History of the Netherlands The post-war years saw rapid economic recovery (helped by the American Marshall Plan), followed by the introduction of a welfare state during an era of peace and prosperity. The Netherlands formed a new economic alliance with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Benelux, and all three became founding members of the European Union and NATO. In recent decades, the Dutch economy has been closely linked to that of Germany, and is highly prosperous. The four countries adopted the Euro on 1 January 2002, along with eight other EU member states. The prehistory of the area that is now the Netherlands was largely
Luxembourg (Belgium) Luxembourg (Belgium) Luxembourg (; ; ; ; ) is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the east) the country of Luxembourg, France, and the Belgian provinces of Namur and Liège. Its capital is Arlon (, ), in the south-east of the province. It has an area of , making it the largest Belgian province. At around 250,000 residents, it is also the least populated province, making it a relatively sparsely populated province in an otherwise very densely populated country. It is significantly larger (70%) and much less populous than the neighbouring Grand Duchy