From the time that towns in the Netherlands joined the Hansa League during the Middle Ages, commerce has been an im portant source of prosperity. During the Republic and the “Golden Age,” 17th-century shipping was the major means of transport. Cargo was brought from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and from the Americas and Indies via the Cape Colony. Apart from merchandise, there were also whaling and other fishing products from Spitsbergen and Davis Strait. At home, rivers and canals fa cilitated the traffic of barges carrying not only passengers but also products manufactured in the towns or grown in the country. The major seaports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and the smaller ones at Groningen, Delfzijl, Harlingen, and Vlissingen, have a long tradition of commercial activities. Even today the Nether lands is a major trading nation, not only exporting many of its own products but also trading in and shipping products between many European, Asian, and American countries. Because of this, Rotter dam has remained one of the world’s leading ports.
See also Book trade; Levant trade.
Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. EdwART. 2012.