Like France who still owns many countries from colonisation days, TIL the Kingdom of Netherlands owns 3 countries Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and 3 public bodies in the Caribbean Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. Public bodies means these countries have a degree of self-governance but are ultimately overseen by the Dutch gov't. The Hague was built from the colonisation of Indonesia's trade, the irony. That aside, the Dutch culture is pretty rich - Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Mondrian are all from the Netherlands. This month is a lot on reading of the Dutch culture in recent times, especially over the last 50 years. I love how Amsterdam rose to give a taste of freedom. I also love how the cycling culture picked up - apparently even the PM cycles to his office. I've been digging into the art, fashion and tech movement there. I'm also curious about the entrepreneurship ecosystem and the economy in recent times. If you have some book suggestions on Holland in recent times, do pass it on