native_language lou lichtveld
The Amsterdam metropolitan area is the city region around the city of Amsterdam , the capital of the Netherlands . It lies in the Noordvleugel (" North Wing ") of the larger polycentric Randstad metropolitan area and encompasses the city of Amsterdam , the ___MASK77___ provinces of North Holland and Flevoland , as well as 36 further municipalities within these two provinces , with a total population of over 2 . 4 million inhabitants . Suriname ( or , also spelled Surinam ), officially known as the Republic of Suriname , is a sovereign state on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America . It is bordered by ___MASK17___ Guiana to the east , Guyana to the west and Brazil to the south . At just under , it is the smallest country in South America . Suriname has a population of approximately 566 , 000 , most of whom live on the country ' s north coast , in and around the capital and largest city , Paramaribo . The Suriname River ( ___MASK77___ : " Surinamerivier ") is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname . Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains ( where it is known as the Gran Rio ). The river flows below the reservoir along Brokopondo , Berg en Dal , the migrant communities Klaaskreek and Nieuw - Lombé , Jodensavanne , Carolina , Ornamibo and Domburg , before reaching the capital Paramaribo on the left bank and Meerzorg on the right bank . At Nieuw - Amsterdam it is joined by the Commewijne and immediately thereafter at the sandspit Braamspunt it flows into the Atlantic Ocean . A poet is a person who writes poetry . Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others . A poet may simply be a writer of poetry , or may perform their art to an audience . Poetry ( the term derives from a variant of the ___MASK4___ term , " poiesis ", " making ") is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language  such as phonaesthetics , sound symbolism , and metre  to evoke meanings in addition to , or in place of , the prosaic ostensible meaning . Lodewijk ' Lou ' Lichtveld ( November 3 , 1903 in Paramaribo -- October 7 , 1996 in Amsterdam ) was a Surinamese politician , playwright , and poet who wrote under the pseudonym `` Albert Helman '' in the Netherlands . He gained notability in 1923 when he published the poetry collection De glorende dag ( The Dawning Day ) , a milestone in immigrant literature in the Netherlands . He followed it three years later with Zuid - Zuid - West ( South - South - West ) . In 1931 he published a play based on the third voyage of Willem Barentsz . 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 , 647 in the urban area , and 2 , 431 , 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 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 ___MASK77___ seat of government and parliament . The name " Holland " is used to refer informally to the whole of the country of the Netherlands . Holland is a region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands . The name " Holland " is also frequently used to informally refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands . This usage is commonly accepted in other countries , and not entirely uncommon among the ___MASK77___ themselves , though some in the Netherlands and particularly in other regions of the country may find it undesirable , misleading or insulting . The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain , Scandinavia , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . An epeiric ( or " shelf ") sea on the European continental shelf , it connects to the ocean through the ___MASK21___ Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north . It is more than long and wide , with an area of around . Paramaribo ( nickname : Par  bo ) is the capital and largest city of Suriname , located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District . Paramaribo has a population of roughly 240 , 000 people ( 2012 census ), almost half of Suriname ' s population . The historic inner city of Paramaribo has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002 . 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 ___MASK75___ Europe , Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups : the ___MASK77___ - 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 . The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK ) or Britain , is a sovereign country in western Europe . Lying off the north - western coast of the European mainland , it includes the island of Great Britain ( the name of which is also loosely applied to the whole country ), the north - eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign statethe Republic of Ireland . Apart from this land border , the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to its east , the ___MASK21___ Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south - south - west , giving it the 12th - longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland . With an area of , the UK is the 78th - largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th - largest in Europe . It is also the 21st - most populous country , with an estimated 65 . 1 million inhabitants . Together , this makes it the fourth most densely populated country in the European Union . The Randstad is a megalopolis in the central - western Netherlands consisting primarily of the four largest ___MASK77___ cities ( Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague and Utrecht ) and their surrounding areas . Among other things , it contains the Port of Rotterdam ( the largest seaport in Europe , and until 2004 also the world ' s busiest seaport ), and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ( one of the largest European airports ). With a population of 7 , 100 , 000 it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe , comparable in size to Milan or the San Francisco Bay Area , and covers an area of approximately 8 , 287 km² . It ' s also one of the most important and densely populated economic areas in northwestern Europe . Utrecht is the capital and most populous city in the ___MASK77___ province of Utrecht . It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation and is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with a population of in .