dissolved_or_abolished vlaams nationaal verbond
The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three island territories in the Caribbean . The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east , Belgium to the south , and the North Sea to the northwest , sharing maritime borders with Belgium , the United Kingdom , and Germany . The largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague and Utrecht . Amsterdam is the country ' s capital , while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of government and parliament . The name " Holland " is used to refer informally to the whole of the country of the Netherlands . A country is a region that is identified as a distinct national entity in political geography . A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state , as a non - sovereign or formerly sovereign political division , or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated people with distinct political characteristics . Regardless of the physical geography , in the modern internationally accepted legal definition as defined by the League of Nations in ___MASK52___ and reaffirmed by the United Nations in ___MASK64___ , a resident of a country is subject to the independent exercise of legal jurisdiction . Rotterdam is a city in the Netherlands , located in South Holland , within the Rhine  Meuse  Scheldt river delta at the North Sea . Its history goes back to ___MASK59___ when a dam was constructed in the Rotte river by people settled around it for safety . In 1340 Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland and slowly grew into a major logistic and economic centre . Nowadays it is home to Europe ' s largest port and has a population of 633 , 471 ( city proper ), ranking second in the Netherlands . The Greater Rijnmond area is home to approximately 1 . 4 million people and the Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area makes for the 168th most populous urban area in the world . Rotterdam is part of the yet larger Randstad conurbation with a total population of 7 , 100 , 000 . Staf De Clercq ( 16 September ___MASK6___  22 October 1942 ) was a Flemish nationalist collaborator , co - founder and leader of the Flemish nationalist Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond ( Flemish National League , or VNV ). The Vlaams Nationaal Verbond ( VNV ; Dutch for `` Flemish National Union '' or `` Flemish National League '' ) was a nationalist Flemish political party in Belgium , active between 1933 and 1944 . It was founded by Staf de Clercq who became known as den Leider ( `` the Leader '' ) . The party strove for an authoritarian rule and included some fascist elements , but was not a genuinely fascist organisation per se . Its aim was to separate Flanders from Belgium and to unite it with the Netherlands to form a Greater Netherlands which they termed Dietsland ( `` Dutch land '' ) . It collaborated with Nazi German occupation authorities during World War II . VNV activists willingly contributed to the persecution of Jews and the Holocaust in Belgium . Pieter Catharinus Arie Geyl ( 15 December ___MASK78___ , Dordrecht  31 December ___MASK51___ , Utrecht ) was a Dutch historian , well known for his studies in early modern Dutch history and in historiography . Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France , the Netherlands , Germany , Luxembourg , and the North Sea . It is a small , densely populated country which covers an area of and has a population of about 11 million people . Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe , Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups : the Dutch - speaking , mostly Flemish community , which constitutes about 59 % of the population , and the French - speaking , mostly Walloon population , which comprises 41 % of all Belgians . Additionally , there is a small group of German - speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area , and bordering Germany . Greater Netherlands or Dietsland (" Dutchland ") is a hypothetical monolingual polity formed by fusing the two Dutch - speaking regions of Flanders and the Netherlands . The concept was originally developed by Pieter Geyl , who argued that the two only separated during the Eighty Years ' War against Spain in the 16th century . Flanders is the Dutch - speaking northern portion of Belgium , although there are several overlapping definitions , including ones related to culture , language , politics and history . It is one of the communities , regions and language areas of Belgium . The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming , while the corresponding adjective is Flemish . The official capital of Flanders is Brussels , although Brussels itself has an independent regional government , and the government of Flanders only oversees some cultural aspects of Brussels life . The High Fens , which were declared a nature reserve in ___MASK30___ , are an upland area , a plateau region in the province of Liège , in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany , between the Ardennes and the Eifel highlands . The High Fens are the largest nature reserve or park in Belgium , with an area of ; it lies within the German - Belgian natural park " Hohes Venn - Eifel ", in the Ardennes . Its highest point , at above sea level , is the Signal de Botrange near Eupen , and also the highest point in Belgium . A tower high was built here that reaches above sea level . The reserve is a rich ecological endowment of Belgium covered with alpine sphagnum raised bogs ( not " fens " as the name would imply ) both on the plateau and in the valley basin ; the bogs , which are over 10 , 000 years old , with their unique subalpine flora , fauna and microclimate , are key to the conservation work of the park . Brussels , officially the Brussels - Capital Region , is a region of Belgium comprising ___MASK18___ municipalities , including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium . The Brussels - Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community , but is separate from the region of Flanders ( in which it forms an enclave ) or Wallonia . The region has a population of 1 . 2 million and a metropolitan area with a population of over 1 . 8 million , the largest in Belgium . Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands , although it is not the seat of the government , which is The Hague . Amsterdam has a population of 847 , 176 within the city proper , 1 , 343 , ___MASK60___ in the urban area , and 2 , ___MASK8___ , 000 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area . The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country . The metropolitan area comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad , one of the larger conurbations in Europe , with a population of approximately 7 million . The Eighty Years ' War or Dutch War of Independence ( ___MASK56___  1648 ) was a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces against the political and religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain , the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands . After the initial stages , Philip II deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebelling provinces . Under the leadership of the exiled William the Silent , the northern provinces continued their resistance . They eventually were able to oust the Habsburg armies , and in 1581 they established the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands . The war continued in other areas , although the heartland of the republic was no longer threatened ; this included the beginnings of the Dutch Colonial Empire , which at the time were conceived as carrying overseas the war with Spain . After a 12 - year truce , hostilities broke out again around 1619 which can be said to coincide with the Thirty Years ' War . An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster ( a treaty part of the Peace of Westphalia ), when the Dutch Republic was recognised as an independent country ( though the fact of its being such was evident long before ).