Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and water borders with Denmark, Norway and United Kingdom. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces.

The Netherlands have multiple musical traditions ranging from folk and dance to classical music and ballet. In the 21st century people with an African or Middle Eastern background have also had a profound effect, most notably in hip hop and rap. Much more so than most non-English speaking European countries, the Netherlands has remained closely in tune with American and British trends ever since the '50s. In the 21st century, the Netherlands has also become an international center for the electronic music scene, particularly Trance.

There is great variety in dance. The traditional Dutch folk dance is hardly practiced anymore. Many Dutch enjoy ballroom dancing, but also salsa (due to the immigrants from Surinam and Dutch Antilles) and line dance is very popular. Tango also has a large following.