Country information - Netherlands

General information for Netherlands, including naming conventions used and specific dataset characteristics.

  • Sources: The Dutch dataset is constructed from official government sources and extra datasets providing a very detailed set of data on the country.
  • Update frequency: Monthly, made available as download 1st day of the month. API refreshed during the month, possibly earlier than the 1st.
  • There are about ~470.000 different postcodes in the Netherlands. A subset of ~9000 are assigned to postbusses.

Details on data:

  • As per default, we provide the data in the official writing style as used within the country of The Netherlands. We provide alternative way of writing in additional fields (like the postal delivery as used by the national post service). For example:
    • Field street contains the official writing style of a street (like: Burgemeester Le Fèvre de Montignylaan) and streetNEN5825 contains the shortened name for postal delivery purposes: Burg L F de Montignyln of max. 24 characters as defined in the NEN5825 norm.
  • The Dutch dataset is extended with several additional datasets, providing a deep set of data by providing for example:
    • surfaceArea: 210 is the surface of the building in m2.
    • plotSize: 650 is the full plot size of the building including surroundings like a garden in m2
    • neighborhood and district provide more detailed localisation within the settlement.
    • purposes tells you whether it's a residential address or has different purpose(s).
    • constructionYear shows the year of construction of a building. This means that the year of construction does not change if the building is renovated and, for example, an extension is built. In the case of an extension, only the geometry of the building is adjusted (surfaceArea).
  • Postcodes in the Netherlands consist of 6 characters (also named as 6 position postcode: 6pp). For example 5617 AC. This unique nature of the Dutch postcode allows you to pinpoint the unique full address by only combining a postcode with a streetnumber (and if it's present: any streetnumber extension). A postcode is most often connected to only one street. There are exceptions like 1097 DN that's connected to both Julianaplein and Wibautstraat. A long street is often connected to multiple postcodes.