a country in northwest Europe which is a member of the EU. Population: 15,981,000 (2001). The capital is Amsterdam, but the government is based in The Hague. Most of the country is flat and large parts of it are below sea level. British and American people often call the country Holland, but this is not officially correct because Holland is only one part of the Netherlands.People from the Netherlands are called Dutch. Netherlands Indies Austrian Netherlands Republic of the United Netherlands Netherlands The Kingdom of The Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Spanish Netherlands