When you think of the Netherlands, what do you immediately picture? If you’re anything like us, you probably thought of windmills, wooden clogs, and fields of beautiful tulips. But this Western European nation has far more interesting trivia to offer than that. For example, did you know that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world? Or that it’s incorrect to call the country “Holland”? Now let’s get to know more about the Dutch with these fascinating Netherlands facts!

Most of us prefer to display nice photos of family and friends either on the walls in the living room or in a photo album on the coffee table, but Dutch people like to hang their photos in an unsuspecting place: The bathroom. Moreover, they also like to hang up calendars in the bathroom so they can keep track of important events. Considering everyone has to use the bathroom from time to time, you can't really argue with that logic!

Dutch people are very serious about their health and environmentalism. Because of this, many people rely solely on bicycles to get them places and may not even own a car at all. As such, the number of bicycles in the country actually surpasses the number of humans. It's true, there are about 17 million people and 22 million bicycles! Additionally, the Netherlands also boasts its famously flat land and ample bike lane space, making cycling a very pleasant activity!

Located in the Dutch province of North Brabant is a small municipality called Baarle-Nassau. Within Baarle-Nassau is a Belgian enclave called Baarle-Hertog, and the border between the two countries often gets complicated, to put it lightly - This is because it happens to run right through the two towns, more specifically, right through houses and places of business. This means that some people live right in between two countries! At one point Dutch law dictated that restaurants and bars had to close earlier than in Belgium, meaning that patrons in one of these border restaurants would simply move to the Belgian side after a certain time at night. What a bizarre experience that would be!

It may surprise you to learn that although the Dutch flag contains the colors red, white, and blue, Dutch people are almost always seen wearing the color orange at sporting events or on national holidays. This is because orange is their national color, which historically stems from the fact that the Dutch monarchy is from the House of Orange. So why doesn't the flag reflect the national color? Well, originally William of Orange designed the flag to be orange, white, and blue, but the orange was gradually replaced with red along with the public’s dissociation from the Republic.

When you buy a bottle of ketchup, you probably use it until there’s just a tiny bit left in the bottom and then toss it in the trash, right? Well, in the Netherlands people are a lot bigger on reducing waste, so they scrape absolutely everything out and then they save the bottle in order to reuse it. In fact, they even have a little tool to assist with that, aptly called a bottle scraper!

Did you know that carrots weren't originally orange? They were actually purple, white, or yellow in the wild and they didn’t become the iconic orange color we all know today until Dutch farmers in the 1600s cultivated them that way in order to honor William of Orange, who had led the Dutch to independence. Apparently the orange hue stuck, because we've all been enjoying orange carrots for ages now! We bet you didn't know that fact, did you?

Here’s another interesting historical tidbit for you: The Dutch used to sleep in closet beds, or bedstede, that were built into the wall and closed off with a door or curtain. The bedstede eliminated the need for an entirely separate bedroom if space was limited, and because the space was so small it could be warmed up via body heat in the winter. Of course, most people nowadays just use regular beds, but these do seem pretty practical! Pictured is a modern take on the bedstede. 

You probably already know the biblical story of Noah’s Ark where Noah builds a giant boat and brings two of every species of animal onboard before God sends in a devastating flood. Well, that ark exists in the Netherlands - or, an artist’s rendition of it anyway. It's called "Johan's Ark" and it was created by a contractor and creationist by the name of Johan Huibers. It was opened to the public in 2012 and features full-scale models of animals.

Licorice is one of those things that you either love or loathe, and the Dutch absolutely love it. In fact, they eat more of it than any other country in the world - 32 million kilos of it per year to be exact! Many Dutch people believe that licorice has anti-inflammatory and other medicinal properties, which is probably at least partly why it's so popular. But be careful, because too much black licorice is actually toxic for your liver and can cause high blood pressure!

You never think of a country like the Netherlands as being particularly crowded, but in fact it is the most densely populated country in all of Europe. There are roughly 17 million people living across 16,040 square miles, which means there are 1,044 people per square mile. By contrast, Germany has 623 people per square mile, and Austria has just 271 people per square mile! Ninety-two percent of Dutch people live in urban areas, and more than 40 percent live in the Randstad region alone.

You’ve probably always heard that “Holland” is just another name for the Netherlands, but that’s actually incorrect. The Netherlands is made up of 12 provinces, two of which (Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland) constitute the region of Holland. The reason the name "Holland" became synonymous with the Netherlands is because historically the region was the most important to the Dutch Kingdom's economy, so it became synonymous with the rest of the country. In 2020, however, the nation officially dropped its "Holland" nickname to try to clear up any confusion internationally!

You may be familiar with the "Dutch-style window," which is a floor-length window that doesn't have curtains. The concept was thought up in the Middle Ages as a way to prove to your neighbors that you had nothing to hide. You'd think that floor-length windows without curtains would lead to a lot of peeping toms, but that actually isn't the case, as it's just thought of as bad manners. However, younger generations are starting to embrace the added privacy of curtains.

The Netherlands has always been far ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality, and as such, they were the first country to legalize gay marriage back in 2001. By contrast, the United States didn’t legalize it until 2015, and in Australia it wasn't legal until 2017! Since 2001, more than 15,000 Dutch gay and lesbian couples have gotten hitched. As of February 2022, 28 other countries have followed suit, and we can only hope that more will follow very soon!

Unlike many other big European hubs, you won’t find any stray dogs walking the streets of the Netherlands, and this is because the Dutch government has worked hard to improve the country’s animal welfare laws, implement more widespread sterilization, and make it illegal to abandon a pet. Additionally, in order to encourage people to adopt rather than shop, the government increased taxes for those looking to purchase dogs from breeders, making it more financially feasible to adopt from shelters!

Back in 1602, Dutch businessmen and lawmakers were the first people in the world to create their own stock market as a way to fund the Dutch East India Company and its long trips around the world. That same year, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was created, and nowadays this is viewed as the world's first “modern” stock exchange. So the next time you make money from purchasing Tesla stock, you have the Dutch to thank!

The Netherlands is quite the melting pot of cultures, seeing as one-fifth of the population was born in a foreign country. More than half of the immigrants there come from non-European backgrounds, namely Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, Antilles, and Aruba. In Amsterdam and Rotterdam, around one out of every three people are from outside of Europe, making for an eclectic mix of cultures and delicious cuisines. The Dutch are particularly famous for their Dutch-Indonesian fusion cuisine, which comes from their history of colonization in Indonesia.

In the Netherlands, the average height for a man is 6 feet, and the average height for a woman is 5 feet 5^1/2 inches. In comparison, the average height for a man in the United States is 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 4 inches for a woman. Some researchers have found that factors like low social inequality, universal healthcare, and widespread access to nutritious foods have all contributed to the Dutch being the tallest people in the world!

Given that the Netherlands has ample flat and fertile lands, it should come as no surprise that the Dutch harvest a lot of flower bulbs. But did you know that a whopping 80 percent of the world’s flower bulbs come from there? It’s true, around 2 billion tulip bulbs are exported from the Netherlands every year, many of which end up at the world's largest flower auction in the world - the famous Aalsmeer Flower Auction.

You may think of the gin and tonic as being a tried-and-true British staple when it comes to alcoholic beverages, but gin was actually invented by the Dutch. It became popular among the British in the 1500s whilst William of Orange and his wife Mary were occupying the British throne. The term "Dutch courage" comes from the days when British and Dutch soldiers would drink gin during the Thirty Years' War in order to "gain courage" before fighting. The more you know!

It’s not just a stereotype that there are a lot of windmills in the Netherlands. There are more than a thousand windmills there today, many of which are hundreds of years old and still being used for things like draining water from the land or grinding grain into flour. The Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to 19 fully functional windmills that were constructed during the 18th century. Many Dutch windmills include a museum where you can learn more about them in person!

Dutch people love to get out and move their bodies more so than much of the world! As previously stated, the Netherlands is home to more bikes than people, and lots of infrastructure that supports an active lifestyle, like ample bike lane space. More than half of the population plays some kind of sport on a weekly basis, compared to the European average of 40 percent. And it certainly doesn't hurt that most of the country is incredibly flat!

While it’s always good to try to learn a bit of the language if you’re going to visit somewhere, in the Netherlands, this is completely unnecessary because more than 90 percent of the population speaks English as a second language. Additionally, 94 percent can speak two languages, which is well above the European average of 54 percent. That being said, it’s always, at the very least, courteous to try to learn a few phrases in Dutch before visiting!

As if you needed another reason to believe that the Dutch are some of the healthiest people in the world, the Dutch diet comes in first for the best diet in the world, according to the Oxfam Food Index. They have the most plentiful, nutritious, and affordable food in the world. And while Dutch baked goods and snacks are notoriously bad for you, the country is also the second-biggest exporter of vegetables in the world. But as they say, everything in moderation!

The Netherlands is the lowest-lying country in Europe, which is fitting given that its name means "lower lands." More than a quarter of the nation sits below sea level, and as such they have developed a pretty ingenious system of keeping the land dry using dikes, polders, and windmills. The highest point in the country is just 322 meters above sea level, meaning that if you're into hiking or mountain-climbing, the Netherlands is probably not the right place for you!

In 2020, the Netherlands came in sixth place in the World Happiness Report. The report ranks 156 countries and takes into account things like freedom, healthcare, trust in leadership, life expectancy, social support, and work-life balance. The only countries that ranked higher than the Netherlands in happiness were Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Iceland. Perhaps we should take some notes from the Dutch on how to lead happier lives. After all, happiness is the most important thing one can have!

As part of its commitment to environmentalism, the Netherlands has pledged to ban the selling of brand new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles in order to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. This means that going forward, all new cars will be battery-powered or electric, and those who purchase them will receive tax incentives. As such, there's been a huge uptick in Tesla sales over the past few years. You can see just how committed the Dutch are to the environment!

When you think of the Netherlands, there are probably a few images that immediately pop into your head: Clogs, windmills, and tulips. You may be surprised to learn that the latter isn’t actually originally from there! Although tulips have been hugely popular since the 1600s, they were originally imported from Turkey. Nowadays, every third Saturday in January the Dutch celebrate National Tulip Day, the official start of tulip season that involves free flower picking and festivals!

The Netherlands has the world’s oldest in-use national anthem, dating back to at least 1572. It was written during the Dutch Revolt that began in 1566 - the nation’s struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. However, while the song (called “Wilhelmus” which translates to "The William") has been around since the 16th century and has remained incredibly popular with Dutch people throughout the centuries, it didn't become the official national anthem of the Netherlands until 1932.

In most places, when it rains you break out your umbrella without thinking twice. But in the Netherlands, they think a bit more unconventionally about the rain. Instead of umbrellas, they use rain suits, which makes sense when you think about the fact that umbrellas are nearly impossible to use when you’re on a bike! Additionally, it tends to be quite windy in the Netherlands due to it being so flat and low to the water, which makes umbrellas particularly impractical.

While most of the developed world tends to opt for hospital births, many Dutch women are keen on having their babies at home with a midwife. Seventeen percent choose home births, meaning that approximately one in every eight children was born at home. However, the number of home births has declined significantly since the ‘90s, most likely due to the fact that pain medications cannot be administered at home. Nevertheless, the Netherlands still has one of the highest rates of home births in the developed world.