alexander is the most populated borough with 95,400 residents (15% of the city’s total).
The Hague has 8 districts: Centrum, Escamp, Haags Hout, Laak, Leidschenveen-Ypenburg, Loosduinen, Schevenginen and Segbroek. Escamp is the most populated with 124,512 residents (23.6% of the city’s total).
Utrecht has 10 districts: Centrum, Leidsche Rijn, Noordoost, Noordwest, Oost, Overvecht, Vleuten-De Meern, West, Zuid and Zuidwest. Vleuten-De Meern has the most residents – 47,801 (14% of the city’s total).
Zuidplaspolder in the town of Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel (near Rotterdam) has the lowest elevation in the Netherlands at 6.76 meters (22.2 feet) below sea level.
Vaalserberg near the town of Vaals (in Limburg province) is the highest point in the Netherlands at 322.4 meters (1,058 feet).
Approximately 1/3 of the Netherlands is below sea level. It is protected from flooding by an intricate system of canals, dikes, sluices and dams.
Flevoland became the 12th Dutch province in 1986. It is one of the world’s largest artificial islands – 970 km² of land which had been underwater until the mid-20th century.
INTERNATIONAL SIZE COMPARISONS
CANADA
- Canada is 268 times larger than the Netherlands, yet the Netherlands has 12 provinces to Canada’s 10.
- Canada’s smallest province Prince Edward Island, at 5,686 km² (2,195 mi²) which is almost identical in size to the Netherlands’ largest province… Friesland at 5,749 km² (2,220 mi²).
- The Hague‘s population (553,417) is approximately the same as that of Quebec City (549,459).
- Rotterdam‘s population (655,468) is approximately the same as that of Vancouver (662,248).
UNITED KINGDOM
- The Netherlands is almost twice the size of Wales (20,779 km²) but less than half the size of Scotland (78,387 km²).
UNITED STATES
- If the Netherlands was a state, there would be only 8 states smaller in size…Maryland, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.
- If the Netherlands was a state, it would be the 5th largest in population (behind California, Texas, Florida and New York).
- The Netherlands is roughly equal in size area to New Jersey and Massachusetts combined.
- If Amsterdam was a city in the U.S. it would be the 15th most populated (behind Columbus, Ohio and ahead of Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Utrecht has roughly the same population (361,699) as New Orleans, Louisiana (369,749).
- Eindhoven‘s population (238,326) is close to that of Boise, Idaho (236,634).
SOUTH AMERICA
- If the Netherlands was located in South America, it would be the smallest country in size but would rank 8th by population (ahead of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana and Suriname).
CUBA
- The Netherlands is on 1/3 the size of Cuba but has 6 million more residents.
SWITZERLAND
- The Netherlands (41,543 km2) is almost identical in size to Switzerland (41,277 km2), but has more than twice the population (17.3 million vs 8.2 million).
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