Images of The Netherlands

The Netherlands is certainly 'one of the most remarkable geographical areas of the world', and thanks to that it receives more attention - in geography textbooks, for instance - than several other countries of comparable size. Unavoidably, the resulting image will always be incomplete. It is regrettable, however, that often the picture is also (partly) incorrect. There are striking parallels in this respect between the renowned image of windmills and tulips and aspects of water management. Both have helped to give the Netherlands a (modest) place on most foreigners' mental map of the world. But both forms of image-building also have adverse effects: the windmills-and-tulips-image is a classic example of a stereotype picture, and many sometimes even fundamental aspects of Dutch water management remain a sealed book for the average foreign observer.