top of pageBackground: 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 German invasion and occupation 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. In October 2010 the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands - Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba - became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
ElevationMean elevation: 30 m
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Zuidplaspolder -7 m: highest point: Mount Scenery 862 m (on the island of Saba in the Caribbean now considered an integral part of the Netherlands following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles)
Note: the highest point on continental Netherlands is Vaalserberg at 322 m
Natural resources: natural gas petroleum peat limestone salt sand and gravel arable land
GeographyNote: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine Maas or Meuse and Schelde)
top of pagePopulationDistribution: an area known as the Randstad anchored by the cities of Amsterdam Rotterdam the Hague and Utrecht is the most densely populated region; the north tends to be less dense though sizeable communities can be found throughout the entire country: 17,016,967 (July 2016 est.)
Rank: 67
Growth rate: 0.4% (2016 est.)
Growth rate rank: 167
Below poverty line: 9.1% (2013 est.)
Ethnic groups: Dutch 78.6% EU 5.8% Turkish 2.4% Indonesian 2.2% Moroccan 2.2% Surinamese 2.1% Bonairian Saba Islander Sint Eustatian 0.8% other 5.9% (2014 est.)
Languages: Dutch (official)
Note: Frisian is an official language in Fryslan province; Frisian Low Saxon Limburgish Romani and Yiddish have protected status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; Dutch is the official language of the three special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands while English is a recognized regional language on Sint Eustatius and Saba and Papiamento is a recognized regional language on Bonaire
Religions: Roman Catholic 28% Protestant 19% (includes Dutch Reformed 9% Protestant Church of The Netherlands 7% Calvinist 3%) other 11% (includes about 5% Muslim and fewer numbers of Hindu Buddhist Jehovah's Witness and Orthodox) none 42% (2009 est.)
Population distribution: an area known as the Randstad anchored by the cities of Amsterdam Rotterdam the Hague and Utrecht is the most densely populated region; the north tends to be less dense though sizeable communities can be found throughout the entire country
EnvironmentCurrent issues: water pollution in the form of heavy metals organic compounds and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain
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 Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Marine Life Conservation Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber 83 Tropical Timber 94 Wetlands Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Drinking water source:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
urban: 97.5% of population
rural: 99.9% of population
total: 97.7% of population
urban: 2.5% of population
rural: 0.1% of population
total: 2.3% of population (2015 est.)
top of pageGovernment type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy; part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincies singular - provincie); Drenthe Flevoland Fryslan (Friesland) Gelderland Groningen Limburg Noord-Brabant (North Brabant) Noord-Holland (North Holland) Overijssel Utrecht Zeeland (Zealand) Zuid-Holland (South Holland)
Note 1: the Netherlands is one of four constituent parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the other three parts Aruba Curacao and Sint Maarten are all islands in the Caribbean; while all four parts are considered equal partners in practice most of the Kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands which makes up about 98% of the Kingdom's total land area and population
Note 2: three other Caribbean islands Bonaire Saint Eustatius and Saba are considered to be special municipalities of the Netherlands proper
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: King's Day (the King's birthday of 27 April (1967); celebrated on 26 April if 27 April is a Sunday)
Constitution: previous 1597 1798; latest adopted 24 August 1815 (substantially revised in 1848); amended many times last in 2010 (2016)
Legal system: civil law system based on the French system; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General
Executive branchChief of state: King WILLEM-ALEXANDER ; Heir Apparent Princess Catharina-Amalia (since 30 April 2013)
Head of government: Prime Minister Mark RUTTE ; Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk ASSCHER (since 5 November 2012); note - Mark RUTTE heads his second cabinet since 5 November 2012
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch; note -there is also a Council of State composed of the monarch heir apparent and councilors that provides advice to the cabinet on legislative and administrative policy
Electionsappointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch
Legislative branchDescription: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve up to 4-year terms)
Elections: First Chamber - last held on 26 May 2015 ; Second Chamber - last held on 12 September 2012 (next to be held no later than 15 March 2017)
Election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VVD 13 CDA 12 D66 10 PVV 9 SP 9 PvdA 8 GL 4 CU 3 other 7; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - VVD 26.6% PvdA 24.8% PVV 10.1% SP 9.7% CDA 8.5% D66 8.0% CU 3.1% GL 2.3% other 6.9%; seats by party - VVD 41 PvdA 38 PVV 15 SP 15 CDA 13 D66 12 CU 5 GL 4 other 7
Judicial branchHighest court: Supreme Court or Hoge Raad ; the court is divided into criminal civil tax and ombuds chambers
Judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the monarch from a list provided by the Second Chamber of the States General; justices appointed for life or until mandatory retirement at age 70
Subordinate courts: courts of appeal; district courts each with up to 5 subdistrict courts
Political parties and leaders:
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Mark RUTTE]
Reformed Political Party or SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ]
Socialist Party or SP [Emile ROEMER]
plus a few minor parties
International organization participation: ADB (nonregional member) AfDB (nonregional member) Arctic Council (observer) Australia Group Benelux BIS CBSS (observer) CD CE CERN EAPC EBRD ECB EIB EITI (implementing country) EMU ESA EU FAO FATF G-10 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) ICCt ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IGAD (partners) IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA MINUSMA NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE Pacific Alliance (observer) Paris Club PCA Schengen Convention SELEC (observer) UN UNCTAD UNDOF UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMISS UNRWA UNTSO UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC
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; the colors were those of WILLIAM I Prince of Orange who led the Dutch Revolt against Spanish sovereignty in the latter half of the 16th century; originally the upper band was orange but because it tended to fade to red over time the red shade was eventually made the permanent color; the banner is perhaps the oldest tricolor in continuous use
National anthemName: 'Het Wilhelmus'
Lyrics and music: Philips VAN MARNIX van Sint Aldegonde /unknown
Note: adopted 1932 in use since the 17th century making it the oldest national anthem in the world; also known as 'Wilhelmus van Nassouwe' it is in the form of an acrostic where the first letter of each stanza spells the name of the leader of the Dutch Revolt
top of pageEconomy overview:
The Netherlands the sixth-largest economy in the European Union plays an important role as a European transportation hub with a persistently high trade surplus stable industrial relations and moderate unemployment. Industry focuses on food processing chemicals petroleum refining and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for food-processing and underpins the country’s status as the world’s second largest agricultural exporter.
The Netherlands is part of the euro zone and as such its monetary policy is controlled by the European Central Bank. The Dutch financial sector is highly concentrated with four commercial banks possessing over 90% of banking assets. The sector suffered as a result of the global financial crisis and required billions of dollars of government support but the European Banking Authority completed stringent reviews in 2014 and deemed Dutch banks to be well-capitalized. To address the 2009 and 2010 economic downturns the government sought to stimulate the domestic economy by accelerating infrastructure programs offering corporate tax breaks for employers to retain workers and expanding export credits. The stimulus programs and bank bailouts however resulted in a government budget deficit of 5.3% of GDP in 2010 that contrasted sharply with a surplus of 0.7% in 2008.
The government of Prime Minister Mark RUTTE has since implemented significant austerity measures to improve public finances and has instituted broad structural reforms in key policy areas including the labor market the housing sector the energy market and the pension system. As a result the government budget deficit at the end of 2015 dropped to 2% of GDP. Following a protracted recession during which unemployment doubled to 7.4% and household consumption contracted for nearly three consecutive years 2014 saw fragile GDP growth of 1% and a rise in most economic indicators. Growth picked up in 2015 as households boosted purchases through reduced saving. Drivers of growth included increased exports and business investments as well as newly invigorated household consumption.
Industries: agroindustries metal and engineering products electrical machinery and equipment chemicals petroleum construction microelectronics fishing
Public debt:
65.3% of GDP (2015 est.)
68.2% of GDP (2014 est.)
Note: data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds such as for retirement medical care and unemployment debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
Rank: 55
Central bank discount rate:
0.05% (31 December 2013)
0.3% (31 December 2010)
Note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Rank: 143
Stock of narrow money:
$405.7 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$435 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
Note: see entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank controls monetary policy for the 18 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders
Rank: 13
Exports:
$476.5 billion (2015 est.)
$574.7 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 9
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals fuels; foodstuffs
Partners: Germany 24.5% Belgium 11.1% UK 9.3% France 8.4% Italy 4.2% (2015)
Imports:
$389.6 billion (2015 est.)
$469.4 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 14
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment chemicals fuels foodstuffs clothing
Partners: Germany 14.7% China 14.5% Belgium 8.2% US 8.1% UK 5.1% (2015)
Debt external:
$4.154 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)
$4.524 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
Rank: 7
Exchange rates:
euros (EUR) per US dollar -
0.885 (2015 est.)
0.7525 (2014 est.)
0.7634 (2013 est.)
0.78 (2012 est.)
0.7185 (2011 est.)
top of pagetop of pageTelephone systemGeneral assessment: highly developed and well maintained
Domestic: extensive fixed-line fiber-optic network; large cellular telephone system with 5 major operators utilizing the third generation of the Global System for Mobile Communications technology; one in five households now use Voice over the Internet Protocol services
International: country code - 31; submarine cables provide links to the US and Europe; satellite earth stations - 5
Broadcast media: more than 90% of households are connected to cable or satellite TV systems that provide a wide range of domestic and foreign channels; public service broadcast system includes multiple broadcasters 3 with a national reach and the remainder operating in regional and local markets; 2 major nationwide commercial television companies each with 3 or more stations and many commercial TV stations in regional and local markets; nearly 600 radio stations with a mix of public and private stations providing national or regional coverage (2008)
top of pagetop of pagePipelines: condensate 81 km; gas 8,531 km; oil 578 km; refined products 716 km (2013)
top of pageIllicit drugs: major European producer of synthetic drugs including ecstasy and cannabis cultivator; important gateway for cocaine heroin and hashish entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy and a significant consumer of ecstasy; a large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering
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