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This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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| Introduction | Netherlands | Top of Page

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 | Netherlands | Top of Page

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 land: 33,883 sq km water: 7,643 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
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: 26.71% permanent crops: 0.97% other: 72.32% (2001)
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: 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
Geography - note: | located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)

| People | Netherlands | Top of Page

Population: | 16,407,491 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 18.1% (male 1,523,316/female 1,453,232) 15-64 years: 67.8% (male 5,627,007/female 5,491,802) 65 years and over: 14.1% (male 974,037/female 1,338,097) (2005 est.)
Median age: | total: 39.04 years male: 38.22 years female: 39.9 years (2005 est.)
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: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 5.04 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 78.81 years male: 76.25 years female: 81.51 years (2005 est.)
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: 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% (2000 est.) male: NA% female: NA%

| Government | Netherlands | Top of Page

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, 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: 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) and Deputy Prime Ministers Gerrit ZALM (since 27 May 2003) and Laurens Jan BRINKHORST (since 31 March 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch elections: none; 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; vice 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 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 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)
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: Ambassador Boudewijn J. VAN EENENNAAM chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 244-5300 FAX: [1] (202) 362-3430 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York consulate(s): Boston
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Clifford M. SOBEL embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715 telephone: [31] (70) 310-9209 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; one of the oldest flags in constant use, originating with WILLIAM I, Prince of Orange, in the latter half of the 16th century

| Economy | Netherlands | Top of Page

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: 2.4% industry: 24.5% services: 73.1% (2004 est.)
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%: 2.8% highest 10%: 25.1% (1994)
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: $256.9 billion expenditures: $274.4 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
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 - 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: 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
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 | Netherlands | Top of Page

Telephones - main lines in use: | 10.004 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 12.5 million (2003)
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: | 4,518,226 (2004)
Internet users: | 8.5 million (2003)

| Transportation | Netherlands | Top of Page

Railways: | total: 2,808 km standard gauge: 2,808 km 1.435-m gauge (2,061 km electrified) (2004)
Highways: | total: 116,500 km paved: 104,850 km (including 2,235 km of expressways) unpaved: 11,650 km (1999)
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: 558 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,796,460 GRT/5,212,557 DWT by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 361, chemical tanker 32, container 48, liquefied gas 13, passenger 11, passenger/cargo 14, petroleum tanker 14, refrigerated cargo 32, roll on/roll off 15, specialized tanker 4 foreign-owned: 139 (Bahamas 5, Belgium 2, Canada 1, Denmark 4, Finland 7, Germany 62, Ireland 13, Norway 9, Sweden 19, United Kingdom 6, United States 11) registered in other countries: 223 (2005)
Airports: | 27 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 20 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.)
Heliports: | 1 (2004 est.)

| Military | Netherlands | Top of Page

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: 3,557,918 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 20-49: 2,856,691 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually: | males: 99,934 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $9.408 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.6% (2004)

| Transnational Issues | Netherlands | Top of Page

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

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005