Amsterdam

Amsterdam (, UK also ; Dutch:  ()) is the and of the with a population of 872,680. of , Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "", attributed by the large number of canals which form a .

Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme,. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world in the of the 17th century and became the leading centre for finance and trade. and the 19–20th century are on the . , annexed in 1921 by the municipality of Amsterdam, is the oldest part of the city, dating to the 9th century.

As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an by the (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands., , and ., and . (EIU) The city was ranked 4th place globally as top tech hub in the Savills Tech Cities 2019 report (2nd in Europe), The is the fifth largest in Europe. is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in . Famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist , artists and , and philosopher .

The is the oldest stock exchange in the world. include its , the , the , the , , the , the , the , the , the , the , , , , the and many . They draw more than 5 million international visitors annually., ) are among the world's most famous. It is also one of the world's most multicultural cities, with at least 177 nationalities represented.[26]

After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river and a dam across it, giving its name to the village: "Aemstelredamme". The earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated 27 October 1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying to Count . This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the , paying no tolls at bridges, locks and dams. The certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme (people residing near Amestelledamme).[29] By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam.

Founding and Middle Ages[]

Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as , , and . In October 2008, Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean that there was already a settlement then, since may not have been for farming—it may have been for , for use as fuel.[31]

Amsterdam was granted in either 1300 or 1306.. In 1345, an alleged in the rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage until the . The Miracle devotion went underground but was kept alive. In the 19th century, especially after the jubilee of 1845, the devotion was revitalized and became an important national point of reference for Dutch Catholics. The —a silent walk or in civil attire—is the expression of the pilgrimage within the Protestant Netherlands since the late 19th century.[33] In the heyday of the Silent Walk, up to 90,000 pilgrims came to Amsterdam. In the 21st century this has reduced to about 5000.

Conflict with Spain[]

In the 16th century, the Dutch rebelled against and his successors. The main reasons for the uprising were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the of Protestants by the newly introduced . The revolt escalated into the , which ultimately led to Dutch independence. leader , the became known for its relative tolerance. from the , from France, prosperous merchants and printers from , and economic and religious refugees from the Spanish-controlled parts of the found safety in Amsterdam. The influx of Flemish printers and the city's intellectual tolerance made Amsterdam a centre for the European .[35]

Centre of the Dutch Golden Age[]

The 17th century is considered Amsterdam's , during which it became the wealthiest city in the western world., North America, and Africa, as well as present-day , , , and , forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the and the . These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became .

Amsterdam was Europe's most important point for the shipment of goods and was the leading of the western world. by trading in its own shares. The Bank of Amsterdam started operations in 1609, acting as a full service bank for Dutch merchant bankers and as a reserve bank.

Decline and modernisation[]

Amsterdam's prosperity declined during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The of the with and France took their toll on Amsterdam. During the , Amsterdam's significance reached its lowest point, with Holland being absorbed into the . However, the later establishment of the in 1815 marked a turning point.

The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. were built; in this same time, the reached the city. The was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the , and the was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the . Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world. In 1906, gave a brief description of Amsterdam as seen from the seaside, in The Mirror of the Sea.

20th century–present[]

Shortly before the First World War, the city started to expand again, and new suburbs were built. Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam suffered a food shortage, and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed. These riots are known as the Aardappeloproer (Potato rebellion). People started looting stores and warehouses in order to get supplies, mainly food.[41]

On 1 January 1921, after a flood in 1916, the depleted municipalities of Durgerdam, Holysloot, Zunderdorp and , all lying north of Amsterdam, were, at their own request, annexed to the city. Between the wars, the city continued to expand, most notably to the west of the district in the and surrounding neighbourhoods.

on 10 May 1940 and took control of the country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to a high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. More than 100,000 were deported to , of whom some 60,000 lived in Amsterdam. In response, the Dutch Communist Party organised the attended by 300,000 people to protest against the raids. Perhaps the most famous deportee was the young Jewish girl , who died in the . beets, and bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive.[45] Most of the trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and all the wood was taken from the apartments of deported Jews.

Many new suburbs, such as , , and , were built in the years after the Second World War.[46]
These suburbs contained many public parks and wide open spaces, and the new buildings provided improved housing conditions with larger and brighter rooms, gardens, and balconies. Because of the war and other events of the 20th century, almost the entire city centre had fallen into disrepair. As society was changing,[] politicians and other influential figures made plans to redesign large parts of it. There was an increasing demand for office buildings, and also for new roads, as the automobile became available to most people. started operating in 1977 between the new suburb of in the city's (southeast) exclave and the centre of Amsterdam. Further plans were to build a new highway above the metro to connect and city centre with other parts of the city.

The required large-scale demolitions began in Amsterdam's former Jewish neighbourhood. Smaller streets, such as the Jodenbreestraat, were widened and almost all of their houses were demolished. At the peak of the demolition, the Nieuwmarktrellen () broke out;[48] the rioters expressed their fury about the demolition caused by the restructuring of the city.

As a result, the demolition was stopped and the highway was never built; only the metro was completed. Only a few streets remained widened. The new city hall was built on the almost completely demolished Waterlooplein. Meanwhile, large private organisations, such as Stadsherstel Amsterdam, were founded with the aim of restoring the entire city centre. Although the success of this struggle is visible today, efforts for further restoration are still ongoing.. Many of its buildings have become monuments, and in July 2010 the (the three concentric canals: Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht) was added to the .[49]

In the early years of the 21st century, the Amsterdam city centre has attracted large numbers of tourists: between 2012 and 2015, the annual number of visitors rose from 10 million to 17 million. Real estate prices have surged, and local shops are making way for tourist-oriented ones, making the centre unaffordable for the city's inhabitants., a city thought to be overwhelmed by the tourist influx.[54]

Construction of a metro line connecting the part of the city north of the river (or lake) to the centre was started in 2003. The project was controversial because its cost had exceeded its budget by a factor three by 2008, The metro line was completed in 2018.[57]

Since 2014, renewed focus has been given to urban regeneration and renewal, especially in areas directly bordering the city centre, such as . This urban renewal and expansion of the traditional centre of the city—with the construction on artificial islands of the new eastern neighbourhood—is part of the Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040 initiative.

Topographic map of Amsterdam and its surrounding municipalities, 2014

Large-scale map of the city centre of Amsterdam, including sightseeing markers, as of April 2017

Amsterdam is located in the Western Netherlands, in the province of , although it is not its capital which is . The river ends in the city centre and connects to a large number of canals that eventually terminate in the . Amsterdam is about 2 metres (6.6 feet) .. A man-made forest, , is in the southwest. Amsterdam is connected to the through the long .

Amsterdam is intensely urbanised, as is the surrounding the city. Comprising 219.4 square kilometres (84.7 square miles) of land, the has 4,457 inhabitants per km2 and 2,275 houses per km2. make up 12% of Amsterdam's land area.[62]

Water[]

Amsterdam has more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) of , most of which are navigable by boat. The city's three main canals are the Prinsengracht, Herengracht, and Keizersgracht.

In the , Amsterdam was surrounded by a moat, called the , which now forms the innermost ring in the city, and gives the city centre a horseshoe shape. The city is also served by a . It has been compared with , due to its division into about 90 islands, which are linked by more than 1,200 bridges.[63]

Climate[]

Amsterdam has an ( Cfb) to the west, with prevailing westerly winds. While winters are cool and summers warm, temperatures vary year by year. There can occasionally be cold snowy winters and hot humid summers.

Amsterdam, as well as most of the North Holland province, lies in 8b. Frosts mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent. Even then, because Amsterdam is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water, as well as having a significant , nights rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F), while it could easily be −12 °C (10 °F) in Hilversum, 25 kilometres (16 miles) southeast.

Summers are moderately warm with a number of hot days every month. The average daily high in August is 22.1 °C (71.8 °F), and 30 °C (86 °F) or higher is only measured on average on 2.5 days, placing Amsterdam in AHS Heat Zone 2. The record extremes range from −19.7 °C (−3.5 °F) to 36.3 °C (97.3 °F).[66]
Days with more than 1 millimetre (0.04 in) of are common, on average 133 days per year.

Amsterdam's average annual precipitation is 838 millimetres (33 in).[67] A large part of this precipitation falls as light rain or brief showers. Cloudy and damp days are common during the cooler months of October through March.

In 1300, Amsterdam's population was around 1,000 people. mainly due to the rise of the profitable after the Burgundian victory in the . and , which comprised the most urbanised area of the Low Countries.[75]

This changed when, during the , many people from the Southern Netherlands fled to the North, especially after in 1585. Jewish people from Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe similarly settled in Amsterdam, as did Germans and Scandinavians. By 1600, its population was around 50,000. The city's growth levelled off and the population stabilised around 240,000 for most of the 18th century.[78]

In 1750, Amsterdam was the , behind London (676,000), Paris (560,000) and Naples (324,000)., which itself was a much smaller state than England, France or the . In contrast to those other metropolises, Amsterdam was also surrounded by large towns such as (about 67,000), (45,000), (38,000), and (30,000).

The city's population declined in the early 19th century, By the second half of the 19th century, industrialisation spurred renewed growth. before declining in the following decades due to government-sponsored suburbanisation to so-called groeikernen (growth centres) such as and . Between 1970 and 1980, Amsterdam experienced its sharp population decline, peaking at a net loss of 25,000 people in 1973. This was soon followed by and , leading to renewed population growth in the 2010s. Also in the 2010s, much of Amsterdam's population growth was due to immigration to the city.