30 Rare Color Photos of the Netherlands in the Late 1940s ~ Vintage Everyday

The Netherlands is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea.

The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Amsterdam is the country’s most populous city and the nominal capital. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe. Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands, and the third busiest in Europe.

The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organizations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague.

The Netherlands has a tradition of pillarization and a long record of social tolerance, having legalized abortion, prostitution and euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The country allowed women’s suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally.

The Netherlands ranks among the highest in international indices of press freedom, economic freedom, human development and quality of life, as well as happiness. These rare color photos were found by Found Slides that captured street scenes of the Netherlands in 1949.