Amsterdam, Holland 2009

Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of The Netherlands, located in North Holland in the west of the country. The city, which had a population of 747,290 on 1 January 2008, comprises the northern part of the Randstad, the 6th-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of around 6.7 million. Its name is derived from Amstel dam, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel where the Dam Square is today. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were formed.