Amsterdam
Amsturdam (pronounced /ˈæmstərdæm/; Dutch Template:IPA-nl) is the caipital an lairgest ceety o the Netherlands, wi an urban population o 1,364,422 an a metropolitan population o 2,158,372. The ceety is locatit in the province o North Holland in the wast o the kintra. It comprises the northren pairt o the Randstad, the saxt-lairgest metropolitan aurie in Europe, wi a population o approximately 8.1 million.
Its name is derived frae Amstellerdam,[1] indicative o the ceety's oreegin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a sma fishin village in the late 12t century, Amsterdam became ane o the maist important ports in the warld durin the Dutch Golden Age, a result o its innovative developments in trade. Durin that time, the ceety wis the leadin centre for finance an diamonds.[2] In the 19t an 20t centuries, the ceety expandit, an mony new neighbourhuids an suburbs wur formed. The 17t-century canals o Amsterdam (in Dutch: 'Grachtengordel'), locatit in the hert o Amsterdam, wur addit tae the UNESCO Warld Heritage List in Julie 2010.
The ceety is the financial an cultural caipital o the Netherlands.[3] Mony lairge Dutch institutions hae their heidquarters there, an 7 o the warld's top 500 companies, includin Philips an ING, are based in the ceety.[4] In 2010, Amsterdam wis ranked 13t globally on quality o livin[5] bi Mercer, an previously ranked 3rd in innovation bi 2thinknow in the Innovation Cities Index 2009.[6]
The Amsterdam Stock Exchynge, the auldest stock exchynge in the warld, is locatit in the ceety centre. Amsterdam's main attractions, includin its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, its red-licht district, an its mony cannabis coffee shops draw mair than 3.66 million internaitional visitors annually.[7]
[edit] Internaitional relations
[edit] Sister Ceeties
| Ceety | Municipality / Destrict / Canton / Province / State / Region | Kintra | Syne |
|---|---|---|---|
 Algiers |
Algiers Province |  Algerie |
|
| 25px Athens |  Attica |
 Greece |
|
| Beijing | Beijing Municipality |  Cheenae |
|
| Beira | Sofala Province |  Mozambique |
1993 |
.svg){kind=small} Brasília |
 Brazilian Federal Destrict |
 Brazil |
|
| Istanbul | Marmara |  Turkey |
|
 Kiev |
Kiev Ceety Municipality |  Ukraine |
|
 Los Angeles |
 Californie |
 Unitit States o Americae |
|
 Managua |
Managua Municipality |  Nicaragua |
|
 Montreal |
 Quebec |
 Canadae |
|
 Moscow |
 Federal Ceety o Moscow |
 Roushie |
|
| New York Ceety |  State o New York |
Unitit States o Americae |
|
| Nicosia | Nicosia Destrict |  Cyprus |
|
 Recife |
 Pernambuco |
Brazil |
2009 |
 Riga |
Riga Municipality |  Latvie |
|
 Sarajevo |
 Sarajevo Canton |
 Bosnie an Herzegovinae |
|
| Toronto |  Ontario |
Canadae |
[edit] References
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, Vol 1, p896-898.
- ↑ Cambridge.org, Capitals of Capital -A History of International Financial Centres – 1780–2005, Youssef Cassis, ISBN 978-0-521-84535-9
- ↑ Efter Athens in 1888 an Florence in 1986, Amsturdam wis in 1986 chosen as the European Caipital o Cultur, confirmin its eminent position in Europe an the Netherlands. See EC.europa.eu for an owerview o the European ceeties an caipitals o cultur ower the years.
- ↑ Forbes.com, Forbes Global 2000 Largest Companies – Dutch rankings.
- ↑ Best cities in the world (Mercer). City Mayors (2010-05-26). Retrieved on 10 October 2010. .
- ↑ 2thinknow Innovation Cities Global 256 Index - worldwide innovation city rankings. Innovation-cities.com (2009-07-30). Retrieved on 10 October 2010. .
- ↑ Key Figures Amsterdam 2009: Tourism. City of Amsterdam Department for Research and Statistics (2009). Retrieved on 30 September 2009. .
- Pages with broken file links
- Amsterdam
- Caipitals in Europe
- Ceeties in the Netherlands
- European Caipitals o Cultur
- Host ceeties o the Simmer Olympic Gemmes
- Populatit places established in the 13t century
- Populatit places in North Holland
- Port ceeties an touns in the Netherlands
- Port ceeties an touns o the North Sea
