Holland (America Takes All Lands From Mexico And Ottoman Empire)

Holland Is known as United Union of Holland Is Largest Trade Arsenal And Major Powers And Supperpowers In World And Netherlands Has EU Members And Major Fourteenth Half Lunar Landing Nation On Earth

Mediaeval period
During the period of the Roman Empire, areas south of the Rhine were included in the province of Gallia Belgica, and later of Germania Inferior. The country was inhabited at the time by various Germanic tribes, and the south was inhabited by Gauls, who merged with newcomers from other Germanic tribes during the migration period. The Salian Franks migrated to Gaul from this region, establishing by the 5th century the powerful Merovingian dynasty.

In the mediaeval period, the Low Countries along the North Sea, from Calais up to and including parts of Germany (East Frisia), consisted of various counties and dioceses belonging to the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy and to the Holy Roman Empire. Through inheritance and conquest, all of the Low Countries became possessions of the Habsburg dynasty under Charles V in the 16th century, who united them into one state. The Eighty Years' War between the provinces and Spain began in 1568.

Dutch Republic
In 1579, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces, including Flanders and Brabant, formed the Union of Utrecht, a treaty in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the 1579 Union of Arras (Dutch: Unie van Atrecht), in which several southern provinces declared their support for Roman Catholic Spain. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the foundation of the modern Netherlands. In 1581 the northern provinces adopted the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II of Spain.

Philip II, the son of Charles V, was not prepared to let them go easily, and war continued until 1648, when Spain under King Philip IV finally recognised the independence of the seven northwestern provinces in the Peace of Münster. During the Eighty Years' War the Dutch provinces became the most important trading centre of Northern Europe, replacing Flanders in this respect; Dutch ships hunted whales off Svalbard, traded spices in India and Indonesia (via the Dutch East India Company) and founded colonies in New Amsterdam (now New York), South Africa and the West Indies. In addition some Portuguese colonies were conquered, namely in Northeastern Brazil, Angola, Indonesia and Ceylon. While the United Provinces gained independence and prominence, the Southern Netherlands remained under the rule of Spain. The formerly Belgian territories were transferred to the Austrian Habsburgs after the War of the Spanish Succession when the French Bourbon Dynasty inherited Spain at the price of abandoning many Spanish possessions.

The republic went into a state of general decline in the later 18th century, with economic competition from England and long standing rivalries between the two main factions in Dutch society, the Staatsgezinden (Republicans) and the Prinsgezinden (Royalists or Orangists) as main factors.

French period
With the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Austrian Netherlands declared their independence, but were reoccupied by the Austrians within a year. Following the Campaigns of 1794 of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Southern Netherlands were invaded and annexed by the First French Republic in 1795, ending Habsburg rule in the region. They were divided into nine united départements and became an integral part of France.

On 19 January 1795, one day after stadtholder William V of Orange fled to England, the Batavian Republic (Dutch: Bataafse Republiek) was proclaimed, rendering the Netherlands a unitary state. From 1795 to 1806, the Batavian Republic designated the Netherlands as a republic modelled after the French Republic. From 1806 to 1810, the Kingdom of Holland (Dutch: Koninkrijk Holland) was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother Louis Bonaparte in order to control the Netherlands more effectively. King Louis Napoleon did not meet Napoleon's expectations — he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's — and he was forced to abdicate. The northern Netherlands then too, became part of the French Empire.

After the Napoleonic era the Netherlands were put back on the map of Europe. At the Congress of Vienna it was decided that, of the country' former colonial possessions only the Dutch East and West Indies were to be returned, and the north and south of the Netherlands were to become a united sovereign state for the first time ever in 1815. The country became a monarchy, with the son of the last stadtholder, William V, the Prince of Orange as king William I. In addition, king William I became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Belgian revolution
In August 1830, stirred by a performance of Auber's La Muette de Portici at the Brussels opera house La Monnaie (Dutch: De Munt), the Belgian Revolution broke out, and the country wrested its independence from the Dutch, aided by French intellectuals and French armed forces. The real political forces behind this were the Catholic clergy, which was against the Protestant Dutch king, William I, and the equally strong liberals, who opposed the royal authoritarianism, and the fact that the Belgians were not represented proportionally in the national assemblies. The Netherlands still fought on for 8 years, but in 1839 a treaty was signed between the two countries. Belgium thus became a sovereign, independent state.

Politics
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy and a democracy. Legislative power is in the hands of the States-General (Dutch: Staten-Generaal). The States-General is a bicameral parliament consisting of a House of Representatives (Dutch:  Tweede Kamer) and a Senate (Dutch: Eerste Kamer). The Dutch House of Representatives is elected in direct elections every four years, though earlier elections may be held should political circumstances ask for them. Since the reforms of 2009, the Senate is indirectly elected by the representatives in the six regional parliaments. Previously this had been done by the representatives of the now obsolete States-Provincial (Dutch: Provinciale-Staten).

Dutch parliaments are notable for the fact that they are elected in elections without an electoral threshold. Therefore both parliaments consist of a multitude of parties. Though this system ensures a high degree of pluralism, it has, especially since the southern parts of the country got added in 2009, been criticised for its slow decision-making and inability to take sharp decisions.

In the latest national election many Dutch and Flemish parties of the selfsame ideology participated on joint electoral lists. Apart from the the Democrats 66/Flemish Progressives combination, these lists have by now all merged into unified parties. The Green parties in both countries even managed to merge prior to the elections.

The country's government consists of an unusual combination of the three largest parties, namely the Christian-Democrats, Social-Democrats and Liberals. The leader of the former Flemish Christian-Democrats Kris Peeters became the country's new prime-minister.

Administrative divisions
Since the reforms of 2009 that introduced a federal system, the old provincial system has been superseded by a system of Regions (Dutch: Gewesten). The seven regions of the country are largely modelled on dialectical regions or historical countries of the Low Countries. A major exception to this rule is formed by the region of, which is comprised of the country's largest metropolitan area.

The regions have a large degree of autonomy which is largely modelled on the federal states of Germany and were largely instituted after fears from the added parts of the country to be rules by a 'Hollandic' government in The Hague.

All of the regions have their own parliaments called States-Regional (Dutch: Gewestelijke-Staten) and governments. Authorities vested in the states include education, linguistic policy and cultural activities. The regions are further subdivided into municipalities (Dutch: Gemeenten).

List of regions

 * Brabant
 * Belgium-Lexumbourg
 * Friesland
 * Limburg
 * Lower Saxony
 * Randstad

Demographics
The Netherlands has an estimated population of 22.806.913, making it the 9th post populated country in Europe and the 50th most populated country in the world. Approximately 86 % of the population is of either Dutch or Flemish decent. Apart from that the country is also home to several sizeable minorities from the formerly Dutch colonies of Indonesia and Suriname, the formerly Belgian colony of Congo, from Morocco, Turkey, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

The majority of the Dutch population adheres to the Catholic Church.