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Amsterdam (pronounced [?mst?r'd?m]&_160;(help·info)) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The city, which had a population of 747,290 on 1 January 2008, comprises the northern part of the Randstad, the 6th-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of around 6.7 million. Its name is derived from Amstel dam,[7] indicative of the city's origin a dam in the river Amstel where the Dam Square is today. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During this time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds.[8] In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were formed. The city is the financial and cultural[citation needed] capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world's top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city [9]. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, part of Euronext, is located in the city centre. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, its red-light district and its many cannabis coffee shops, draw 4.2 million tourists annually.[10] The earliest recorded usage of the name "Amsterdam" is from a certificate dated 27 October 1275, when the inhabitants, who had built a bridge with a dam across the Amstel, were exempted from paying a bridge toll by Count Floris V.[11] The certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme (people living near Amestelledamme). By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam.[11] A local romance account[clarify] has the city being founded by two fishermen, who landed on the shores of the Amstel in a small boat with their dog.[citation needed] Amsterdam's founding is relatively recent compared with much older Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. A recent news article reports of one researcher who has concluded that there must have been settlements in the delta of the river Amstel at least as early as the year 1000 – the report does not mention archeological evidence of the settlements themselves.[12]
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