Amsterdam

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Amsterdam, city and port, western Netherlands, located on the IJsselmeer and connected to the North Sea. It is the capital and the principal commercial and financial centre of the Netherlands.

To the scores of tourists who visit each year, Amsterdam is known for its historical attractions, for its collections of great art, and for the distinctive colour and flavour of its old sections, which have been so well preserved. However, visitors to the city also see a crowded metropolis beset by environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and housing shortages. It is easy to describe Amsterdam, which is more than 700 years old, as a living museum of a bygone age and to praise the eternal beauty of the centuries-old canals, the ancient patrician houses, and the atmosphere of freedom and tolerance, but the modern city is still working out solutions to the pressing urban problems that confront it.

Amsterdam is the nominal capital of the Netherlands but not the seat of government, which is The Hague. The royal family, for example, is only occasionally in residence at the Royal Palace, on the square known as the Dam, in Amsterdam. The city lacks the monumental architecture found in other capitals. There are no wide squares suitable for big parades, nor are there triumphal arches or imposing statues. Amsterdam’s intimate character is best reflected in the narrow, bustling streets of the old town, where much of the population still goes about its business. While there are reminders of the glorious past—gabled houses, noble brick facades clad with sandstone, richly decorated cornices, towers and churches, and the music of carillons and barrel organs—the realities of life in the modern city often belie this romantic image.

The inner city is divided by its network of canals into some 90 “islands,” and the municipality contains approximately 1,300 bridges and viaducts. Amsterdam is the economic centre of the Netherlands, and there tradition persists alongside innovation. Although the city has a modern metro system, about one-fifth of the workforce still relies on the time-honoured bicycle for transportation. The city continues to be famous for its countless Chinese and Indonesian restaurants and the hundreds of houseboats that line its canals. Since the mid-1960s Amsterdam also has been known for a permissive atmosphere, and it attracts many people seeking an alternative lifestyle. Area city, 64 square miles (165 square km); metro. area, 245 square miles (635 square km). Pop. (2008 est.) city, 1,028,603; metro. area, 1,482,676.