Capital of the Netherlands but also for royal weddings (note though that royal burials take place in Delft), and also because of its dominant position in Dutch history. From the end of the 16th century the city grew rapidly to become the largest and most powerful city in the Netherlands and the main centre of trade, commerce, finance and culture. The origins of the split between Amsterdam as capital city and The Hague as seat of government lay in the peculiar Dutch constitutional history. From the middle-ages to the sixteenth century, The Hague had been the seat of government of the County of Holland
Kingdom of the Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom celebrated its bicentennial in a series of festive occasions spanning from 2013 to 2015, the last being the year of the actual 200th anniversary of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of the Netherlands currently consists of four constituent countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Note that there is a difference between the "Kingdom of the Netherlands" and the "Netherlands": the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the comprehensive sovereign state, while the Netherlands is one of its four countries. Three islands in the Caribbean Sea (Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten) each form one of