Geography of the Netherlands#Climate

Geographic coordinates: {{coord|52|22|N|4|53|E|type:country}}

The Dutch RD coordinate system (Rijksdriehoeksmeting) is also in common use.[https://www.kadaster.nl/zakelijk/registraties/basisregistraties/rijksdriehoeksmeting/rijksdriehoeksstelsel RD at Kadaster.nl] (in Dutch) For transformation to and from geographical coordinates there is an official procedure RDNAPTRANS™[https://www.nsgi.nl/rdnaptrans NSGI.nl (in Dutch)] and approximate as well as precise[https://geopinie.nl/transform/rdnap_etrs89_transformation Geopinie.nl] tools available. The west–east coordinate is between 0 and 280 km, and the south–north coordinate between 300 and 620 km.

The central point is the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren (Our Lady's Tower) in Amersfoort, with RD coordinates (155,000.00, 463,000.00 m) and geographic coordinates approximately {{coord|52|9|N|5|23|E|}}.

Area:{{Cite web|url=http://www.waarstaatjeprovincie.nl/Paginas/Ruimtelijke%20ordening/Oppervlakte.aspx|title=Error|access-date=13 January 2020|archive-date=13 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113200643/http://www.waarstaatjeprovincie.nl/Paginas/Ruimtelijke%20ordening/Oppervlakte.aspx|url-status=dead}}

total: {{convert|41545|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}

land: {{convert|33481|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}

water: {{convert|8064|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}

Land boundaries:

total: {{convert|1027|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}

border countries:

• Belgium {{convert|450|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}
• Germany {{convert|577|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}

Coastline: {{convert|451|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: {{convert|12|nmi|km mi|1|abbr=on}}

contiguous zone: {{convert|24|nmi|km mi|1|abbr=on}}

exclusive economic zone: {{convert|154,011|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} with {{convert|200|nmi|km mi|1|abbr=on|lk=in}}

Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters (European mainland), tropical (Caribbean islands)

Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast

File:Hypsometric curve of the Netherlands.svg of the Netherlands in Europe. The land is unusually low and significant portions lie below mean sea level.]]

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Zuidplaspolder (Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel) {{convert|-7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, below sea level.

highest point on European mainland: Vaalserberg {{convert|322.7|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level.

highest point (including the Caribbean islands): Mount Scenery on Saba {{convert|887|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level.

Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, iodised salt, sand and gravel, arable land

Land use: (2011)

arable land: 25.08%

permanent crops: 0.88%

other: 74.04%

Irrigated land (2007): {{convert|4572|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}

Total renewable water resources (2011): {{convert|91|km3|cumi|0|abbr=on}}

File:Nordholland SchoorlAnZee 2004 022a.jpg

Natural hazards: flooding by sea and rivers is a constant danger. The extensive system of dikes, dams, and sand dunes protect nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded during the heavy autumn storms from the north-west.

Environment – current issues: water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic compounds, and fertilisers such as nitrates and phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain

Environment – international agreements:

party to:

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none

The country can be split into two areas: the low and flat lands in the west and north, and the higher lands with minor hills in the east and south. The former, including the reclaimed polders and river deltas, make up about half of its surface area and are less than {{convert|1|m|ft}} above sea level, much of it actually below sea level. An extensive range of seawalls and coastal dunes protect the Netherlands from the sea, and levees and dikes along the rivers protect against river flooding. A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1,025 km² of tidal flats in the Netherlands, making it the 31st ranked country in terms of tidal flat area.{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=N.J. |last2=Phinn |first2=S.R. |last3=DeWitt |first3=M. |last4=Ferrari |first4=R. |last5=Johnston |first5=R. |last6=Lyons |first6=M.B. |last7=Clinton |first7=N. |last8=Thau |first8=D. |last9=Fuller |first9=R.A. |title=The global distribution and trajectory of tidal flats |journal=Nature |date=2019 |volume=565 |issue=7738 |pages=222–225 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0805-8 |pmid=30568300 |s2cid=56481043 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0805-8|url-access=subscription }} The rest of the country is mostly flat; only in the extreme south of the country does the land rise to any significant extent, in the foothills of the Ardennes mountains. This is where Vaalserberg is located, the highest point on the European part of the Netherlands at {{convert|322.7|m|ft}} above sea level. The highest point of the entire country is Mount Scenery (887 metres or 2,910 ft), which is located outside the European part of the Netherlands, on the island of Saba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Scheldt).

In November 2016, the Netherlands and Belgium agreed to cede small, uninhabited parcels of land to reflect a change in course of the river Meuse (or Maas, in Dutch). The land swap is to take effect as of 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/29/belgium-and-the-netherlands-agree-to-swap-land-to-restore-border|title=Belgium and Netherlands agree to swap land to simplify border|agency=Reuters|date=2016-11-29|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-08-04|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

With their provinces in November 2019:{{Cite web|url=https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/37230ned/table?fromstatweb|title = CBS Statline}}

1. Amsterdam (North Holland) 872,680 inhabitants
2. Rotterdam (South Holland) 650,711
3. The Hague ('s-Gravenhage) (South Holland) 544,766
4. Utrecht (Utrecht) 357,179
5. Eindhoven (North Brabant) 234,235

The predominant wind direction in the European Netherlands is southwest, which causes a mild maritime climate, with moderately warm summers and cool winters, and typically high humidity. This is especially true close to the Dutch coastline, where the difference in temperature between summer and winter, as well as between day and night is noticeably smaller than it is in the southeast of the country.

Ice days—maximum temperature below {{convert|0|C|F|0}}—usually occur from December until February, with the occasional rare ice day prior to or after that period. Freezing days—minimum temperature below {{convert|0|C|F|0}}—occur much more often, usually ranging from mid-November to late March, but not rarely measured as early as mid-October and as late as mid-May. If one chooses the height of measurement to be {{convert|10|cm|0|abbr=on}} above ground instead of {{convert|150|cm|0|abbr=on}}, one may even find such temperatures in the middle of the summer. On average, snow can occur from November to April but sometimes occurs in May or October too.

Warm days—maximum temperature above {{convert|20|C|F|0}}—are usually found in April to October, but in some parts of the country these warm days can also occur in March, or even sometimes in November or February (usually not in {{Not a typo|De Bilt}}, however). Summer days—maximum temperature above {{convert|25|C|F|0}}—are usually measured in {{Not a typo|De Bilt}} from May until September, tropical days—maximum temperature above {{convert|30|C|F|0}}—are rare and usually occur only in June to August.

Precipitation throughout the year is distributed relatively equally each month. Summer and autumn months tend to gather a little more precipitation than the other months, mainly because of the intensity of the rainfall rather than the frequency of rain days (this is especially the case in summer when lightning is also much more frequent).

The number of sunshine hours is affected by the fact that because of the geographical latitude, the length of the days varies between barely eight hours in December and nearly 17 hours in June.

The following table is based on mean measurements by the KNMI weather station in De Bilt between 1991 and 2020. The highest recorded temperature was {{convert|40.7|C|F|abbr=on}}, reached on 25 July 2019 in Gilze-Rijen.{{Cite web | url=https://www.knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/nieuws/temperatuur-door-historische-grens-van-40-c | title=KNMI – Temperatuur door historische grens van 40°C}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/24/summers-second-heatwave-set-to-break-records-across-europe|title = Climate crisis blamed as temperature records broken in three nations| website=TheGuardian.com |date = 24 July 2019}} The lowest temperature in the Netherlands was recorded at Winterswijk on 27 January 1942, when the temperature dropped to {{convert|-27.4|C|F|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.knmi.nl/kennis-en-datacentrum/uitleg/recordkoude-februari-van-1956|title=Recordkoude februari van 1956|work=KNMI.nl}}

{{stack begin | clear=false | float=center}}

{{Weather box

| collapsed =

|location = De Bilt (1991–2020 averages), all KNMI locations (1901–2021 extremes), snowy days: (2003-2020 averages).

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 16.5

|Feb record high C = 20.5

|Mar record high C = 26.1

|Apr record high C = 32.2

|May record high C = 35.6

|Jun record high C = 37.2

|Jul record high C = 40.7

|Aug record high C = 37.8

|Sep record high C = 35.1

|Oct record high C = 30.1

|Nov record high C = 22.0

|Dec record high C = 16.7

|year record high C = 40.7

|Jan high C = 6.1

|Feb high C = 7.0

|Mar high C = 10.5

|Apr high C = 14.8

|May high C = 18.3

|Jun high C = 20.9

|Jul high C = 23.1

|Aug high C = 22.9

|Sep high C = 19.5

|Oct high C = 14.8

|Nov high C = 9.9

|Dec high C = 6.7

|year high C = 14.5

|Jan mean C = 3.6

|Feb mean C = 3.9

|Mar mean C = 6.5

|Apr mean C = 9.8

|May mean C = 13.4

|Jun mean C = 16.2

|Jul mean C = 18.3

|Aug mean C = 17.9

|Sep mean C = 14.7

|Oct mean C = 10.9

|Nov mean C = 7.0

|Dec mean C = 4.2

|year mean C = 10.5

|Jan low C = 0.9

|Feb low C = 0.7

|Mar low C = 2.4

|Apr low C = 4.5

|May low C = 8.0

|Jun low C = 10.8

|Jul low C = 13.0

|Aug low C = 12.5

|Sep low C = 10.0

|Oct low C = 7.1

|Nov low C = 3.9

|Dec low C = 1.6

|year low C = 6.0

|Jan record low C = -27.4

|Feb record low C = -26.8

|Mar record low C = -20.7

|Apr record low C = -9.4

|May record low C = -5.4

|Jun record low C = -1.2

|Jul record low C = 0.7

|Aug record low C = 1.3

|Sep record low C = -3.7

|Oct record low C = -8.5

|Nov record low C = -14.4

|Dec record low C = -22.3

|year record low C = -27.4

|Jan precipitation mm = 70.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 63.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 57.8

|Apr precipitation mm = 41.6

|May precipitation mm = 59.3

|Jun precipitation mm = 70.5

|Jul precipitation mm = 85.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 83.6

|Sep precipitation mm = 77.9

|Oct precipitation mm = 81.1

|Nov precipitation mm = 80.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 83.8

|year precipitation mm = 854.7

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan humidity= 87

|Feb humidity= 84

|Mar humidity= 79

|Apr humidity= 74

|May humidity= 74

|Jun humidity= 75

|Jul humidity= 77

|Aug humidity= 79

|Sep humidity= 83

|Oct humidity= 86

|Nov humidity= 89

|Dec humidity= 89

|year humidity= 81

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 18

|Feb precipitation days = 16

|Mar precipitation days = 15

|Apr precipitation days = 12

|May precipitation days = 14

|Jun precipitation days = 14

|Jul precipitation days = 15

|Aug precipitation days = 15

|Sep precipitation days = 14

|Oct precipitation days = 16

|Nov precipitation days = 19

|Dec precipitation days = 19

|year precipitation days = 186

|unit snow days = 0 cm

|Jan snow days = 5

|Feb snow days = 6

|Mar snow days = 3

|Apr snow days = 0

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = –

|Jul snow days = –

|Aug snow days = –

|Sep snow days = –

|Oct snow days = 0

|Nov snow days = 1

|Dec snow days = 4

|year snow days = 19

|Jan sun = 66.6

|Feb sun = 89.6

|Mar sun = 139.4

|Apr sun = 189.2

|May sun = 217.5

|Jun sun = 207.1

|Jul sun = 213.9

|Aug sun = 196.3

|Sep sun = 152.8

|Oct sun = 119.3

|Nov sun = 67.4

|Dec sun = 55.5

|year sun = 1714.6

|date=March 2021

|source 1 = KNMI.nl{{cite web| url = http://www.knmi.nl/|title = Knmi.nl| access-date =11 March 2021|language = nl}}

}}

{{stack end}}

• List of islands of the Netherlands
• List of places in the Netherlands
• List of mountains and hills in the Netherlands
• List of volcanoes in the Netherlands
• Extreme points of the Netherlands

{{Refbegin}}

{{Refend}}

{{commons category|Geography of the Netherlands}}

• [http://www.odekerken.net/portal/content/postcode.php Map showing first two digits of postal codes] (see List of postal codes in the Netherlands), [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928140857/http://www.surfusuf.nl/surfusuf/services/notepad.asp ditto]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20031001235919/http://www.zoekplaats.nl/zoekplaats/ Locate town or village; find municipality it is part of, range of postal codes, and some other basic data]
• Lists of "places" (towns, villages, and various smaller entities), with municipality: [http://home.wxs.nl/~pagklein/almanak.html alphabetical (ca. 4,800)] – [http://www.metatopos.org/ by province (extended, ca. 7,000)]

• [http://www.routenet.nl Routenet.nl] Most used website for maps and directions in the Netherlands, also gives address range for a full postal code, and shows the four-digit parts of the postal codes on the maps.
• [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=600000&Y=6800000&scale=4000000&coordsys=mercator Multimap] – shows geographic coordinates and allows a direct link to a map for a given location and with a given zoom level
• http://route.anwb.nl/zoek_plattegrond.html
• [https://archive.today/20130205212850/http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/deu/dyn/controller/mapHomePage Michelin]
• https://web.archive.org/web/20031202194742/http://www.landkaartenindex.nl/nederland/nederland.htm (In Dutch)

{{CIA World Factbook}}

{{Netherlands topics}}

{{Geography of Europe}}

{{Europe topic|Climate of}}

{{coord|52.5|N|5.5|E|type:country|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of The Netherlands}}