Dutch Windmills

For centuries the Dutch relied on windmills, and had built about 9,000 of them by the 19th century. Traditional windmills, such as these in the countryside near Amsterdam, can be seen all over the Netherlands, and many are still in use. The country’s mostly low-lying terrain has few topographical features to impede the wind that drives the mills. Windmills were used either to power industry or to pump water from land lying below sea level.

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Windmill; South Holland; Netherlands

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