Demographics - Netherlands
| GENERAL: | |||
| 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: | 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% | ||
| Irrigated land: | 5,650 sq km | ||
| 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) |
||
| PEOPLE: | |||
| Population: | 16,491,461 | ||
| 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) | ||
| Median age: | total: | 39.4 years | |
| male: | 38.6 years | ||
| female: | 40.2 years | ||
| Population growth rate: | 0.49% | ||
| Birth rate: | 10.9 births/1,000 population | ||
| Death rate: | 8.68 deaths/1,000 population | ||
| Net migration rate: | 2.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: | 78.96 years | |
| male: | 76.39 years | ||
| female: | 81.67 years | ||
| Total fertility rate: | 1.66 children born/woman | ||
| 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) | ||
| Religions: |
Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed 13%, Calvinist 7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 2.5% none 41% |
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| Languages: | Dutch (official), Frisian (official) | ||
| Literacy: | definition: | age 15 and over can read and write | |
| total population: | 99% | ||
| male: | 99% | ||
| female: | 99% | ||
| GOVERNMENT: | |||
| 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 | ||
| 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 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) | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 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 - real growth rate: | 0.70% | ||
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $30,600 | ||
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: | 2.10% | |
| industry: | 24.40% | ||
| services: | 73.50% | ||
| Labor force: | 7.53 million | ||
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 2%, industry 19%, services 79% | ||
| Unemployment rate: | 6.50% | ||
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 1.70% | ||
| 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: | 2.20% | ||
| 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% | ||
| 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% | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
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