Netherlands
Kingdom of the NetherlandsKoninkrijk der Nederlanden
constitutional monarchy
Netherlands as the 2009 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 139 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
20 fieldsLand useshare of 41,543 sq km
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
- total:
- 8.86 cu km/yr (6%/60%/34%)
- per capita:
- 544 cu m/yr (2001)
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:
- 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)
People
22 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2009 est.)
Per 1,000 population
Male · female
Ethnic groups(2008 est.)
Religions(2006)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 1.02 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.76 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Government
Constitutional monarchy; Queen BEATRIX (since 30 April 1980); Prime Minister Jan Peter BALKENENDE (since 22 July 2002)
19 fieldsFirst Chamber, 150 seats, elected 29 May 2007one dot, one seat
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- conventional short form:
- Netherlands
- local long form:
- Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
- local short form:
- Nederland
Capital
- name:
- Amsterdam
- geographic coordinates:
- 52 23 N, 4 54 E
- time difference:
- UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
- daylight saving time:
- +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
note: The Hague is the seat of government; time descriptions apply to the continental Netherlands only, not to the Caribbean components
Administrative divisions
- 12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie);
- 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)
Legal system
- based on 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
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- Queen BEATRIX (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), son of the monarch
- head of government:
- 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)
- cabinet:
- Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch
- elections:
- 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
note: there is also a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councilors that provides consultations to the cabinet on legislative and administrative policy
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 to serve four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
- elections:
- First Chamber - last held 29 May 2007 (next to be held in May 2011); Second Chamber - last held 22 November 2006 (next to be held by early 2011)
- election results:
- First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - CDA 21, PvdA 14, VVD 14, Socialist Party 11, Christian Union 4, Green Left Party 4, D66 2, other 5;
- Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - CDA 26.5%, PvdA 21.2%, Socialist Party 16.6%, VVD 14.6%, Party for Freedom 5.9%, Green Party 4.6%, Christian Union 4.0%, other 6.6%;
- seats by party - CDA 41, PvdA 33, Socialist Party 25, VVD 22, Party for Freedom 9, Green Party 7, Christian Union 6, other 7
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 [Geert 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
Political pressure groups and leaders
- Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Rene PAAS];
- Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Bernard WIENTJES];
- Federation for Small and Medium-sized businesses or MKB [Loek HERMANS];
- Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Agnes JONGERIUS];
- Social Economic Council or SER [Alexander RINNOOY KAN];
- Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel or MHP [Ad VERHOEVEN]
International organization participation
ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Regina "Renee" JONES-BOS
- chancery:
- 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 244-5300, [1] 877-388-2443
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 362-3430
- consulate(s) general:
- Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
- consulate(s):
- Boston
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Michael GALLAGHER
- embassy:
- Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague
- mailing address:
- PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715
- telephone:
- [31] (70) 310-2209
- FAX:
- [31] (70) 361-4688
- consulate(s) general:
- Amsterdam
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
Economy
The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade.
51 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2008 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
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.
Distribution of family income - Gini index
30.9 (2007) · 32.6 (1994) country comparison to the world: 108
Central bank discount rate
3% (31 December 2008) · 5% (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 106 note: this is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area
Commercial bank prime lending rate
10.37% (31 December 2008) · 8.72% (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 96
Stock of money
$NA
note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU);
individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money and quasi money circulating within their own borders
Stock of domestic credit
$1.824 trillion (31 December 2008) · $1.684 trillion (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 10
Industries
agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Natural gas - proved reserves
1.416 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 23
Current account balance
$41.93 billion (2008 est.) · $59.51 billion (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 9
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$28.51 billion (31 December 2008 est.) · $26.98 billion (31 December 2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 45
Debt - external
$2.461 trillion (31 December 2008) · $2.59 trillion (31 December 2007) country comparison to the world: 5
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home
$644.6 billion (31 December 2008 est.) · $724.1 billion (31 December 2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 8
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad
$843.7 billion (31 December 2008 est.) · $876.9 billion (31 December 2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 5
Exchange rates
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- general 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 (GSM) technology;
- one in five households now use Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
- international:
- country code - 31;
- submarine cables provide links to the US and Europe;
- satellite earth stations - 5 (3 Intelsat - 1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (2007)
Transportation
10 fieldsMerchant marine, 622 ships by type
Airports by runway lengthpaved only
Airports by runway lengthunpaved only
Networkskm
Military
Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, KLu), Royal Military Police (2009)
6 fieldsMilitary 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)
Manpower available for military service
- males age 16-49:
- 3,950,825
- females age 16-49:
- 3,850,800 (2008 est.)
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit 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;
- large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering;
- significant consumer of ecstasy
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Netherlands.” The World Factbook 2009. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/netherlands/2009.