The Bos en Lommer district in Amsterdam is a ethnic  neighborhood, consisting of mostly Turkish residents. The majority of these people do not have any desire to assimilate with the Dutch culture. Most do not even learn the language. They like living in Amsterdam, but the native Dutch people do not approve of them.
Giddeon "Gikkels" is a Surinamese rapper in the district of Bijlmer. There are over 150 different cultures represented in this region.  Because there was a string of violence, 13 shootings in one month, a Dutch official said that the people of Bijlmer were like apes, or cavemen. Gikkels made this music video in response to that statement. 


Ghanaian street performers doing acrobatic dance in Bejlmer



Amsterdam is located on the Northwestern side of the Netherlands on an inlet of the North Sea. The city is part of the province on North Holland. The city was founded near the end of the 12th century and was developed around a dam on the Amstel River.  In 1275 a toll bridge was opened and coined the name “Amestelledamme,” which over time evolved to Amsterdam.  During this time, towns had to be given rights by the local liegelord in order to be an official city. Amsterdam was given city rights in the early 14th century.  After that, throughout the 14th and 15th century, Amsterdam developed rapidly. This was primarily due to trade with the Hanseatic League, a confederation of merchants that traded along the coast of northern Europe.  Most of the structures that were built during this time period were made of wood, so very few of them remain today. 

By 1585 Amsterdam was a dominant world economy and the next 100 years would be referred to as the “Golden Age” of Amsterdam.  During this time Amsterdam was the wealthiest city in the world and traded with nearly every part of the world. In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company started the world’s first stock exchange by trading its own shares. In 1623, the plague his Amsterdam and the city lost 10% of its population to disease. Despite this, the population continued to grow from 50,000 to 200,000 people due to huge amounts of people immigrating to the city. There was an immense amount development during this time period which shapes Amsterdam’s city scape today. Some of the city’s most important buildings were built during this time, such as: The Town Hall in Dam Square (the Royal Palace), the Westerkerk, Zuiderkerk, and many famous canal houses.

In the late 17th century, Amsterdam’s prosperity began to decline when the Dutch Republic went to war with England and France and then reached the cities lowest point during the Napoleonic Wars when the Holland was absorbed in the French Empire. The Amsterdam’s economy suffered badly and the city was full of vacant houses as people began to leave the city.  In 1815 however, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established and the city entered a period that some people refer to as the second golden age.

During this time, in the 19th century, new construction flourished as the industrial revolution hit Holland. Commerce improved dramatically when the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and the North Sea Canal were dug to make the city more accessible for trade from the Rhine River and the North Sea. During World War I, the city suffered food shortages even though it remained neutral in the war. These shortages eventually caused riots, known as the Potato Rebellion, in which stores were looted and many people were killed in order to get supplies.  

Today, the city and its surrounding metropolitan area are intensely urbanized, with 4,450 inhabitants per square kilometer. The city maintains 12% of its land area as parks and nature reserves which gives it a unique urban landscape. Amsterdam is still an economic power in the world economy and was able to stay that way for centuries due to its geographic location and its dedication to world-wide trade.