North-Holland

A center of the North Sea oil and gas industry, the Province of North Holland is a base for many technology companies, and has a sizeable engineering industry supplying industrial parts and equipment.

The province of North-Holland is divided into two major regions: North Holland North and the Amsterdam Region.

North-Holland North is the northern part of the province. It is part of the labor drawing area of the Randstad (the conglomeration of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht). The major urban centers are Alkmaar and Den Helder. Den Helder is an important center for the exploration of gas and oil in the North Sea.

The Amsterdam Region is formed by the southern part of the province. Most important is the greater Amsterdam agglomeration with its industrial ports along the North Sea Canal and several international trading companies near the Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport. Amsterdam is an industrial, trading and financial center of international importance. The Netherlands'capital, Amsterdam, and surrounding Amsterdam Area, forming a thriving hub for business environment, offering a competitive cost of quality ratio, and an outstanding international network of professional services designed to assist internation businesses. Another advantage is the ready availability of highly educated, flexible, and motivated workforce, with the highest levels of language skills in Europe. The Amsterdam Area is also the 'most'wired region in Europe. Thanks to the superb IT infrastucture, the area has attracted many international and telecoms companies.

The province of North-Holland has a land surface of 2,660 square kilometers with an average population density of 950 per square km.

Key cities

• Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Den Helder, Haarlem, Hilversum

Key industries

• Technology, gas & oil, industrial parts

Access nationally / internationally

• Schiphol International Airport
• Ports in Amsterdam and IJmuiden

Foreign companies

• Amsterdam: Albemarne (USA), Amsterdam Fertilizers (Israel), Chemtura (USA), Cisco Systems (USA), Deutsche Bank (Germany), ExxonMobil Chemicals (USA),Claiborne (USA), MCI (USA), Nissan Motor (Japan), Nichia Chemical (Japan), Peoplesoft (USA), Six Continents Hotels (USA), Speedport (USA), Sykes (USA), Unisys (USA), Viacom. (USA)
• Haarlem: Merck Sharp & Dohme (USA)
• Hilversum: Nike (USA)
• Hoofddorp: Omron Electronics (Japan)
• Koog a/d Zaan: Sonneborn (USA)
• Lijnden: Nikon (Japan)
• Naarden: Givaudan (Switzerland)
• Schiphol: Dell Computer (USA), GlobalWare Solutions (USA)
• Uithoorn: Neville Chemical (USA), Quaker Chemical (USA)
• Weesp:Solvay (Belgium)

Demographic figures

• Population: 2,606,584 (2006)
• Labor force: 1,241,000 (2005)
• Unemployment rate: 6.7% (2005)

Province of North-Holland

• Province of North-Holland - www.noord-holland.nl
• See also separate section on Amsterdam Metropolitan Area