Paleis op de Dam
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Amsterdam is the capital of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is the country's largest city and business and financial center.
 
Compared to other cities like Nijmegen, Amsterdam is relatively young, gaining city rights early in the 14th century. The city grew in importance quickly thanks to the trade with the Hanseatic League that dominated the Baltic and Nordic trade.
 
In the Dutch Golden Age Amsterdam was at the center of the overseas trade and became the worlds wealtiest city.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange started in 1602 and  the city experienced the first capitalistic economic bubble and subsequent bust with theTulip Mania.
 
In the Second World War 60.000 Jews were deported from Amsterdam to concentration camps and their death, including a young girl named Anne Frank.
 
Each year Amsterdam draws millions of tourists that flood to the Anne Frank House, the museums, the red-light district, the canals and the coffeshops that actually sell cannabis.
 
Recently citizens have started complaining about the nuisance caused by all those tourists.
Rijksmuseum
City
Hermitage