Netherlands, The

Netherlands, The

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Koninkrijk der Nederlanden/Kingdom of the Netherlands Area 41,863 sq km/16,163 sq mi Capital Amsterdam (official), the Hague (legislative and judicial) Language Dutch (official) Religion atheist 39%, Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed Church 14%, Calvinist 8% Time difference GMT +1 Major holidays 1 January, 30 April, 5 May, 25–26 December; variable: Ascension Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen, Tilburg, Maastricht, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, Breda Major ports Rotterdam Physical features flat coastal lowland; rivers Rhine, Schelde, Maas; Frisian Islands Territories Aruba, Netherlands Antilles (Caribbean) Airports 29 airports, including six international airports; total passengers carried: 23.5 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 2,942 km/1,828 mi; total passenger journeys: 320 million (2002) Roads total road network: 116,500 km/72,390 mi, of which 90% paved (1999); passenger cars: 426 per 1,000 people (2001 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard from 1980 Head of government Jan Peter Balkenende from 2002 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 12 provinces Political parties Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Christian, right of centre; Labour Party (PvdA), democratic socialist, left of centre; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), liberal, free enterprise; Democrats 66 (D66), ecologist, centrist; Political Reformed Party (SGP), moderate Calvinist; Evangelical Political Federation (RPF), radical Calvinist; Reformed Political Association (GPV), fundamentalist Calvinist; Green Left, ecologist; General League of the Elderly (AOV), pensioner-oriented Death penalty abolished in 1982 Armed forces 53,100; plus 32,200 reservists and paramilitary forces of 6,800 (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 1.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 5.1 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 6.1 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency euro (guilder until 2002) GDP (US$) 594.8 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 2.9 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 598 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 32,480 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 1.7% (2006 est) Unemployment 4.5% (2006 est) Labour force 3% agriculture, 20% industry, 77% services (2005) Major trading partners Germany, Belgium, France, UK, Italy, USA, EU Resources petroleum, natural gas Industries electrical machinery, metal products, food processing, electronic equipment, chemicals, rubber and plastic products, petroleum refining, dairy farming, horticulture, diamond cutting Exports machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, plants and cut flowers, vegetable products. Principal market: Germany 28.7% (2005) Imports electrical machinery, cars and other vehicles, chemicals, mineral fuels, metals and metal products, plastics, clothing and accessories. Principal source: Germany 19.6% (2005) Arable land 22% (2006 est) Agricultural products sugar beet, potatoes, wheat, barley, flax, fruit, vegetables, flowers; dairy farming


POPULATION

Population 16,366,600 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.4% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 391(2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 67 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 18%, 15–59 63%, 60+ 19% (2005 est) Ethnic groups primarily Dutch (Germanic, with some Gallo-Celtic mixtures); sizeable Indonesian, Surinamese, and Turkish minorities Life expectancy 76 (men); 82 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 6 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 13 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 32.9 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 4.5 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.2 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <100 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 99 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 46.6 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 97.2 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 981 (1998) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 761 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 68.5 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 62.8 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

55 BC Julius Caesar brought lands south of River Rhine under Roman rule. 4th century AD Region overrun by Franks and Saxons. 7th–8th centuries Franks subdued Saxons north of Rhine and imposed Christianity. 843–12th centuries Division of Holy Roman Empire: the Netherlands repeatedly partitioned, not falling clearly into either French or German kingdoms. 12th–14th centuries Local feudal lords, led by count of Holland and bishop of Utrecht, became practically independent; Dutch towns became prosperous trading centres, usually ruled by small groups of merchants. 15th century Low Countries (Holland, Belgium, and Flanders) came under rule of dukes of Burgundy. 1477 Low Countries passed by marriage to Habsburgs. 1555 The Netherlands passed to Spain upon division of Habsburg domains. 1568 Dutch rebelled under leadership of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and fought a long war of independence. 1579 Union of Utrecht: seven northern rebel provinces formed United Provinces. 17th century ‘Golden Age’: Dutch led world in trade, art, and science, and founded colonies in East and West Indies, primarily through Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602. 1648 Treaty of Westphalia: United Provinces finally recognized as independent Dutch Republic. 1652–54 Commercial and colonial rivalries led to naval war with England. 1652–72 Johann de Witt ruled Dutch Republic as premier after conflict between republicans and House of Orange. 1665–67 Second Anglo-Dutch war. 1672–74 Third Anglo-Dutch war. 1672 William of Orange became stadholder (ruling as chief magistrate) of the Dutch Republic, an office which became hereditary in the Orange family. 1672–78 The Netherlands fought to prevent domination by King Louis XIV of France. 1688–97 and 1701–13 War with France resumed. 18th century Exhausted by war, the Netherlands ceased to be a Great Power. 1795 Revolutionary France conquered the Netherlands and established Batavian Republic. 1806 Napoleon made his brother Louis king of Holland. 1810 France annexed the Netherlands. 1815 Northern and southern Netherlands (Holland and Belgium) unified as Kingdom of the Netherlands under King William I of Orange, who also became grand duke of Luxembourg. 1830 Southern Netherlands rebelled and declared independence as Belgium. 1848 Liberal constitution adopted. 1890 Queen Wilhelmina succeeded to throne; dynastic link with Luxembourg broken. 1894–96 Dutch suppressed colonial revolt in Java. 1914–18 The Netherlands neutral during World War I. 1940–45 Occupied by Germany during World War II. 1948 The Netherlands formed Benelux customs union with Belgium and Luxembourg; Queen Wilhelmina abdicated in favour of daughter Juliana. 1949 Founding member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); most of Dutch East Indies became independent as Indonesia. 1953 Dykes breached by storm; nearly 2,000 people and tens of thousands of cattle died in flood. 1954 Remaining Dutch colonies achieved internal self-government. 1958 Founding member of the European Community. 1963 Dutch colony of Western New Guinea ceded to Indonesia. 1975 Dutch Guiana became independent as Suriname. 1980 Queen Juliana abdicated in favour of her daughter Beatrix. 1994 Inconclusive general election; three-party coalition formed under Labour Party (PvdA) leader Wim Kok. 1999 Coalition resigned after smallest party, Democrats 66 (D-66), withdrew. 2000–01 First country to legalize euthanasia and same-sex marriages. 2002 Wim Kok government resigned in response to critical report on inaction of Dutch peacekeeping troops in 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnian war; Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) leader Jan Peter Balkenende became prime minister; far-right populist politician Pim Fortuyn assassinated. Netherlands adopted single European currency (euro). 2003 New centre-right coalition headed by Balkenende formed after elections. 2005 Referendum rejected proposed new European Union (EU) constitution. 2006 CDA returned as largest party in general election. 2007 Balkenenede formed new three-party centrist coalition government.


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