Amsterdam is located in the west of the Netherlands and is the countrys largest city. Also it is of great importance because the city is the capital of the country. If we go a little deeper into the name of the city then there is a concept behind the word "Amsterdam". Basically, the concept is that there is a dam inside the city whose name is "Amstel" and also there is a dam on the river so combining these two words the name of the city popped out as "Amsterdam". During the 12th Century Amsterdam became one of the leading and important ports for trading purposes. During that time the city was well known for the trade of diamonds.http://www.articleshow.com/Travel/holiday-in-amsterdam_1.html