Amsterdam ('dam' or 'dike of the Amstel'), the capital of the Netherlands, is situated at the influx of the Amstel to the IJ or Y (pron. eye), an arm (now mostly drained) of the Zuider-Zee, 44 miles NNE. of Rotterdam by rail. It is divided by the Amstel and numerous canals into a hundred small islands, connected by more than 300 bridges. Almost the whole city, which extends in the shape of a crescent, is founded on piles driven 40 or 50 feet through soft peat and sand to a firm substratum of clay. At the beginning of the 13th century it was merely a fishing-village, with a small castle, the residence of the Lords of Amstel. In 1296, on account of its share in the murder of Count Floris of Holland, the rising town was demolished; but in 1311, with Amstelland (the district on the banks of the Amstel), it was taken under the protection of the Counts of Holland, and from them received several privileges which contributed to its subsequent prosperity. In 1482 it was walled and fortified. After the revolt of the seven provinces (1566), it speedily rose to be their first commercial city, a great asylum for the Flemish Protestants; and in 1585 it was considerably enlarged by the building of the New Town on the west. The establishment of the Dutch East India Company (1602) did much to forward the well-being of Amsterdam, which, twenty years later, had 100,000 inhabitants. In the middle of that century, the war with England so far reduced the commerce of the port that, in 1653, 4000 houses stood uninhabited. Amsterdam had to surrender to the Prussians in 1787, to the French in 1795; and the union of Holland with France in 1810 entirely destroyed its foreign trade, while the excise and other new regulations impoverished its inland resources. The old firms, however, lived through the time of difficulty, and in 1815 commerce again began to expand—an expansion greatly promoted by the opening in 1876 of a new and more direct waterway between the North Sea and the city (see CANAL, Vol. II. p. 700).
The city has a fine appearance when seen from the harbour, or from the high bridge over the
Amstel. Church towers and spires, and a perfect forest of masts, relieve the flatness of the prospect. The old ramparts have been levelled, planted with trees, and formed into promenades. Between 1866 and 1876 many spacious streets and an extensive public park were added to the city. Tramways have been successfully introduced, and the harbour greatly improved. There is railway communication with all parts of the country and of Europe. Rich grassy meadows surround the city. On the west side are a great number of windmills for grinding corn and sawing wood. The three chief canals—the Heerengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht—run in semicircles within each other, and are from 2 to 3 miles long. On each side of them, with a row of trees and a carriage-way intervening, are handsome residences. The building-material is brick; and the houses have their gables towards the streets, which gives them a picturesque appearance. The defences of Amsterdam now consist in a row of detached forts, and in the sluices, several miles distant from the city, which can flood, in a few hours, the surrounding land. A hard frost, however, like that of 1794–95, when Pichegru invaded the country, would render this means of defence useless.
The population, which from 217,024 in 1794, sank to 180,179 in 1815, rose steadily to 503,285 in 1897, of whom the majority belong to the Dutch Reformed Church. Of the remainder, about 80,000 are Catholics, 30,000 German Jews, and 3200 Portuguese Jews. The chief industrial establishments are sugar refineries, engineering works, mills for polishing diamonds and other precious stones, dockyards, manufactories of sails, ropes, tobacco, silks, gold and silver plate and jewelry, colours, and chemicals, breweries, distilleries, with export houses for corn and colonial produce; cotton-spinning, book-printing, and type-founding are also carried on. The present Bank of the Netherlands dates from 1824, Amsterdam's famous bank of 1609 having been dissolved in 1796.
The former Stadhuis ('Townhouse'), converted in 1808 into a palace for King Louis Bonaparte, and still retained by the reigning family, is a noble structure. Built by Van Kampen in 1648–55, and raised upon 13,659 piles, it extends 282 feet in length, by 235 feet in breadth, and is surmounted by a round tower rising 182 feet from the base. It has a hall, 120 feet long, 57 wide, and 90 high, lined with white Italian marble—an apartment of great splendour. The cruciform Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), a Gothic edifice of 1408–14, is the finest ecclesiastical structure in the city, with a splendidly carved pulpit, and the tombs of Admiral de Ruyter, the great Dutch poet Vondel, and various other worthies. The Old Church (Oude Kerk), built in the 14th century, is rich in painted glass, has a grand organ, and contains several monuments of naval heroes. Literature and science are represented by a university supported by the municipality (till 1876 known as the Athenaeum illustre), by academies of arts and sciences, by museums and picture galleries, a palace of national industry, a botanical garden, several theatres, &c. The new Ryksmuseum contains a truly national collection of paintings, its choicest treasure being Rembrandt's 'Night-guard.' Rembrandt (q.v.) made Amsterdam his home; and his statue (1852) now fronts the house he occupied. Spinoza was a native. The hospital for aged people, the poor-house, house of correction, the orphan asylums, a navigation school, and many benevolent societies, are well supported, and managed on good principles. A water-supply was introduced in 1853. The North Holland Canal, to which Amsterdam is so largely indebted for the rapid increase of its commerce, is noticed under ZUIDER-ZEE.