In the Republican period, which began in 1588, the Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among the most powerful and influential in Europe and the world this period is known as the Dutch Golden Age. Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders, are the result of land reclamation that began in the 14th century. Netherlands literally means "lower countries" in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 m (3.3 ft) above sea level, and nearly 26% falling below sea level. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centred in The Hague. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in Europe. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and the nominal capital. The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Dutch, English and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories. Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish are recognised regional languages, while Dutch Sign Language, Sinte Romani and Yiddish are recognised non-territorial languages. The country's official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces it borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland ( listen)), informally Holland, is a country located in Northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. Note: Even though the European Netherlands are located within the UTC☐ longitudes, the country adopted UTC+01:00 ( Central European Time) as its standard time under German occupation on 2 November 1942, with a +0:40:28 offset (+1:40:28 during DST) from Amsterdam’s LMT (UTC+0:19:32).
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