Netherlands, The Hague

The Hague is the third-largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,580 (as of January 1, 2006) (population of agglomeration: 600,000) and an area of approximately 100 km². It is located in the west of the country, in the province of South Holland, of which it is also the provincial capital. The Hague is, like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, part of the conglomerate metropolitan area Randstad, with a population of 6,659,300 inhabitants.

The Hague is the actual seat of government, but, somewhat anomalously, not the official capital of the Netherlands, a role set aside by the Dutch constitution for Amsterdam.

History

The Hague was founded in 1248 by William II, Count of Holland and Rex Romanorum, who was supposed to become Holy Roman Emperor. He started the construction of a castle in a forest near the sea in Holland, where he intended to live after his coronation.

To keep The Hague small, it was not allowed city rights or allowed to build city walls. When city walls were finally allowed in the 1500s, the population decided to use the money to build a city hall instead of city walls.

The Hague was finally named a city by the French occupation force in 1806, centuries after other Dutch cities had received similar rights. All this has led to the urban legend that The Hague is not a city but a village.

Parts of the city sustained heavy damage during World War II. The Atlantic Wall was built through part of the city, causing whole neighbourhoods to be torn down by the German occupiers.

After the war The Hague was at one point the largest building site in Europe. The city expanded massively to the southwest. The destroyed areas were also quickly rebuilt. The population peaked at 600,000 inhabitants around 1965.

The stork is the symbol of Den Haag.

Geography

The Hague has eight official districts (stadsdeel). They are divided into smaller parts (wijken). In contrast to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the "stadsdelen" have no political function and there are no elections for them.

Culture

The Hague has its share of museums and cultural institutions:

"Madurodam" is a miniature city, containing hundreds of scale-models of Dutch landmarks in a typically Dutch miniature landscape.

The "Mauritshuis" exhibits many paintings by Dutch masters, such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn and Paulus Potter.

The Hague does not have a reputation for a bustling night life, most probably because it has no university and thus little student life. What night life there is centres around the three main squares in the city centre: "Het Plein" (literally "The Square"), the Grote Markt (literally "Large Market") and the "Buitenhof" (literally the "Outer Court", which lies just outside the Binnenhof).

Sport

The local football club is called ADO Den Haag. They have played in the Eredivisie (the top division in the Netherlands) since 2003 but have been relegated to the first division in 2007.

The local rugby union club is Haagsche Rugby Club (a.k.a. HRC) and has been in the Guinness book of records for becoming Dutch champion so often (in adult and youth).

Transportation

Public transport in The Hague consists of a sizeable number of tram and bus routes, operated by HTM Personenvervoer. Plans for a subway were shelved in the early 1970s.

A regional light rail system called RandstadRail connects The Hague to nearby cities, Zoetermeer and Rotterdam. The system suffered from startup problems and derailings in 2006, but is fully operational now.

There are two main train stations in The Hague: Den Haag Hollands Spoor (HS) and Den Haag Centraal. It is somewhat confusing that many trains bypass the central station because it is a terminus.

The nearest airport to The Hague is Rotterdam Airport. It is, however, not easily reachable by public transport.