Netherlands

Flag of Netherlands

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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.

Location:

Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany

Geographic coordinates:

52 30 N, 5 45 E

Area:

total: 41,526 sq km
land: 33,883 sq km
water: 7,643 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 1,027 km
border countries: Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km

Coastline:

451 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate:

temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters

Terrain:

mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Zuidplaspolder -7 m
highest point: Vaalserberg 322 m

Natural resources:

natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 21.96%
permanent crops: 0.77%
other: 77.27% (2005)

Irrigated land:

5,650 sq km (2003)

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

Geography - note:

located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)

Population:

16,491,461 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 18% (male 1,515,123/female 1,445,390)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 5,656,448/female 5,525,481)
65 years and over: 14.2% (male 994,723/female 1,354,296) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 39.4 years
male: 38.6 years
female: 40.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.49% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

10.9 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

8.68 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:

2.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

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: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 4.96 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.52 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 78.96 years
male: 76.39 years
female: 81.67 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.66 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.2% (2001 est.)

people living with HIV/AIDS:

19,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

less than 100 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women)
adjective: Dutch

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: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

Country name:

conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands
conventional short form: Netherlands
local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
local short form: Nederland

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, most recently in 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

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: First Chamber - last held 25 May 2003 (next to be held May 2007); Second Chamber - last held 22 January 2003 (next to be held by May 2007)
election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - CDA 23, PvdA 19, VVD 15, Green Party 5, Socialist Party 4, D66 3, other 6; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - CDA 28.6%, PvdA 27.3%, VVD 12.9%, Socialist Party 6.3%, List Pim Fortuyn 5.7%, Green Party 5.1%, D66 4.1%; seats by party - CDA 44, PvdA 42, VVD 28, Socialist Party 9, List Pim Fortuyn 8, Green Party 8, D66 6, other 5

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch)

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 2% 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 2001-05, 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):

$501.6 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$586.7 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

0.7% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$30,600 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2.1%
industry: 24.4%
services: 73.5% (2005 est.)

Labor force:

7.53 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 2%
industry: 19%
services: 79% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:

6.5% (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 22.9% (1999)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

30.9 (2005)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

1.7% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

19.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $291.8 billion
expenditures: $303.7 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

Public debt:

55% of GDP (2005 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:

2.2% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:

95 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - consumption:

101.6 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:

3.8 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:

20.8 billion kWh (2003)

Oil - production:

94,870 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - consumption:

920,000 bbl/day (2003 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:

73.13 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

50.4 billion cu m (2003 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:

1.756 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:

$17.94 billion (2005 est.)

Exports:

$365.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs

Exports - partners:

Germany 25.1%, Belgium 12.1%, UK 10.1%, France 9.9%, Italy 6.1%, US 4.2% (2004)

Imports:

$326.6 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing

Imports - partners:

Germany 17.9%, Belgium 9.7%, US 7.9%, China 7.4%, UK 6.4%, France 5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$21.05 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:

$1.645 trillion (30 June 2005)

Economic aid - donor:

ODA, $4 billion (2003 est.)

Currency (code):

euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Telephones - main lines in use:

7.861 million (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

14.8 million (2004)

Telephone system:

general assessment: highly developed and well maintained
domestic: extensive fixed-line fiber-optic network; cellular telephone system is one of the largest in Europe with five major network operators utilizing the third generation of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
international: country code - 31; 9 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2004)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 4, FM 246, shortwave 3 (2004)

Television broadcast stations:

21 (plus 26 repeaters) (1995)

Internet country code:

.nl

Internet hosts:

6,781,729 (2005)

Internet users:

10,806,328 (2004)

Airports:

27 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 20
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 2 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 4 (2005)

Heliports:

1 (2005)

Pipelines:

condensate 325 km; gas 6,998 km; oil 590 km; refined products 716 km (2004)

Railways:

total: 2,808 km
standard gauge: 2,808 km 1.435-m gauge (2,061 km electrified) (2004)

Roadways:

total: 116,500 km
paved: 104,850 km
unpaved: 11,650 km (1999)

Waterways:

5,046 km (navigable for ships of 50 tons) (2004)

Merchant marine:

total: 563 ships (1000 GRT or over) 4,925,489 GRT/5,052,931 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 11, cargo 366, chemical tanker 31, container 54, liquefied gas 12, passenger 12, passenger/cargo 14, petroleum tanker 14, refrigerated cargo 30, roll on/roll off 16, specialized tanker 3
foreign-owned: 152 (Australia 1, Belgium 2, Denmark 9, Finland 9, Germany 58, Ireland 13, Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 6, Sweden 21, UK 21, US 11)
registered in other countries: 222 (Antigua and Barbuda 10, Australia 2, Austria 2, The Bahamas 25, Bermuda 1, Canada 1, Cyprus 18, Isle of Man 2, Liberia 13, Luxembourg 3, Malta 5, Marshall Islands 5, Netherlands Antilles 69, Norway 3, Panama 26, Philippines 20, Portugal 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7, Singapore 1, Turkey 1, UK 2, US 4, unknown 1) (2005)

Ports and terminals:

Amsterdam, Groningen, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Vlissingen, Zaanstad

Military branches:

Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht or KLu), Royal Military Police, Defense Interservice Command (DICO) (2004)

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