The Netherlands looks flat. Until you see it on an elevation map: suddenly you spot the dyke you cycled along into the wind every day, the terp (dwelling mound) beneath the village church and the dunes behind the beach. That elevation map of the Netherlands really exists. It's called the Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (AHN) and you can view it for free. For every half-metre by half-metre patch of ground, it records how high it lies.
What is an elevation map?
An elevation map shows how high every point lies. In the Netherlands, that is always measured against Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP), the Amsterdam Ordnance Datum. The AHN comes in two types:
- The terrain model (DTM): just the ground, without buildings or trees. It shows dykes, dunes, terps and ditches. Where there is no ground to measure, such as in water and under buildings, there are gaps.
- The surface model (DSM): everything the laser hits, so roofs, treetops and bridges too. Only water is left out.
What is the AHN?
The Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland is a joint project of the Dutch water boards, the provinces and Rijkswaterstaat, the national public works and water agency. They use the heights in their daily work: are the dykes still high enough, and can the water drain away properly? Het Waterschapshuis carries it out on their behalf. Since the late 1990s, the whole country has been measured again and again.
Measured with a laser from an aircraft
The heights are measured with laser altimetry, also known as lidar. An aircraft scans the land with a laser beam and measures how long each pulse takes to come back. Combined with the aircraft's exact position and attitude, that gives a height for every point.
The flights take place in the leafless season, roughly from December to March. Some of the pulses bounce off branches first and only then off the ground, so the AHN also measures the ground beneath a forest. In total, the elevation file is built from around 950 billion measurements.
How accurate is the AHN?
On average there are about ten measurements per square metre. According to the specifications for AHN2, AHN3 and AHN4, at least 95 per cent of the measured points are within 15 centimetres of the true height. The AHN itself says 'accurate to 5 centimetres'. Archaeologists have even used it to find old settlements, from small differences in height in meadows that weren't visible to the naked eye.
AHN4, AHN5 or AHN6: which is the latest?
AHN4 was measured from 2020 to 2022, AHN5 in 2023 and 2024. These days a third of the country is flown every year. The first part of AHN6, the north-east of the country, has been online since October 2025. AHN6 is being collected up to and including 2027. So a new building only appears once its location has been flown again.
How to view the elevation map of the Netherlands for free
The AHN is open data: anyone can view and use it for free. These are the handiest ways to open it:
- AHN viewer: the official elevation map in 2D (in Dutch). Search for your address, click on the map and you'll see the height in metres NAP and the date of the measurement. Want to see buildings too? Switch on the DSM in the map layers, under 'meer' (more).
- AHN point cloud viewer: fly in 3D through all the individual measurement points, for example around Utrecht's Dom Tower or along your own street. According to the AHN, it doesn't (yet) work well on a phone.
- PDOK Viewer: the Dutch government's map viewer, where you can combine the AHN with other map layers.
- Overstroom ik?: see how high the water could rise in your neighbourhood in a flood (in Dutch).
- AHN Dataroom: download the files yourself, as GeoTIFF or point cloud, for your own GIS software.
What is NAP?
All heights in the Netherlands are measured against the same zero point: Normaal Amsterdams Peil. A height of 0 metres NAP is roughly the average sea level of the North Sea. If the elevation map says -2 metres, that spot lies about two metres below sea level.
King William I introduced the Amsterdam datum for the whole country in 1818. The original zero point lies under a stone on Dam Square in Amsterdam. Today there are around 35,000 benchmarks: metal bolts in houses, bridges and viaducts whose height is known precisely. Prussia was the first to adopt the datum, in 1876, and NAP is still the basis of the European height system today.
How much of the Netherlands is below sea level?
About 26 per cent of the Dutch land area lies below NAP, and so below sea level. That was calculated by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and Rijkswaterstaat, using the AHN. The area that could flood is much larger:
| Area | Share of land area |
|---|---|
| Below NAP (below sea level) | 26% |
| Above NAP, but can flood if the rivers burst their banks | 29% |
| Outside the dykes, so not protected by dykes or dunes | 4% |
| Total at risk of flooding | 59% |
You sometimes read that 55 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level. That appeared in a 2007 IPCC climate report, but it isn't true. The PBL corrected it: 55 per cent was the share that could flood.
What are the highest and lowest points in the Netherlands?
For such a flat country, the differences are bigger than you'd think:
| Record | Place | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Highest point in the European Netherlands | Vaalserberg, South Limburg | 322.4 m above NAP |
| Lowest point | Zuidplaspolder near Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel | 6.76 m below NAP |
| Highest dune | Schoorlse Duinen, near Alkmaar | 53 m |
| Highest point of the Veluwe | Roosendaalse Veld, near Arnhem | 110 m |
| Highest terp | Hegebeintum, Friesland | 8.80 m above NAP |
| Highest point in the whole of the Netherlands | Mount Scenery, Saba | approx. 870 m |
The lowest point came into being when the Zuidplas was drained in 1841, a lake that had formed because peat was dredged away for fuel over centuries. The municipality of Zuidplas uses 6.76 metres below NAP; Rijkswaterstaat gives 6.78 metres on its website. The ground there is still settling.
Looking for the highest mountain in the Netherlands? There are two answers. In the European Netherlands it's the Vaalserberg near Vaals: 322.4 metres above NAP, right by the three-country point. Count the Caribbean Netherlands too, and it's Mount Scenery on Saba, which at about 870 metres is almost three times as high.
Until 2010, the Vaalserberg was the highest point in the country. Since Saba became a special municipality that year, it has been Mount Scenery: around 870 metres, according to a 2019 measurement by the Dutch Land Registry (Kadaster).
8 places in the Netherlands that look spectacular in 3D
On a flat map, differences in height disappear. Only in 3D do you really see them. For each place below, one click opens a 3D preview in the Dorpi map builder.
1. Vaalserberg and the tripoint
The hill country of South Limburg ranges from about 60 to just over 320 metres above NAP. On the Vaalserberg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet. The summit itself is almost flat: the remains of a plateau that has worn away almost entirely. Note: Wallonia begins on the Belgian side, and it isn't available on a Dorpi. So move your map a little to the north, towards Vaals, and check the preview.
2. Schoorlse Duinen (Schoorl Dunes)
According to Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch state forestry service, the dunes at Schoorl are the highest and widest in the Netherlands. The highest dune is 53 metres. In 3D, the peaks and the valleys between them look like a small mountain range behind the coast.
3. Posbank and the Veluwezoom
The Veluwe is a push moraine: a ridge of hills shoved up in the penultimate ice age by glaciers that reached the middle of the Netherlands. Nowhere on the Veluwe will you find as many hills as in the Veluwezoom, says the conservation charity Natuurmonumenten. Close by, in the Roosendaalse Veld, lies the highest point of the Veluwe at 110 metres.
4. Amerongse Berg on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug
The Utrechtse Heuvelrug was pushed up in the same ice age. At 69 metres, the Amerongse Berg is one of its highest points. From the top you walk down to the Nederrijn and its floodplains. On the elevation map, the wooded ridge clearly stands out above the river land.
5. Hegebeintum, the highest terp
Long before there were dykes, people in the north lived on mounds they built themselves: terps, called wierden in Groningen. The terp of Hegebeintum (Hogebeintum) is the highest in the Netherlands, at 8.80 metres above NAP. People already lived there around 500 BC. On the elevation map, the village sits like a hill in the flat land.
6. Kinderdijk
The nineteen windmills of Kinderdijk kept the low-lying Alblasserwaard dry for centuries. The mill network has been a World Heritage Site since 1997. On the elevation map you can see the whole system: dykes, watercourses, pumping stations and the polders in between.
7. Schokland
For centuries Schokland was an island in the Zuiderzee. In 1859 its inhabitants had to leave, and since the Noordoostpolder was drained in 1942, the island has been on dry land. In 1995 the former island became the first archaeological World Heritage Site in the Netherlands, partly because of its irregular shape within the ruler-straight, drawing-board landscape of the polder. That's exactly the contrast you see on an elevation map.
8. Zuidplaspolder near Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel
Here, what's special is precisely how low the land lies. The Zuidplaspolder is a reclaimed lake. Nieuwerkerk sits on its edge, along the dyke of the Hollandse IJssel river, and the lowest point lies in the meadows north-east of the village. On an elevation map you can see the river dyke rising above the deep polder.
How to look up the height of your own house
The quickest way is our tool How high is my house?: type your address and you'll see the height of the ground and of your roof. Prefer to look it up yourself in the AHN viewer? Here's how:
- Open the AHN viewer and type your address into the search box.
- Click on the street in front of your house or in your garden. You'll see the height of the ground in metres relative to NAP.
- Want to know how high your roof is? Switch on the DSM (under "meer") and click on the roof. The difference from the ground is roughly the height of your house.
A negative number means you live below sea level, like a quarter of the Netherlands. Would you rather see your street in 3D? In the map builder you type your address and within a minute you'll see how your neighbourhood lies: on a dyke, on a hill or deep in the polder.
Hang your place in 3D on the wall
An elevation map on a screen is lovely, but only when you hold it in your hands do you feel how high or low your place lies. Dorpi prints any place in the Netherlands, Flanders and Germany as a 3D relief map, based on official elevation data. For the Netherlands, that's the AHN. You'll see your own dyke, your own hill and your own roof.
In the map builder you look up your place and see a 3D preview straight away. The map comes in a black or oak frame of 170 x 235 mm, with a stand and a hanger. A Dorpi costs €49, shipping is free and we send it within 2-6 working days, depending on the size. Because the map is based on official elevation data, a very new building may still be missing. You'll see that in the preview.
Read more about the size and the frame on the product page.
Looking for a gift? Our gift ideas suggest a fitting place for every occasion.
Frequently asked questions
How high above NAP is my house?
Open the AHN viewer, search for your address and click on your street or garden. You'll see the height in metres relative to NAP and the date of the measurement. Switch on the DSM if you want to know the height of the roof.
What percentage of the Netherlands is below sea level?
About 26 per cent of the land area lies below NAP. In total, around 59 per cent is at risk of flooding, including from the rivers. These figures come from the PBL and Rijkswaterstaat.
Can I use the AHN data myself?
Yes. The AHN is open data and anyone can use it for free, including for your own projects. Since AHN5, you do have to credit the source (the AHN) on derived products.