Capital

Amsterdam

TheNether lands is a country in Northwestern Europ, constituting the major portion of

the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional
monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the
south, and Germany to the east. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government
is The Hague.
The Netherlands is often calledHolland, which is formally incorrect asNorth andSouth

Holland are actually two of its twelve provinces. The wordDut ch is used to refer to the

people, the language, and anything pertaining to the Netherland. The difference between the noun and the adjective
is a peculiarity of the English language and does not exist in the Dutch language.

Being one of the first parliamentary democracies, the Netherlands was a modern country
from its inception. Among other affiliations the country is a founding member of
the European Union (EU), NATO, OECD, WTO, and has signed the Kyoto protocol.
With Belgium and Luxembourg it forms the Benelux economic union.

The country is host to five international courts:

the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The former four are
situated in The Hague as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol. This has led to the city being dubbed "the
world's legal capital".

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 27% of its area and
60% of its population located below sea level. Significant areas have been gained
through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes.
Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers,
which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the
country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far south-east and several low-
hill ranges in the central parts created by ice-age glaciers.
Background
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579;
during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial
power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year
French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In
1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands
remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by
Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is
also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding
member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the
introduction of the euro in 1999.

Geography
Location:
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
Geographic coordinates:
52 30 N, 5 45 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
Total: 41,526 sq km
Country comparison to the world:
L a n d : 33,883 sq km
W a t e r : 7,643 sq km
Land boundaries:
Total: 1,027 km
B o r d e r c o u n t r i e s : Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km
Maritime claims:
T e r r i t o r i a l s e a : 12 nm
C o n t i g u o u s z o n e : 24 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:
Temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winter
Natural resources
Natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land
Land use:
Arable land:2 1 . 9 6 %
Permanent crops:0 . 7 7 %
Other: 77.27% (2005)
Irrigated land:
5,650 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
Flooding
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-

Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur

94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto
Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
Located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse,
and Schelde)
PEOPLES
Population:
16,715,999 (July 2009 EST.)
Age structure:

0-14 years:1 7 . 4 % (male 1,485,873/female 1,416,999)

15-64 years:6 7 . 7 % (male 5,720,387/female 5,604,014)
65 years and over:1 4 . 9 % (male 1,070,496/female 1,418,230) (2009 est.)

Median age:

Total: 40.4 years

Male: 39.6 years
Female: 41.2 years (2009 EST.)

Population growth rate:

0.412% (2009 EST.)
Birth rate
10.4 births/1,000 population (2009 EST .
Death rate:
8.71 deaths/1,000 population (2008 EST.)
Religions
Roman Catholic 30%, Dutch Reformed 11%, Calvinist 6%, other Protestant
3%, Muslim 5.8%, other 2.2%, none 42% (2006)
Languages:
Dutch (official), Frisian (official
Literacy:
D e f i n i t i o n : age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99%
Male:9 9 %
F e m a l e : 99% (2003 est.)
Education expenditures:
5.3% of GDP (2005)
GOVERNMENT
Country name:

Conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Conventional short form:N e t h e r l a n d s

Local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

Local short form:N e d e r l a n d

Government type
Constitutional monarchy
Administrative divisions:

12 provinces (provinces, singular - provinces); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland

(Fryslan), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant (North Brabant),
Noord-Holland (North Holland), Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (Zealand),
Zuid-Holland (South Holland)

Independence:

23 January 1579 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries conclude the
Union of Utrecht breaking with Spain; on 26 July 1581 they formally
declared their independence with an Act of Abjuration; however, it was not
until 30 January 1648 and the Peace of Westphalia that Spain recognized this

independence
National holiday

Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA and accession to the

throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX), 30 April (1909 and 1980)
Constitution:
Adopted 1815; a m e n d e d m a n y t i m e s , m o s t r e c e n t l y i n 2 0 0 2
Executive branch
C h i e f o f s t a t e : Queen BEATRIX (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent
WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), son of the monarch
H e a d o f g o v e r n m e n t : Prime Minister Jan Peter BALKENENDE (since 22 July
2002); Deputy Prime Ministers Wouter BOS (since 22 February 2007) and
Andre ROUVOET (since 22 February 2007)
C a b i n e t : Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch
E l e c t i o n s : the monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections,

the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually

appointed prime minister by the monarch; deputy prime ministers appointed
by the monarch

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Pieter VAN GEEL]; Christian Union

Party [Arie SLOB]; Democrats 66 or D66 [Alexander PECHTOLD]; Green
Left Party [Femke HALSEMA]; Labor Party or PvdA [Mariette HAMER];
Party for Freedom or PVV [Greet WILDERS]; Party for the Animals or PvdD
[Marianne THIEME]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or
VVD [Mark RUTTE]; Reformed Political Party of SGP [Bas VAN DER
VLIES]; Socialist Party [Agnes KANT]; plus a few minor parties
Flag description:

Three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag
of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer; one of the oldest
flags in constant use, originating with WILLIAM I, Prince of Orange, in the
latter half of the 16th century

ECONOMY
Economy - overview:

The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily
on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations,
moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and
an important role as a European transportation hub. Industrial activity is
predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and
electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no
more than 3% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for the food-
processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU
partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. The country
has been one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct
investment and is one of the four largest investors in the US. The pace of job
growth reached 10-year highs in 2007, but economic growth fell sharply in
2008 as fallout from the world financial crisis constricted demand and raised
the specter of a recession in 2009.

GDP - per capita (PPP)

$40,300 (2008 EST.)
Unemployment rate:
4.5% (2008 EST.)
Budget:
Revenues: $408.5 billion
Expenditures: $398.8 billion (2008 est.)
COMMUNICATIONS
Telephones - main lines in use:
7.334 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
17.3 million (2006)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 4, FM 567, shortwave 1 (2008)
Internet hosts:
10.983 million (2008)

Transportation
Airports:
27 (2008)
Heliports:
1 (2007)
Pipelines:
gas 3,816 km; oil 365 km; refined products 716 km (2008)
Railways:
total: 2,801 km
Ports and terminals:
Amsterdam, IJmuiden, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Vlissinge
Military
Military branches:

Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine
Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, KLu), Royal Military Police
(2009 )

Military expenditures:
1.6% of GDP (2005 est

Culture

lourishing from the 12th cent. onward, the earliest literature of the Low Countries displays a strong

French and somewhat weaker German influence in its vocabulary and literary style. Middle Dutch

literature shows the same general characteristics as the contemporary vernacular literatures; thus

the bourgeois spirit was expressed in the works of Jacob van Maerlant and in the Dutch versions of

Reynard the Fox. Hadewijch, John Ruysbroeck, and Gerard Groote spoke the language of mysticism.

By the 14th cent., chivalry and scholasticism had waned, and by the 15th cent. mysticism was

transformed as moral piety. Among the best-known of Dutch medieval dramas are Mary of Nimmegen

and the morality play Elckerlijk, closely related to Everyman.

The greatest Dutch figure of the Renaissance, Erasmus, wrote in Latin, but other humanists-Jan van

der Noot, Dirck Coornhert, Hendrick Spieghel, and the painter and poet Karel van Mander-used

vernacular. Reformation polemics were represented by the Catholic Anna Bijns, and the Protestant

Philip van Marnix. With the establishment of the republic and the subsequent commercial prosperity,

came the Golden Age of Dutch literature; this is the period of the masters Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft
and Joost van den Vondel, of the homely verse of Jacob Cats, of the comedies of Gerbrand Bredero,

and of the works of Constantijn Huygens.

After the 17th cent. Flemish and Dutch literature declined. Pieter Langendijk and Joseph Addison's

imitator Justus van Effen, the novelists Elisabeth Wolff and Agatha Deken, were the chief Dutch

writers in the 18th cent. In the 19th cent. Dutch and Flemish literature expanded on European lines,

with the novelists Jacob van Lennep, Anna Bosboom-Toussaint, Eduard Dekker, and the Belgian

Hendrik Conscience, and the poets Isaäc Da Costa, Hendrik Tollens, Everhardus Potgieter, and the

Belgians Guido Gezelle, Albrecht Rodenbach, Pol de Mont, and Nicolaas Beets.

The 1880s saw a reorientation of Dutch letters under foreign influence, especially under that of

French naturalism and the English poets Keats and Shelley. By 1900, impressionistic themes were

emerging in poetry. The new forces were seen in novelists and short-story writers, such as Louis

Couperus, and in the Belgians Stijn Streuvels and Felix Timmermans. Among the better-known poets

are Roland Holst, Pieter Boutens, and Herman Gorter in the Netherlands, and Karel van de Woestijne

in Belgium. The successful dramatist Herman Heijermans has a significant place in 20th-century

Dutch literature.

After the 1940s, the psychological novel came to typify Flemish literature. The physician Simon

Vestdijk, perhaps the greatest Dutch writer of the 20th cent., wrote psychological novels that

revealed the influence of existentialism. His contemporary Gerrit Achterberg explored similar themes

of life and death in his powerful poems. The diary of Anne Frank is only the best known of a vast

number of works that concern the Dutch experience during World War II. The character of Dutch

poetry was altered after the war when Lucebert (Lubertus Swaanswijk), whose work was related to

the internationalist CoBrA group, rejected rhyme and meter and introduced surrealist elements into

his verse. In fiction, the works of postwar Dutch writers such as Anna Blaman, Alfred Kossman, and

Adriaan Van der Veen reveal the influence of both the Nazi occupation and existentialism. Indeed, the

existentialist influence is found even in fictional works of the 1960s in which writers such as Willem

F. Hermans, Jan Wolkers, and Harry Mulisch express their overpowering sense of absurdity and

despair.

The Netherlands is a small country situated between Germany and the North sea. It is a very modern
country, whose achievements of civilization amaze the world.
The netherlands is also the most liberal country in today's world. There is no place for conservatism.
Liberalism is very important not only in economy, but also in society and cul