As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands.hips sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company.
1 Sweden is the 3rd largest EU country in land area, after France and Spain. 2  Sweden is one of the homelands of the Germanic ethnicity and culture. 3  The Goths, the Suevirs and the Norses (Vikings) all trace their origin back to Sweden (as well as Norway and Denmark for the latter).
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SWEDEN. By Tim Lambert. ANCIENT SWEDEN. The first humans arrived in Sweden by 8,000 BC after the end of the ice age, when warming temperatures first made the country habitable. The first Swedes were stone age hunters and fishermen who lived near the coast. However after 4,000 BC farming was introduced into Sweden. The farmers used stone tools and weapons.