In Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, there is a city square known as Dam Square or simply Dam (Dutch: Dam). It is one of the most well-known and significant locations in the city due to its outstanding structures and regular events.

About 750 metres south of Amsterdam Central Station, the city's primary transportation hub, is where you'll find Dam Square in Amsterdam's historic centre. It is around 100 metres from north to south and 200 metres from west to east and is generally rectangular in shape. It connects Damrak and Rokin streets, which extend from Muntplein Central Station (Mintplein Square) and Munttoren following the ancient Amstel River route. Other major streets including Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat, and Damstraat come to an end in the square. The main red-light district, de Wallen, lies just beyond the northeast corner.

The neoclassical Royal Palace is located at the western edge of the square. From 1655 to 1808, it was the town hall before becoming a royal palace. The Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and the Gothic Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) from the fifteenth century are situated close by. On the other side of the square, the National Monument, a white stone pillar designed by Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud and erected in 1956 in honour of World War II casualties, is the dominant structure. The NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky and the upscale Bijenkorf department store both have a view of the square. Due to these advantages, Dam Square is become a popular tourist destination. Pigeons are also numerous in the square.

The square gets its name from its original purpose, which was to dam the Amstel River, giving the city its name. The dam, which was constructed in 1270, served as the first link between the communities on each side of the river.

The plaza that served as the city's hub and was built around when the dam was constructed became wide enough to accommodate it. The dam itself, known as Middeldam, and Plaetse, a square next to it to the west, were the two initial squares from which Dam Square, as we know it today, developed. At the dam, where ships loaded and unloaded cargo, a sizable fish market quickly developed. As the location of Amsterdam's city hall, this area evolved into a hub for both economic and political activity.

Old paintings depict the official house of weights and measures that was located in Dam Square, which served as a marketplace. This was destroyed in 1808 at Louis Bonaparte's request after he moved into the renovated Royal Palace and complained that it blocked his view. It served as Napoleon and his troops' arrival point in 1808 when they were capturing the city.

Since the 19th century, when the Damrak, or former mouth of the Amstel, was partially filled, Dam Square has been encircled by land on all sides. The Beurs van Zocher, a stock market that was constructed in 1837, was a result of the new territory. The Zocher building was dismantled in 1903 after stock trading was relocated to the Beurs van Berlage. Since 1914, the De Bijenkorf department store has been present in its place.

De Eendracht (The Unity), a war memorial, was unveiled in the square in front of King William III in 1856. The monument, which is a stone column with a figure of a woman on top, was given the name "Naatje op de Dam." In 1914, it was removed.