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| Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
Kingdom of the Netherlands
|
|
|
Motto: "Je maintiendrai" (French)
"Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch)
"I shall stand fast"1 |
Anthem: "Het Wilhelmus"
|
|
|
Capital
(and largest city) |
Amsterdam2
 52°21′N, 04°52′E |
| Official languages |
Dutch3 |
| Ethnic groups |
80.9% Ethnic Dutch
19.1% various others |
| Demonym |
Dutch |
| Government |
Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy |
| - |
Monarch |
Queen Beatrix |
| - |
Prime Minister |
Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) |
| Independence |
through the Eighty Years' War from Philip II of Spain |
| - |
Declared |
July 26, 1581 |
| - |
Recognised |
January 30, 16484 |
| EU accession |
March 25, 1957 |
| Area |
| - |
Total |
41,526 km² (135th)
16,033 sq mi |
| - |
Water (%) |
18.41 |
| Population |
| - |
2008 estimate |
16,408,557 (61st) |
| - |
Density |
395/km² (25th)
1,023/sq mi |
| GDP (PPP) |
2006 estimate |
| - |
Total |
670,929 Billion (16th) |
| - |
Per capita |
$35,078 (10th) |
| GDP (nominal) |
2005 estimate |
| - |
Total |
$625.271 billion (16th) |
| - |
Per capita |
$38,618 (10th) |
| HDI (2005) |
▲ 0.953 (high) (9th) |
| Currency |
Euro (€)5 (EUR) |
| Time zone |
CET (UTC+1) |
| - |
Summer (DST) |
CEST (UTC+2) |
| Internet TLD |
.nl6 |
| Calling code |
+31 |
| 1 |
The literal translation of the motto is "I will maintain". Here "maintain" is taken to mean to stand fast or to hold ground. |
| 2 |
While Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, The Hague is the seat of the government. |
| 3 |
West Frisian is also an official language in the Netherlands, although only spoken in Friesland; Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish are officially recognised as regional languages. |
| 4 |
Peace of Westphalia. |
| 5 |
Before 2002: Dutch guilder. |
| 6 |
The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. |
|
The Netherlands [ˈnɛðɚləndz] (help·info) (Dutch: Nederland (help·info), IPA: [ˈne:dərlɑnt]) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.
The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland
in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve
provinces. Still, many Dutch people colloquially refer to their country
as Holland in this way, as a synecdoche. For more on this and other naming issues see terminology of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying and densely populated country. It is popularly known for its traditional windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), delftware and gouda pottery, for its bicycles, its dikes and surge barriers, and, on the other hand, traditional values and civil virtues such as its classic social tolerance. An old parliamentary democracy, the country is more recently known for its rather liberal policies toward recreational drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, and euthanasia.
The Netherlands has an international outlook; among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is one of three member nations of the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international (ised) courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. All of these courts (except the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), as well as the EU's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), are situated in The Hague, which has led to the city being referred to as "the world's legal capital."[1]
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is its flatness. Hilly
landscapes can be found only in the south-eastern tip of the country on
the foothills of the Ardennes, the central part and where the glaciers pushed up several hilly ridges such as the Hondsrug in Drenthe, the stuwwallen (push moraines) near Arnhem and Nijmegen, Salland, Twente and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.
History
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Under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and king of Spain, the region was part of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands, which also included most of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and some land of France and Germany. The year 1568 saw the start of the Eighty Years' War between the provinces and Spain. In 1579, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces formed the Union of Utrecht,
a treaty in which they promised to support each other in their defense
against the Spanish army. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the
foundation of the modern Netherlands. In 1581 the northern provinces
adopted the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II. Philip II the son of Charles V, was not prepared to let them go easily and war continued until 1648 when Spain under King Philip IV finally recognised Dutch independence in the Treaty of Münster.
Dutch Republic 1581-1795
-
Main article: Dutch Republic
Since their independence from Phillip II in 1581 the provinces formed the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The republic was a confederation of the provinces Holland, Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Utrecht, Overijssel and
Classical
from 
