THE HAGUE (DEN HAAG, ’S GRAVENHAGE)

Seat of the government of the Netherlands. The city came into being around its core, the Binnenhof, the buildings where the medieval counts of Hol land held their residence. Since then, The Hague has remained the seat of the government and many of its officials: the States of Hol land, the States General from about 1588, and the Parliament and the administration, both since the foundation of the kingdom in 1814. Queen Beatrix has two small palaces in the city: the House Ten Bosch and the Palace Noordeinde. The Hague, with a population of about 475,000, possesses several fine buildings, churches, and muse ums, for example, the House of Parliament with the Ridderzaal (Knights’ Hall); the Peace Palace (funded by Andrew Carnegie), which originally housed the Permanent Court of Arbitration and is now the seat of the International Court of Justice; the Dutch High Court of Justice; the Mauritshouse museum; the municipal Museum of Art; and the Panorama Mesdag (in Scheveningen), painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831–1915). The city is also the seat of the European Union (EU) Police Office, EUROPOL, and Eurojust.