Editing Dutch Republic (section)

==Economy==
{{main|Economic history of the Netherlands (1500–1815)|Financial history of the Dutch Republic|Dutch colonial empire|Dutch guilder#History}}
[[File:Emanuel de Witte - De binnenplaats van de beurs te Amsterdam.jpg|thumb|[[Euronext Amsterdam|Amsterdam Stock Exchange]] courtyard, 1653]]

During the [[Dutch Golden Age]] in the late-16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch Republic dominated [[History of international trade|world trade]], conquering a vast [[Dutch colonial empire|colonial empire]] and operating the largest fleet of [[Merchant ship|merchantmen]] of any nation. When Southern Europe was experiencing poor harvests, the Dutch very profitably exported surplus grain from Poland.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World History Pattern of Interaction |last=Littell |first=McDougal |pages=594b |chapter=21}}</ref> The [[County of Holland]] was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world. In 1650 the [[Urban area|urban population]] of the Dutch Republic as a percentage of total population was 31.7&nbsp;percent, while that of the Spanish Netherlands was 20.8&nbsp;percent, of Portugal 16.6&nbsp;percent, and of Italy 14&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Population, Urbanisation and Health |first1=Chris |last1=Cook |first2=Philip |last2=Broadhead |title=The Routledge Companion to Early Modern Europe, 1453–1763 |location=Abingdon and New York |year=2006 |page=186}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Arrighi |first=G. |url=https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47 |title=The Long Twentieth Century |publisher=Verso |year=2002 |isbn=1-85984-015-9 |location=London, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47 47] |url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1675 the urban population density of Holland alone was 61&nbsp;percent, compared to the rest of the Dutch Republic, where 27&nbsp;percent lived in urban areas.{{clarify|percent isn't a measure of population density, it should be people per unit area. Should this be proportion of urban population as in the previous sentence?|date=February 2020}}<ref>{{cite journal |first=Wijnand W. |last=Mijnhardt |title=Urbanization, Culture and the Dutch Origins of the European Enlightenment |journal=[[BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review]] |volume=125 |issue=2–3 |year=2010 |page=143 |doi=10.18352/bmgn-lchr.7118 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Arrighi |first=G. |url=https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47 |title=The Long Twentieth Century |publisher=Verso |year=2002 |isbn=1-85984-015-9 |location=London, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47 47] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The free trade spirit of the time was augmented by the development of a modern, effective [[stock market]] in the Low Countries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Arrighi |first=G. |year=2002 |title=The Long Twentieth Century |location=London, New York |publisher=Verso |page=[https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47 47] |isbn=1-85984-015-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/longtwentiethcen00arri/page/47}}</ref> The Netherlands has the oldest [[stock exchange]] in the world, founded in 1602 by the [[Dutch East India Company]], while [[Rotterdam]] has the oldest [[Exchange (organized market)|bourse]] in the Netherlands. The Dutch East-India Company exchange went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a single city, so [[Amsterdam]] is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles. While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was quickly incorporated by the well-connected English, stimulating English economic output.<ref name="tong">{{cite book |author=Junie T. Tong |year=2016 |title=Finance and Society in 21st Century China: Chinese Culture Versus Western Markets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UQGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |publisher=CRC Press |page=151 |isbn=978-1-317-13522-7}}</ref><ref name="esposito">{{cite book |editor1=John L. Esposito |editor1-link=John L. Esposito |year=2004 |title=The Islamic World: Past and Present |volume=1: Abba – Hist. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=174 |isbn=978-0-19-516520-3 |access-date=23 June 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116111739/https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Nanda, J. N (2005). {{cite book |year=2005 |title=Bengal: the unique state |publisher=Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. |isbn=978-81-8069-149-2 |quote=Bengal ... was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.}}</ref><ref name="Prakash">[[Om Prakash (historian)|Om Prakash]], "[http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3447600139/WHIC?u=seat24826&xid=6b597320 Empire, Mughal] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118051038/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=WHIC&u=seat24826&id=GALE%7B%7B%21%7D%7DCX3447600139&v=2.1&it=r&asid=6b597320 |date=18 November 2022 }}", ''History of World Trade Since 1450'', edited by [[John J. McCusker]], vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 237–240, ''World History in Context''. Retrieved 3 August 2017</ref>

The Dutch Republic was a master of banking, often compared to 14th century Florence.