Guide to Netherlands Introduction Background: The 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
Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 451 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 5,650 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding
Environment - current 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
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
People Population: 16,407,491 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.53% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 11.14 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.68 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 19,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Dutch 83%, other 17% (of which 9% are non-Western origin mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese, and Indonesians) (1999 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed 13%, Calvinist 7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 2.5%, none 41% (2002)
Languages: Dutch (official), Frisian (official)
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government
Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland (Fryslan), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland
Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
Independence: 23 January 1579 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries conclude the Union of Utrecht breaking with Spain; it was not until 1648 that Spain recognized their independence)
National holiday: Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909 and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX in 1980), 30 April
Constitution: adopted 1815; amended many times, last time 2002
Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch)
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Maxime Jacques Marcel VERHAGEN]; Christian Union Party [Andre ROUVOET]; Democrats 66 or D66 [Boris DITTRICH]; Green Party [Femke HALSEMA]; Labor Party or PvdA [Wouter BOS]; List Pim Fortuyn [Gerard van AS]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD [Jozias VAN AARTSEN]; Socialist Party [Jan MARIJNISSEN]; plus a few minor parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Netherlands Trade Union Federation (FNV) (consisting of a merger of Socialist and Catholic trade unions); Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV); Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel (MHP); Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; Interchurch Peace Council or IKV; large multinational firms; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
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 4% 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 continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001-04, as part of the global economic slowdown, but for the four years before that, annual growth averaged nearly 4%, well above the EU average.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $481.1 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.2% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $29,500 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 7.53 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 4%, industry 23%, services 73% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 32.6 (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 19.9% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 55.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 90.61 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 100.7 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 4.5 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 20.9 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 46,200 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 895,300 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 1.418 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 2.284 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 88.06 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 77.75 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 49.72 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 49.28 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 20.78 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.693 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $19.9 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $293.1 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs
Exports - partners: Germany 25%, Belgium 12.4%, UK 10.1%, France 9.9%, Italy 6%, US 4.3% (2004)
Imports: $252.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners: Germany 17.9%, Belgium 9.9%, US 7.9%, China 7.4%, UK 6.4%, France 4.8% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $21.44 billion (2003)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $4 billion (2003 est.)
Currency (code): euro (EUR) note
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 10.004 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 12.5 million (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 246, shortwave 3 (2004)
Radios: 15.3 million (1996)
Television broadcast stations: 21 (plus 26 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions: 8.1 million (1997)
Internet country code: .nl
Internet hosts: 4,518,226 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 52 (2000)
Internet users: 8.5 million (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 5,046 km (navigable for ships of 50 tons) (2004)
Pipelines: condensate 325 km; gas 6,998 km; oil 590 km; refined products 716 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Amsterdam, Groningen, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Vlissingen, Zaanstad
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 27 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, KLu), Royal Constabulary, Defense Interservice Command (DICO) (2004)
Military service age and obligation: 20 years of age for an all-volunteer force (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 20-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 20-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $9.408 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: major European producer of ecstasy, illicit amphetamines, and other synthetic drugs; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy; large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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