Capital of the Netherlands and residence of the Counts of Holland. Amsterdam in the mean time was growing to be a more important city. After the establishment of the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1572/1581, Dordrecht briefly became the seat of government of the United Provinces, residence of the States General, the Council of State and the Prince of Orange as Prince Stadtholder. In 1588 these central governmental institutions were moved to The Hague, which, from that point onwards, kept the position of seat of government for the whole republic. Amsterdam remained loyal to the Spanish/Burgundian empire until relatively late in the Eighty
Kingdom of the Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (; ), commonly known as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with the large majority of its territory in Western Europe and with several small island territories in the Caribbean Sea, in the West Indies islands (Leeward Islands and Lesser Antilles). The four parts of the kingdom—the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten—are constituent countries ("landen" in Dutch) and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the kingdom. In practice, however, most of the kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the