Theme Week Netherlands – The Hague, seat of the Dutch government and residence of the royal family

Thursday, 26 May 2011 - 04:05 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  4 minutes

Binnenhof at night © Ahmed Elnagar

Binnenhof at night © Ahmed Elnagar

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 485,818 and an area of approximately 100 km². It is located in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, of which it is also the provincial capital. The Hague is the centre of a conurbation called Haaglanden (population 1,011,459) and lies at the southwest corner of a larger conurbation called the Randstad.

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch parliament, government and Royal Court. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives and works in The Hague. All foreign embassies and government ministries are located in the city, as well as the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court), the Raad van State (Council of State) and many lobbying organisations.

The Hague is also the seat over 150 international organisations, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. It is one of the major cities of the UN, along with New York and Geneva.

Scheveningen Kurhaus © Joris1919 The Royal Noordeinde Palace © Patrick Rasenberg The 'Plein' with statue of William the Silent © N Winslow The Peace Palace - International Court of Justice © Yeu Ninje Scheveningse pier and clouds © OsvaldoGago Regentesseplein with Neo-Renaissance © Frank Kam Hofvijver and Dutch Parliament © Patrick Rasenberg Hoftoren left and Ministry of Public Health Welfare and Sports right © Jensbn Haagse Passage © M.Minderhoud Raad van State building © Jungpionier © Michielverbeek Binnenhof at night © Ahmed Elnagar
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Hoftoren left and Ministry of Public Health Welfare and Sports right © Jensbn
Because of its history, the historical inner city of The Hague differs in various respects from the nearby smaller cities of Leiden and Delft. It does not have a cramped inner city, bordered by canals and walls. Instead it has some small streets in the town centre that may be dated from the late Middle Ages, and several spacious streets boasting rich 18th century houses built for diplomats and affluent Dutch families. It has a large church dating from the 15th century, an impressive City Hall (built as such) from the 16th century, several large 17th-century palaces, a 17th-century Protestant church built in what was then a modern style, and many important 18th-century buildings. When the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. Many streets were specifically built for the large number of civil servants employed in the country’s government and for the Dutchmen who were retiring from the administration and exploitation of the Netherlands East Indies. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903 and completely in 1923.

In the 1970s and 1980s many, mostly white, middle class families moved to neighbouring towns like Voorburg, Leidschendam, Rijswijk and most of all Zoetermeer. This led to the traditional pattern of an impoverished inner city and more prosperous suburbs. Attempts to include parts of these municipalities in the city of The Hague were highly controversial. In the 1990s, with the consent of Dutch Parliament, The Hague annexed fairly large areas from neighbouring towns as well as from not even bordering ones, on which complete new residential areas were built and are still being built.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on The Hague – Information and Tourism, The Hague Tourism, International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations Detention Unit, Eurojust, Europol, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Wikipedia The Hague. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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