They say God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.

This stamp idea is not very concrete, but since a large part of the Dutch population lives beneath sea level and we are constantly battling the water, it seems appropriate to say this is an important part of life in our country!

-Windmills were always used to create 'polders' and get the water on the other side of the dykes.

-In 1953, a large part of the west of the country flooded, known as the 'Watersnoodramp'. After this, the 'Deltawerken' (http://www.deltawerken.com/English/10.html?setlanguage=en) were created, to prevent something like this from happening ever again.

-In the middle of the Netherlands, an entire new province was 'gained back' from the water. It's called Flevoland. The Afsluitdijk was built to turn the sea into a lake, and after that, the Flevopolder was created (among others), now home to hundreds of thousands of people.

-There is a project called 'Ruimte voor de rivier' which deliberately floods areas to make sure people and the water can live together.