The Netherlands, located in Western Europe, is a heavily populate country, relies largely on foreign trade and has a thriving and open economy. The country is often referred to as Holland which is not correct since North Holland and South Holland are simply two of the Netherlands twelve states/provinces. The locality of the Netherlands, with Europe's largest port in Rotterdam, provides it with major access to markets in Germany and the UK. The Netherlands is a primary European nation for attracting foreign direct investment. It stands as the second-important natural gas producer in the EU and the ninth-important in the world.