Holland

To an outsider, Holland often conjures up images of flat, never-ending landscapes decorated with windmills, cyclists and tulips.

For some it’s the delicious cheeses, like Edam or Gouda, that spring to mind. For others, it’s the legendary footballers, like Johan Cruijff ( Ajax,  Barcelona), Ruud Gullit ( PSV, AC Milan, LA Galaxy) and more recently Ruud van Nistelrooij (PSV, Manchester United, Real Madrid, HSV).   

These stereotypes aren’t wrong - tulip bulbs and cheese, for example, are two important commodities (the Dutch are one of the world’s top ten exporters). Today, you’ll still see preserved windmills that once helped pump the land free of water.

But the Netherlands is also the country of philosophers such as Erasmus and Spinoza. All of Descartes' major work was done in the Netherlands. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms with a microscope.

Modern day Holland is much of a melting pot, embracing cultures, beliefs and ideas from all over the world. There are people from over 135 different nationalities teaching, learning and living here. Because of our neighbours, French and German are also spoken here. So if you don’t speak Dutch, that’s not a barrier.

Holland is a great place to be a student, with a high standard of living at a reasonably low cost. We have one of the youngest population in the EU, with a vibrant music and arts scene. We have over 1,000 museums, celebrating great artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Vermeer. Our North Sea Coast is lined with sandy beaches and dunes, and our climate is easy to take, all year round.