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.
