Hotels in Holland
Hotels in the nation of Holland are often required for tourists or other visitors who want to visit Holland and need some short term accommodation. Some may want to see the culture, history, sports, tourist attractions and society of the famous region. Some may want to stay at large hotels or small hotels. Some may want to stay at hotels that have a good reputation and good access to parking facilities. Some may want to stay in a high status hotel.
Hotels in Holland are often needed for people who want to visit the region to have a vacation.
Holland is a name in common usage given to two regions in the western part of the Netherlands. The name 'Holland' is also often mistakenly used to refer to the whole of The Netherlands. From the 10th century to the 16th century it was a unified political region ruled by the Count of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating other parts of The Netherlands. Today, the former County of Holland consists of the two Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland.
The proper name of the area in both Dutch and English is "Holland". "Holland" is a part of the Netherlands. "Holland" is informally and quite incorrectly used in English and other languages, including sometimes the Dutch language itself, to mean the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands (this example of pars pro toto or synecdoche is similar to the tendency to refer to the United Kingdom as "England").
The people of Holland are referred to as "Hollanders" in both Dutch and English. Today this refers specifically to people from the current provinces of North Holland and South Holland. Strictly speaking, the term "Hollanders" does not refer to people from the other provinces in the Netherlands, but colloquially "Hollanders" is sometimes mistakenly used in this wider sense.
When referring to the Netherlands as a whole, the adjective is Dutch. Dutch is not used as an adjective for "Holland" in a modern context because "Dutch" refers to all of the Netherlands, not just Holland. However, there is a good deal of confusion about this. In actual practice, the adjective "Dutch" is often (but somewhat inaccurately) used in the specific context of Holland.
In Dutch, the Dutch word "Hollands" is the adjectival form for "Holland", but in English there is no commonly used adjective for "Holland". "Hollands" is ordinarily expressed in English in two ways:
a possessive construction
(e.g. "Holland's economic power"); or
an "of Holland"
or "from Holland" construction (e.g. "the Maid of Holland";
"a girl from Holland").
The following usages apply in certain limited situations but do not ordinarily serve as the English equivalent of the commonly used Dutch adjective "Hollands".
Occasionally, the noun
"Holland" is used in apposition (e.g. "the Holland Society").
The adjective "Hollandic" is occasionally used by some historians and
other academic writers as an adjective for Holland. Historians who use the word
tend to reserve it to pre-Napoleonic Holland. Hollandic is also the name linguists
give to the dialect spoken in Holland.
Historically the English word "Dutch"
had a different, broader meaning that could occasionally include "Hollands".
The adjective "Hollandish" is a word in English but is currently no
longer in use.
Holland is situated in the west of the Netherlands. A maritime water-oriented region, Holland lies on the North Sea at the mouths of the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas). It has numerous rivers and lakes and an extensive inland canal and waterway system. To the south is Zealand. The region is bordered on the east by the IJsselmeer and four different provinces of the Netherlands.
Holland is protected from the sea by a long line of coastal dunes. Most of the land area behind the dunes consists of polder landscape lying well below sea level. At present the lowest point in Holland is a polder near Rotterdam, which is about seven meters below sea level. Continuous drainage is necessary to keep Holland from flooding. In earlier centuries windmills were used for this task. The landscape was (and in places still is) dotted with windmills, which have become a symbol of Holland.
Holland is 7,494 square kilometres (land and water included), making it roughly 13% of the area of the Netherlands. Looking at land alone, it is 5,488 square kilometres in size. The combined population is 6.1 million.
The main cities in Holland are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Amsterdam is formally the capital of the Netherlands and its most important city. The Port of Rotterdam is Europe's largest and most important harbour and port. The Hague is the seat of government of the Netherlands. These cities, combined with Utrecht and other smaller municipalities, effectively form a single city - a conurbation called Randstad.
The Randstad area is one of the most densely populated regions of Europe, but still relatively free of urban sprawl. There are strict zoning laws. Population pressures are enormous, property values are high, and new housing is constantly under development on the edges of the built-up areas. Surprisingly, much of the province still has a rural character. The remaining agricultural land and natural areas are highly valued and protected. Most of the arable land is used for intensive agriculture, including horticulture and greenhouse agri-businesses
Hotels in Holland
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