Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: Amsterdam from Philip's Encyclopedia

Capital and largest city in the Netherlands, on the River Amstel and linked to the North Sea by the North Sea Canal. Amsterdam was chartered in c.1300 and joined the Hanseatic League in 1369. The Dutch East India Company (1602) brought great prosperity to the city. It became a notable centre of learning and book printing during the 17th century. It declined when captured by the French in 1795 and blockaded by the British during the Napoleonic Wars. Amsterdam was badly damaged during the German occupation during World War 2 (1939-45). A major port and one of Europe's leading financial and cultural centres, it has an important stock exchange and diamond-cutting industry. Sights include the Old Church (c.1300), the house of Rembrandt, the Royal Palace, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank House. Industries: iron and steel, oil refining, rolling stock, chemicals, glass, shipbuilding. Pop. (2005) 1,157,000.

Amsterdam

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Constitutional capital and largest city of the Netherlands; population (2003 est) 737,900. The Netherlands' second most important port after Rotterdam, Amsterdam is connected to the North Sea by the North Sea Canal, completed in 1876. A new canal leading to the River Waal, south of Utrecht, was completed in 1952 to improve the connection between Amsterdam and the River Rhine. Industries include diamond cutting and polishing, sugar refining, clothing, printing, chemicals, shipbuilding, brewing, and tourism. Amsterdam, the seat of one of the world's chief stock exchanges, is also an international centre of banking and insurance. It is one of the great intellectual and artistic cities of Europe. History At the beginning of the 13th century, when Giesebrecht II of Amstel built a castle at Amsterdam (which means dam on the Amstel), it was no more than a fishing village. The city became part of Holland in 1317, and passed to the control of the Duke of Burgundy in 1428. It was freed from…
6,227 results

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Capital and largest city in the Netherlands, on the River Amstel and linked to the North Sea by the North Sea Canal. Amsterdam was chartered in c .1300 and joined the Hanseatic League in 1369. The Dutch East India Company (1602) brought great prosperity to the city. It became a notable centre of…
| 158 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedias in Social Sciences: The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies
Amsterdam can be seen as a city with a particular character in multiple domains of life. These areas include the historical composition of the population, the different social classes living peacefully together, the culture, the economy, the international position, and politics – and all of that is…
| 3,187 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Full text Article A-Z Entries
The capital of the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam was founded at a dam on the Amstel River at the end of the twelfth century from which it derived its first name “Amstelledamme.” Most of the farmland had been lost during floods in the twelfth century, and the people of Amsterdam had to look for…
| 511 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Constitutional capital and largest city of the Netherlands; population (2003 est) 737,900. The Netherlands' second most important port after Rotterdam, Amsterdam is connected to the North Sea by the North Sea Canal, completed in 1876. A new canal leading to the River Waal, south of Utrecht, was…
| 888 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Amsterdam, Neth. Credit:© Digital Vision/Getty...
City (pop., 2010 est.: city, 767,457; 2008 est.: metro. area, 1,482,287), western Netherlands. It lies at the head of the IJsselmeer . It is the nominal capital of the Netherlands, whose seat of government is at The Hague . Originally a fishing village, it received its charter as a town in 1306. It…
| 227 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
or New Amsterdam. City, Montgomery co., E New York, on New York State Barge Canal and Mohawk River 28 mi. (45 km.) NW of Albany; pop. (2000c) 18,355. Settled 1783, named Veedersburg; renamed Amsterdam 1804; incorp. as city 1885. or New Amsterdam. City, ✽ of the Netherlands, North Holland prov., on S…
| 357 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From Environmental History and Global Change: A Dictionary of Environmental History
From medieval origins as a small settlement beside the R Amstel, Amsterdam flourished during the Dutch ‘Golden Age’ of the later C16 and early C17. In the late C12 and C13 fishermen on the banks of the Amstel build a bridge across it close to where it flowed into the River Ij. The mouth of the…
| 170 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam

From The New Penguin Dictionary of Music
As the capital of a nation claiming its independence in 1581 and prospering thereafter as a mercantile state, the city enjoyed a cultural boom led by a thriving middle class, and its artistic life has remained notably free and democratic. Sweelinck gave recitals and concerts, and later, in 1643, …
| 198 words
Key concepts:
(ăm'stӘrdăm´´, Dutch ämstӘrdäm'), city (1994 pop. 724,096), constitutional capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, North Holland prov., W Netherlands, on the IJ, an inlet of the Markermeer. The city derives its name from the fact that it is situated where the small, bifurcated…
| 743 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Amsterdam School, 1910–1930

From Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedias in Social Sciences: The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies
The Amsterdam School was a group of Dutch architects who were born around 1880 and became active as independent designers around 1910. The name Amsterdam School was first coined by architect Jan Gratama (1877–1947) in 1916. As is often the case, however, the members of this so-called group did not…
| 1,958 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources