That country is pancake flat and basically at sea level. Heck, much of the land is reclaimed from the sea. Therefore, historical Dutch urban form always included canals, ponds, etc -- any shallow body of water that can freeze over in the winter, they've got it. So their cultural history of ice skating goes back hundreds of years.

Plus, we joke about skiing and skating to work... in Holland canals were originally laid out to be transportation routes, i.e. going from town to town, neighborhood to neighborhood. So, it must be the only place in the world where one really could conceivably SKATE to work when everything is frozen. Venice has canals, too -- in a totally different climate.

Belgium and Denmark which are nearby aren't nearly as flat and water-ridden as Holland; ergo, a much, much smaller skating culture.