Home to more museums per square mile and kilometer than any other city, Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands–a country also called Holland and one of the six original members that founded the European Union.



Nicknames for Amsterdam include “Venice of the North” and “Mokum”. The latter moniker is Yiddish for “safe haven”.



Research website numbeo ranks Amsterdam in the top 26% compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Amsterdam scored well on index factors such as pollution (lowest 22%), traffic commute time (fastest 26%), safety (top 29%) and climate (upper 32%).



Many of the world’s biggest companies are based in Amsterdam or have built their European headquarters in Netherlands’ capital city. Examples of multinationals with their global home offices in Amsterdam include financial services giant ING Group, electronics colossus Royal Philips and beverages behemoth Heineken. Amsterdam hosts the European headquarters for world-class technology leaders including drive-and-deliver platform Uber, fast-growing entertainment streamer Netflix, and electric-vehicle maker Tesla.



Amsterdam was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the site for the oldest stock exchange on Earth. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was founded in 1602.



The Guinness World Records also lists Amsterdam as the fifth-most expensive major city for buying a basic restaurant meal. Amsterdam placed ahead of New York City, but behind the more expensive San Francisco, Copenhagen and the cost-leader Zurich.



The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam showcases many important art collections of classical Dutch art, notably top pieces like The Night Watch created by the most famous Dutch artist Rembrandt.



The Netherlands ranked as the fourth-biggest exporter in 2019, shipping US$721.3 billion worth of goods around the globe. Its most valuable exports include refined petroleum oils (7.6%), mobile phones (5.1%), computers (3.9%), drugs and medicines (3.7%), electronic integrated circuits (2%), medical, dental or veterinarian instruments and appliances (also 2%), semiconductor-making machines (1.9%), human or animal blood (also 1.9%), and crude oil (1.8%) according to the International Trade Centre.

Capital Facts for Amsterdam, Netherlands: Quick Reference











Netherlanders celebrate King’s Day on each April 27 as a national holiday to mark the King’s birthday (or April 26 if April 27 is a Sunday).



Amsterdam contains a land area measuring 84.7 square miles (219.3 square kilometers). An estimated 1.1 million people lived in the city as of August 7, 2020.



At the country level, land territory for the Netherlands covers 13,019 square miles (33,720 square kilometers). The nation’s population count was 17.1 million inhabitants in August 2020.



Population density is more concentrated for Holland’s capital city, averaging 13,565 Amsterdammers per square mile (5,239 per square kilometer).



Zooming out to the overall land boundaries for the Netherlands, population density dilutes to an average 508 residents per square mile (1,316 per square kilometer).