Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones are the Map Men (previously at Neatorama), ready to explain geography to us and entertain us at the same time. This one is about Netherlands, which jutted out into the sea and resembled Swiss cheese for most of its history. The area of its land rose and fell with the whims of the ocean, and settling there was a problem when you could expect floods at any time. So the Dutch engineered dikes and dams to hold back the sea and create fertile farmland below sea level. It wasn't done all at once, but bit by bit over time. The biggest project was launched in the early 20th century.
There's an epiphany that comes early in the video when I learned, for the first time, that Dutch windmills aren't there to grind grain. They aren't actually windmills at all, but pumps to control the water level! Along the way, we get plenty of jokes about Netherlands. There' a 90-second skippable ad at 4:25. The last 90 seconds is promotional, too. -via Laughing Squid