from
CIA World Factbook 2006
Netherlands
Introduction
Background: 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
Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between
Belgium and Germany
Geographic 52 30 N, 5 45 E
coordinates:
Map Europe
references:
Area: total: 41,526 sq km
land: 33,883 sq km
water: 7,643 sq km
Area - slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
comparative:
Land total: 1,027 km
boundaries: border countries: Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km
Coastline: 451 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: 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 lowest point: Zuidplaspolder -7 m
extremes: highest point: Vaalserberg 322 m
Natural natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and
resources: gravel, arable land
Land use: arable land: 21.96%
permanent crops: 0.77%
other: 77.27% (2005)
Irrigated 5,650 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural flooding
hazards:
Environment - water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic
current compounds, and nutrients such as nitrates and
issues: phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining
activities; acid rain
Environment - party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
international Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air
agreements: 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 - located at mouths of three major European rivers
note: (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
People
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 0.49% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 10.9 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.68 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration 2.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
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 total: 4.96 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 5.52 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 4.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 78.96 years
expectancy at male: 76.39 years
birth: female: 81.67 years (2006 est.)
Total 1.66 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 0.2% (2001 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 19,000 (2001 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - less than 100 (2003 est.)
deaths:
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.)
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 constitutional monarchy
type:
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 (seat of government)
Administrative 12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie);
divisions: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland (Fryslan), Gelderland,
Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland,
Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland
Dependent Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
areas:
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 Queen's Day (Birthday of Queen-Mother JULIANA in 1909
holiday: 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 chief of state: Queen BEATRIX (since 30 April 1980);
branch: 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); note - Prime Minister BALKENENDE
tendered his resignation on 30 June 2006
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 bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of
branch: 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 22 November 2006)
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 Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for
branch: life by the monarch)
Political Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Ernst Hirsch
parties and BALLIN]; Christian Union Party [Andre ROUVOET];
leaders: Democrats 66 or D66 [Lousewies VAN DER LAAN]; Green
Party [Femke HALSEMA]; Labor Party or PvdA [Wouter
BOS]; List Pim Fortuyn [Ton VAN DILLEN]; People's Party
for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD [Pieter
WINSEMIUS]; Socialist Party [Jan MARIJNISSEN]; plus a
few minor parties
Political Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV (consisting
pressure of a merger of Socialist and Catholic trade unions);
groups and Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV; Trade Union
leaders: Federation of Middle and High Personnel or MHP;
Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers
Associations; Interchurch Peace Council or IKV; large
multinational firms; the nondenominational Federation
of Netherlands Enterprises
International AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), AsDB, Australia Group,
organization Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD,
participation: 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, IPU, ISO, ITU,
MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, SECI
(observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS,
UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTO, ZC
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Boudewijn J. VAN EENENNAAM
representation chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 244-5300
FAX: [1] (202) 362-3430
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Roland E. ARNALL
representation embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague
from the US: mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715
telephone: [31] (70) 310-2209
FAX: [31] (70) 361-4688
consulate(s) general: Amsterdam
Flag three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and
description: 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 - The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy,
overview: 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 $497.9 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $581.3 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 1.5% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $30,300 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 2.1%
composition by industry: 24.4%
sector: services: 73.6% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 7.53 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 2%
by occupation: industry: 19%
services: 79% (2004 est.)
Unemployment 6.6% (2005 est.)
rate:
Population 10.5% NA%
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 2.5%
income or highest 10%: 22.9% (1999)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 30.9 (2005)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 1.7% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 19.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $291.8 billion
expenditures: $303.7 billion; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)
Public debt: 52.7% of GDP (2005 est.)
Agriculture - grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables;
products: livestock
Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products,
electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals,
petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Industrial -1.4% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 95 billion kWh (2004)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 89.9%
production by hydro: 0.1%
source: nuclear: 4.3%
other: 5.7% (2001)
Electricity - 101.6 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 3.8 billion kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 20.8 billion kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 94,870 bbl/day (2003)
production:
Oil - 920,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: 1.418 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 2.284 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved 88.06 million bbl (1 January 2002)
reserves:
Natural gas - 73.13 billion cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 50.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Natural gas - 49.28 billion cu m (2001 est.)
exports:
Natural gas - 20.78 billion cu m (2001 est.)
imports:
Natural gas - 1.756 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)
proved
reserves:
Current $39.95 billion (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $365.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs
commodities:
Exports - Germany 24.9%, Belgium 13%, France 9.4%, UK 9.1%, Italy
partners: 5.7%, US 4.3%, Spain 4.1% (2005)
Imports: $326.6 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels,
commodities: foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - Germany 16.6%, Belgium 9.3%, China 8.8%, US 7.6%, UK
partners: 5.8%, France 4.7%, Russia 4.4% (2005)
Reserves of $20.54 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $1.645 trillion (30 June 2005)
external:
Economic aid - ODA, $4 billion (2003 est.)
donor:
Currency euro (EUR)
(code): 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
Currency code: EUR
Exchange euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004),
rates: 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 7.6 million (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 15.834 million (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: highly developed and well
system: 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 AM 4, FM 246, shortwave 3 (2004)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 15.3 million (1996)
Television 21 (plus 26 repeaters) (1995)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 8.1 million (1997)
Internet .nl
country code:
Internet 8,363,158 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 52 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 10,806,328 (2004)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 27 (2006)
Airports - total: 20
with paved over 3,047 m: 2
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 2 (2006)
Airports - total: 7
with unpaved 914 to 1,523 m: 3
runways: under 914 m: 4 (2006)
Heliports: 1 (2006)
Pipelines: condensate 81 km; gas 7,229 km; oil 578 km; refined
products 716 km (2006)
Railways: total: 2,808 km
standard gauge: 2,808 km 1.435-m gauge (2,061 km
electrified) (2005)
Roadways: total: 134,000 km (including 3,270 km of expressways)
(2004)
Waterways: 6,183 km (navigable for ships of 50 tons) (2005)
Merchant total: 558 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,042,775 GRT/
marine: 5,016,265 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 29, cargo 345, chemical tanker
29, container 59, liquefied gas 12, passenger 14,
passenger/cargo 14, petroleum tanker 16, refrigerated
cargo 19, roll on/roll off 18, specialized tanker 3
foreign-owned: 157 (Australia 1, Belgium 2, Denmark 9,
Finland 13, Germany 56, Ireland 10, Netherlands
Antilles 1, Norway 7, Sweden 26, UK 19, US 13)
registered in other countries: 222 (Antigua and Barbuda
14, Australia 2, Austria 2, Bahamas 24, Canada 1,
Cayman Islands 4, Cyprus 18, Gibraltar 5, Isle of Man
1, Liberia 29, Luxembourg 2, Malta 6, Marshall Islands
1, Netherlands Antilles 54, Norway 3, Panama 21,
Philippines 19, Portugal 1, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines 5, Singapore 2, UK 3, US 4, unknown 1)
(2006)
Ports and Amsterdam, Groningen, IJmuiden, Rotterdam, Terneuzen,
terminals: Vlissingen, Zaanstad
Military
Military Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy
branches: (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal
Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, KLu),
Royal Military Police, Defense Interservice Command
(DICO) (2006)
Military 20 years of age for an all-volunteer force (2004)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 20-49: 3,557,918
available for females age 20-49: 3,470,377 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 20-49: 2,856,691
for military females age 20-49: 2,786,495 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 99,934
reaching females age 20-49: 95,818 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $9.408 billion (2004)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 1.6% (2004)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - none
international:
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