Encyclopedia:
Netherlands,
Portal:Netherlands/Netherlands news,
History of the Netherlands,
Kingdom of the Netherlands,
Limburg (Netherlands),
Politics of the Netherlands,
Geography of the Netherlands,
Demographics of the Netherlands,
Economy of the Netherlands,
Communications in the Netherlands
The Netherlands ) is the
European part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch:
Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), which consists of the Netherlands, the
Netherlands Antilles, and
Aruba. The Netherlands is a
constitutional monarchy, located in northwestern
Europe. It is bordered by the
North Sea to the north and west,
Belgium to the south, and
Germany to the east. The current borders were established in 1839.
The Netherlands is often referred to by the name
Holland. This is not terminologically precise, as the provinces of North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces (for more on this and other naming issues see
Netherlands (terminology)).
The Netherlands is a
densely populated and geographically low-lying country and is popularly known for its
windmills,
cheese,
clogs (wooden shoes),
dikes,
tulips,
bicycles and social
tolerance. Its policies are
liberal toward
drugs,
prostitution,
same-sex marriage,
abortion and
euthanasia. The country is host to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the
International Court of Justice and the
International Criminal Court at
The Hague.
Capital
main|Capital of the
Amsterdam is the capital city (
hoofdstad), and
The Hague (Dutch:
Den Haag or s-Gravenhage
) is the Netherlands' seat of government (regeringszetel
), the home of the monarch (residentie), and the location of most foreign embassies.
History
main|History of the
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.
1568 saw the start of the
Eighty Years' War between the provinces and Spain. In
1579, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces declared itself independent from Spain, and they formed the
Union of Utrecht, which is seen as the foundation of the modern Netherlands.
Philip II, the son of
Charles V, was not prepared to let them go that easily and war continued until
1648 when Spain finally recognised Dutch independence.
Republic
After gaining formal independence from the
Spanish Empire under King
Philip IV of Spain, the Dutch grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers of the 17th century during the period of the
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. In the so-called
Dutch Golden Age, colonies and
trading posts were established all over the globe. (See
Dutch colonial empire)
Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly
capitalist country in the world. In early modern Europe it featured the wealthiest trading city (
Amsterdam) and the first full-time
stock exchange. The inventiveness of the traders led to
insurance and retirement funds as well as such less benign phenomena as the boom-bust cycle, the world's first asset-inflation bubble, the
tulip mania of
1636–
1637, and according to Murray Sayle, the world's first bear raider - Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount.
["Japan Goes Dutch", London Review of Books April 5, 2001: 3-7).]Kingdom
After briefly being incorporated in the
First French Empire under
Napoleon, the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in
1815, consisting of the present day Netherlands,
Belgium and
Luxembourg. In addition, the king of the Netherlands became hereditary
Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Belgium rebelled and gained independence in
1830, while the
personal union between
Luxembourg and the Netherlands was severed in
1890 as a result of ascendancy laws which prevented
Queen Wilhelmina from becoming Grand Duke.
The Netherlands possessed several colonies, most notably the
Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia) and
Suriname (the latter was traded with the British for
New Amsterdam, now known as
New York). These 'colonies' were first administered by the
Dutch East India Company and the
Dutch West India Company, both collective private enterprises. Three centuries later these companies got into financial trouble and the territories in which they operated were taken over by the Dutch government (in
1815 and
1791 respectively). Only then did they become official colonies.
During the 19th century, the Netherlands was slow to industrialise compared to neighbouring countries, mainly due to its unique infrastructure of waterways and reliance on wind power. The Netherlands remained neutral in
World War I and intended to do so in
World War II. However,
Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in
1940 in the Western European campaign of the Second World War. Subsequently the Netherlands joined the Anglo-French alliance. The country was quickly overrun and surrendered after the
bombing of Rotterdam, although a French force held Zeeland for a short time.
During the occupation over 100,000 Dutch
Jews were murdered in the
Holocaust along with significant numbers of Dutch
Roma (gypsies). Some Dutch e.g. members of
Henneicke Column collaborated with Nazi occupiers in hunting down and arresting hiding Jews. Between 8,000 and 9,000 of Dutch Jews were rounded up in this manner and consequently deported to German
extermination camps and murdered.
Dutch civilians were often treated brutally. Dutch workers were conscripted for labour in German factories, civilians were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and the countryside was plundered for food for German soldiers in the Netherlands and for shipment to Germany. The Allied
21st Army Group was given the task to conduct military operations to liberate The Netherlands after the breakout from
Normandy. British, Canadian, Polish and American soldiers fought on Dutch soil beginning in September
1944. A first thrust,
Market Garden north from France to Arnhem, failed. Canadian units fighting to liberate the Sheldt estuary fought their way into Holland and liberated most of the countryside, but not the urban areas of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. German forces held out until the German surrender of
May 8,
1945. German forces killed Dutch civilians in Amsterdam on the last day of the war. The disrupted transportation system, caused by German destruction of dikes to slow allied advances, and German confiscation of much food and livestock made the winter of
1944-
1945 one in which malnutrition and starvation were rife among the Dutch population. The country suffered a similar "severe winter" in
1945-
46 because of abnormal cold and the slowness of reconstruction.
From Benelux to EU
After the war, the Dutch economy prospered by leaving behind an era of neutrality and gaining closer ties with neighbouring states. The Netherlands became a member of the
Benelux (
Belgium, the
Netherlands and
Luxembourg) cooperation. Furthermore, the Netherlands was among the twelve founding members of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and among the six founding members of the
European Coal and Steel Community, which would later evolve into the
European Union.
see also|Kingdom of the Netherlands|Dutch
thumb|200px|left|Flag of the NetherlandsNaming conventions
main|Netherlands
Various terms have been used in English to refer to the Netherlands and its inhabitants.
'(The) Netherlands' is the official name of the European part of the 'Kingdom of the Netherlands' (as opposed to overseas areas). The term '
Holland' is commonly used as a synonym for the Netherlands, but the word Holland is a region in the west of the country , which has long been the most economically powerful part of the country. The prominence of this region meant that the whole country is often referred to as 'Holland' all over the world. The country's
people and
language are called Dutch, but this word could refer to Holland alone.
To add yet another layer of confusion, the word Dutch formerly meant the same as German in English usage, since in the early Middle Ages there was no real distinction between the Dutch and the Germans. This should be borne in mind when reading very old literature, and also accounts for the name
Pennsylvania Dutch, whose ancestral origins are in Southern Germany and not the Netherlands. The term '
Low Countries' is sometimes used to refer to the Netherlands, but historically it refers (as does the word Netherlands) to a bigger region in western Europe, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and a part of France. It is simply the English usage for the old Dutch name
Nederlanden (now
Nederland). In the early middle ages it was considered part of the German geographical area (this is why the German
Deutsch was used by the English to describe the Netherlands, becoming the English word Dutch), known as Low Germany because of its low topography, and this became simply Low Countries as the identity of the Netherlands as a separate national entity developed.
In order to avoid the word Dutch, which is often used for only Holland and which is inappropriate for originally meaning German, the word Netherlands can be used as an adjective (e.g. the Netherlands government). Alternatively, the
terms
Netherlandish and
Netherlandic are both sometimes used.
Politics
Politics of the
morepolitics|country=the
The Netherlands has been a
parliamentary democracy since
1848 and a
constitutional monarchy since
1815; before that it had been a
republic from
1581 to
1806 and a kingdom between
1806 and
1810 (it was part of
France between
1810 and
1813). The
head of state is the monarch (at present
Queen Beatrix). The monarch has today in practice a mainly ceremonial function but the constitution allows for the exertion of real power, should the responsible ministers subordinate themselves; an open conflict between them and the monarch — whose signature is needed for any law or warrant to come into effect — would lead to a constitutional crisis (see
main article).
Coalition governments
Since the
19th century Dutch governments have always been coalition governments as no single political party has been able to win a majority vote. Formally, the monarch appoints the members of the government. In practice, once the results of parliamentary elections are known, a
coalition government is formed (in a process of negotiations that has taken up to seven months), after which the negotiated government is officially appointed by the monarch. The head of the government is the
Prime Minister, in Dutch
Minister-President or
Premier, a
primus inter pares (first among equals) who is also usually the leader of the largest party in the coalition. The degree of influence the monarch has on actual government formation is a topic of ongoing speculation.
Parliament
The parliament consists of two houses. The 150 members of the Lower House (
Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber) are elected every four years in
direct elections. The provincial assemblies are directly elected every four years as well. The members of the provincial assemblies elect the 75 members of the less important Senate (the
Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber). The Eerste Kamer can merely reject laws, not propose or amend them. Together, the First and Second Chamber are known as the
Staten-Generaal, the
States General.
On
February 7,
2006, the
Second Chamber introduced the right of citizens' initiative at the national level.
[http://www.democracy-international.org/dutch-initiative.html Web reference]'Polder Model'
Political scientists consider the Netherlands to be a classic example of a
consociational state, traditionally explained by the necessity since the early Middle Ages for different social groups to cooperate in order to fight the water; illustrated by the authority of the
Dijkgraven (regional dyke inspector general) over the local nobility. Better founded hypotheses include a partial failing of
feudalisation and the successful resistance against
absolutism. This system of reaching an agreement despite differences is called the
polder model; and has more recently been used to describe the combined discussions and advice regarding labour laws by a regular council of (the traditional adversaries) the trade unions, the employers and the government.
Also, the Netherlands has long been a nation of traders, dominated by a freethinking
bourgeoisie and for international trade one has to be
tolerant of others' (cultures). At home, despite
calvinism being the
state religion until the
19th century, there was in practice
religious tolerance shown towards
Catholics,
Jews and liberal Protestant movements. However, prior to the
19th century, Catholics were practically not allowed to hold government functions, and Protestant restrictions were enforced on Jewish but especially on Catholic and liberal Protestant houses of prayer
[Not calvinist christians were obliged to pray in called schuilkerken (hidden churches) that were not allowed to be recognised as a church from the public roadhttp://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuilkerk]. In spite of this coexistence the difference religious (and later labour groups) did not mingle and founded their own newspapers, societies, schools, and later broadcasting corporations (
pillarisation).
After the Dutch role as a world power was finished, from about
1839 onwards the Netherlands tried to be a neutral country and thus managed to keep out of
World War I. The period of neutrality ended with the
1940-
1945 German occupation in
World War II, after which the Netherlands became member of the
NATO.
Populism
The early years of the
21st century have seen political upheaval, most clearly illustrated by the quick rise and fall of the
LPF.
Pim Fortuyn, its founder, gained massive support for his
populist views that previous cabinets were responsible for many problems, noticeably the presumed failing integration of immigrants. Just before the election of
2002 he was murdered by an animal rights activist, the most high profile political murder in roughly 400 years (since the lynching of
Johan de Witt and his brother
Cornelis in
1672). The elections, which sent the Netherlands into a period of political chaos, were concluded in the emotional aftermath.
Present
The present government is led by the (resigned) minority cabinet
Balkenende III, a short-term continuation of
Balkenende II (
CDA/
VVD/
D66) without the smallest coalition party,
D66.
Balkenende II's economic reforms and immigration policies had resulted in a shift in public opinion to the left, showing from political polls and the
2006 municipal elections, in which the government coalition parties faced great losses in favour of the opposition parties, mainly the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Socialist Party (SP). Following the controversial decisions of Immigration and Integration Minister
Rita Verdonk regarding the legal status of immigrant politician
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch cabinet went into crisis on
June 29 2006. Jan-Peter Balkenende presented his temporary minority cabinet to the Queen on
July 7.
The
2006 Dutch general elections were held on November 22, 2006. The turnout was 80.1%. The results are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! seats 2006
! seats 2003
|-
|
CDA (Christian Democrats)
| 41
| 44
|-
|
PvdA (Labour Party)
| 33
| 42
|-
|
SP (Socialist Party, far left)
| 25
| 9
|-
|
VVD (liberal/conservative)
| 22
| 28
|-
|
Groep Wilders / Partij voor de Vrijheid (far right)
| 9
| -
|-
|
Groenlinks (Green Left)
| 7
| 8
|-
|
ChristenUnie| 6
| 3
|-
|
D66 (liberal/progressive, slightly left from center)
| 3
| 6
|-
|
SGP| 2
| 2
|-
|
Partij voor de Dieren (Animal Rights Party)
| 2
| -
|-
|
Lijst Pim Fortuyn (right)
| -
| 8
|}
Led by prime minister
Balkenende, CDA lost only a few seats, remaining the biggest party by far. Both Labour Party and VVD lost almost a quarter of their seats, even though the Labour Party was the clear winner of the municipal elections in March 2006. The Socialist Party is the big winner. But since all other (center)left parties lost, there is no decisive shift to the left, resulting in a political deadlock. The formation of the new cabinet will be difficult since none of the obvious coalitions is possible. Negotiations for the new cabinet have started shortly after the elections.
On
June 1,
2005, the Dutch electorate voted in a
referendum against the proposed
EU Constitution by a majority of 61.6%, three days after the French had also
voted against it.
Administrative divisions
thumb|400px|Map of the Netherlands, with red dots marking the capitals of the provinces and black dots marking the large cities. The national capital is Amsterdam, and the national seat of government is The Hague (Den Haag)main|Provinces of the
The Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative regions, called
provinces, each under a
Governor, who is called
Commissaris van de Koningin (Commissioner of the Queen), except for the province
Limburg where the commissioner is called Gouverneur (
Governor) which underlines the more "non-Dutch" mentality.
*
Fryslân[Since 2004 the official name of this province is 'Fryslân'; the name in the regional language (Frisian). The Dutch name, 'Friesland' is also frequently used.] - north west; capital and largest city
Leeuwarden*
Groningen - north east; capital and largest city
Groningen*
Drenthe - south of Groningen; capital and largest city
Assen*
Overijssel - east central, south of Drenthe; capital
Zwolle, largest city
Enschede*
Flevoland - central, north of Utrecht; capital
Lelystad, largest city
Almere*
Gelderland - east central, south of Overijssel; capital
Arnhem, largest city
Nijmegen*
Utrecht - central; capital and largest city
Utrecht*
North Holland - (
Noord-Holland) north west; capital
Haarlem, largest city (of the province and the country)
Amsterdam*
South Holland - (
Zuid-Holland) west central, south of North Holland; capital
The Hague (s-Gravenhage
or Den Haag), largest city
Rotterdam*
Zeeland - south west; capital and largest city
Middelburg*
North Brabant - (
Noord-Brabant) south central; capital
's-Hertogenbosch (or
Den Bosch), largest city
Eindhoven*
Limburg - south east; capital and largest city
Maastricht.
All provinces are divided into
municipalities (
gemeenten), 458 in total (
1 January 2006).
The country is also subdivided in water districts, governed by a water board (
waterschap or
hoogheemraadschap), each having authority in matters concerning water management. As of
1 January 2005 there are 27. The creation of water boards actually pre-dates that of the nation itself, the first appearing in
1196. In fact, the Dutch water boards are one of the oldest democratic entities in the world still in existence.
seealso|Ranked list of Dutch provinces|Municipalities in the Netherlands|List of cities in the Netherlands by
Geography
main|Geography of the
See also|Flood control in the Netherlands|Floods in the
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is the flatness of the country. Hilly landscapes can be found only in the central part, the south-eastern tip of the country and where the
glaciers pushed up several hilly ridges such as the
Hondsrug in Drenthe, the stuwwallen near
Nijmegen,
Salland,
Twente and the
Utrechtse Heuvelrug.
Below sea level
About half of its surface area is less than 1 metre (3.3
ft) above
sea level, and much of it is actually below sea level. An extensive range of
dykes and
dunes protects these areas from flooding. Numerous massive pumping stations keep the ground water level in check. The highest point, the
Vaalserberg, in the south-eastern most point of the country, is 321 metres (1,053 ft) above sea level. The
Vaalserberg is a foothill of the
Ardennes mountains. A substantial part of the Netherlands, for example, all of the province of
Flevoland (contains the largest man-made island in the world) and large parts of
Holland, has been reclaimed from the sea. These areas are known as
polders. This has led to the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."
Floods
In years past, the Dutch coastline has changed considerably due to human intervention and natural disasters. Most notable in terms of land loss are the
1134 storm, which created the
archipelago of
Zeeland in the south west, and the 1287 storm, which killed 50,000 people and created the
Zuiderzee (now dammed in and renamed the
IJsselmeer — see below) in the northwest, giving Amsterdam direct access to the sea. The
St. Elizabeth flood of
1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder, replacing it with the 72 square kilometres (28
sq mi)
Biesbosch tidal floodplains in the south-centre. The most recent parts of Zeeland were flooded during the
North Sea Flood of 1953 and 1,836 people were killed, after which the
Delta Plan was executed.
thumb|left|200px|Satellite image of the Netherlands (ca. May 2000) The disasters were partially man-made; the people drained relatively high lying swampland for use as farmland. This drainage caused the fertile
peat to compress and the ground level to drop, locking the land users in a vicious circle whereby they would lower the water level to compensate for the drop in ground level, causing the underlying peat to compress even more. The vicious circle is unsolvable and remains to this day. Up until the
19th century peat was dug up, dried, and used for fuel, further adding to the problem.
To guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. In the first millennium, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called
terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the
12th century, local government agencies called
"waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or
"hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. (The water bodies are still around today performing the same function.) As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. In the
13th century, windmills came into use to pump water out of the areas by now below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous
polders. In
1932, the
Afsluitdijk (English "Closure Dike") was completed, blocking the former
Zuiderzee (Southern Sea) off from the North Sea and thus creating the
IJsselmeer (
IJssel Lake). It became part of the larger
Zuiderzee Works in which four polders totalling 1,650 square kilometres (637 sq mi) were reclaimed from the sea.
Delta Works
After the
1953 disaster, the
Delta project, a vast construction effort designed to end the threat from the sea once and for all, was launched in
1958 and largely completed in
2002. The official goal of the Delta project was to reduce the risk of flooding in the Zeeland to once per 10,000 years. (For the rest of the country, the protection-level is once per 4,000 years.) This was achieved by raising 3,000 kilometres (1,864
mi) of outer sea-dikes and 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) of inner, canal, and river dikes to "delta" height, and by closing off the sea
estuaries of the Zeeland province. New risk assessments occasionally show problems requiring additional Delta project dike reinforcements. The Delta project is one of the
largest construction efforts in human history and is considered by the
American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the
seven wonders of the modern world.
Because of the high cost of maintaining the polders some have argued that maybe some of the deepest polders should be given up. Additionally, the Netherlands is one of the countries that may suffer most from
climatic change. Not only is the rising sea a problem, but also erratic weather patterns may cause the rivers to overflow.citation
Rivers
The country is divided into two main parts by three rivers
Rhine (
Rijn),
Waal, and
Meuse (
Maas). The south-western part of the Netherlands is actually one big
river delta of these rivers. These rivers not only function as a natural barrier, but also as a cultural divide, as is evident in the different
dialects spoken north and south of these great rivers and the (previous) religious dominance of Catholics in the south and Calvinists in the north.
The predominant wind direction in the Netherlands is south-west, which causes a moderate
maritime climate, with cool summers and mild winters.
seealso|List of national parks of the
Economy
main|Economy of the
The Netherlands has a prosperous and
open economy in which the government has reduced its role since the 1980s. Industrial activity is predominantly in food-processing (for example
Unilever and
Heineken), chemicals (for example
DSM),
petroleum refining (for example
Royal Dutch Shell), and electrical machinery (for example
Philips).
Slochteren has the largest
natural gas field in the world, which has so far (2006) resulted in a total revenue of €159 billion since the mid 1970s. With just over half of the reserves used up and an expected continued rise in oil prices, the revenues over the next few decades are expected to be at least that much.
[http://geschiedenis.vpro.nl/programmas/2899536/afleveringen/25899792/ web reference]Third in worldwide agricultural exports
A highly mechanised
agricultural sector employs no more than 4% of the labour force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Dutch rank third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the
United States and
France, with exports earning $46 billion annually. A significant portion of Dutch agricultural exports are derived from fresh-cut plants, flowers, and bulbs, with the Netherlands exporting two-thirds of the world's total. The Netherlands also exports a quarter of all world tomatoes, and one-third of the world's exports of peppers and cucumbers.
[ http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200501/146118432.pdf#search=%22netherlands%20main%20agriculture%20export%20flowers%22 ] The Netherlands' location gives it prime access to markets in the UK and Germany, with the port of Rotterdam being the largest port in Europe. Other important parts of the economy are
international trade (Dutch colonialism started with cooperative private enterprises such as the
VOC),
banking and
transport. The Netherlands successfully addressed the issue of public finances and stagnating job growth long before its European partners.
As a founding member of the
Euro, the Netherlands replaced (for accounting purposes) its former
currency, the
Guilder, on
January 1,
1999, along with the other adopters of the single European currency. Actual
Euro coins and
banknotes followed on
January 1,
2002. In the first years of the third millennium, economic and employment growth came to a standstill, which the government tried to resolve by reducing expenses.
16th largest economy
At this moment the Netherlands is the 16th largest economy of the world. (see:
List of countries by GDP (nominal)) Between 1998 and 2000 annual economic growth (
GDP) averaged nearly 4%, well above the European average. Growth slowed considerably in 2001-05 as part of the global economic slowdown, but the first quarter of 2006 showed a promising 2.6%.
Inflation is 1.3% and is expected to stay low at around 1.5% in the coming years. The
CBS however has claimed the inflation is at 0.9%, the lowest since
1989. According to the definition used by the Dutch Statistics Agency CBS,
unemployment is at 5.5% of the
labour force[Note that people who are medically unfit for labour receive benefits and are not listed as unemployed.] By
Eurostat standards however, unemployment in the Netherlands is at only 3.8% - the lowest rate of all
European Union member states (figures: June 2006). The Netherlands also has a relatively low
GINI coefficient of 0.326.
* Economic data for the Netherlands:
http://statline.cbs.nl Dutch http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/start.asp?lp=Search/Search&LA=EN Englishsee also|List of Dutch
Demographics
main|Demographics of the
thumb|200px|right|Demographics of Netherlands, Data of [FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.]
*
Dutch 80.8%
*
German 2.4%
*
Indonesian (
Indo-European, Indo-Dutch,
Moluccan) 2.4%
*
Turks 2.2%
*
Surinamese 2.0%
*
Moroccan 1.9%
*
Indian 1.5%
*
Antillean and
Aruban 0.8%
*other 6.0%
The population of the Netherlands is physically the tallest in the world, with an average height of 1.83 m (6 ft ) for adult males and 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) for adult females. The reasons for the increase in height are uncertain (CBS 2006).
Most densely populated
The Netherlands is the 23rd
most densely populated country in the world, with 395 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,023 sq mi)—or 484 people per square kilometre (1,254/sq mi) if only the land area is counted, since 18.4% is water. Partly because of this it is also one of the most densely cabled countries in the world. Internet penetration is at 65.9% the 19th highest in the world.
[http://www.internetworldstats.com/top25.htm internetworldstats.com ]It should be noted that many of the 22 countries with a higher population density are exceptionally small, with 8
microstates smaller than
100 km². 15 of the 22 are smaller than
1000 km².
Variety
According to
CBS Statline, the official statistics bureau of the Netherlands, the ethnic origins of the citizens are very diverse. The vast majority of the population however still remains
Dutch. They were: 80.8%
Dutch, 2.4%
German, 2.4%
Indonesian (
Indo-European, Indo-Dutch,
Moluccan), 2.2%
Turks, 2.0%
Surinamese, 1.9%
Moroccan, 1.5%
Indian, 0.8%
Antillean and
Aruban, and 6.0% other.
[http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CCD504EA-9D41-40C2-AE28-BFB0A51C2045/0/2005k3b15p096art.pdf ] However, this does not include the whole Kingdom of the Netherlands (such as the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, which have a non-European majority community), and only includes the population in the Netherlands itself. The Netherlands also has a resident population of some 200,000 people of mixed Dutch and
Indonesian descent (Indonesia being a
former colony of the Netherlands).
Major cities
There are no cities with a population over 1 million in the Netherlands, but the 'four big cities' as they are called (
Amsterdam,
Rotterdam,
The Hague and
Utrecht) can in many ways be regarded as a single 'big city'
conurbation, the
Randstad ('rim or edge city') with about 7 million inhabitants and an agricultural 'green heart' (het
Groene Hart). The unity of this conurbation can be illustrated by the current idea effort to create a circular
train system connecting the four cities.
The 5 'largest' cities are, in order of descending population:
*
Amsterdam*
Rotterdam*
The Hague (
Den Haag)
*
Utrecht*
Eindhoven.
Only
Eindhoven is not located in the
Randstad.
Languages
The official language is
Dutch, which is spoken by practically all inhabitants.
Another official language is
Frisian, which is spoken in the northern province of
Fryslân. Frisian is co-official only in the province of Fryslân, although with a few restrictions. Several dialects of
Low Saxon (
Nedersaksisch in Dutch) are spoken in much of the north and east and are recognised by the Netherlands as
regional languages according to the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Another Dutch dialect granted the status of regional language is
Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of
Limburg.
There is a tradition of learning foreign languages in the Netherlands: about 85% of the total population has basic knowledge of
English, 55–60% of
German and 25% of
Culture
main|Culture of the
thumb|right|150px|[Erasmus (1466–1536)]
The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The
17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters" such as
Rembrandt van Rijn,
Johannes Vermeer,
Jan Steen and many others. Famous Dutch
painters of the
19th and
20th century were
Vincent van Gogh and
Piet Mondriaan.
M. C. Escher is a well-known graphics artist.
Willem de Kooning was born and trained in
Rotterdam, although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an American artist.
Han van Meegeren was an infamous Dutch
art forger.
The Netherlands is the country of philosophers
Erasmus of Rotterdam and
Spinoza, and all of
Descartes' major work was done there. The Dutch scientist
Christiaan Huygens (
1629–
1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the
pendulum clock.
In the
Dutch Golden Age,
literature flowered as well, with
Joost van den Vondel and
P. C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the
19th century,
Multatuli wrote about the bad treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies. Important
20th century authors include
Harry Mulisch,
Jan Wolkers,
Simon Vestdijk,
Cees Nooteboom,
Gerard van het Reve and
Willem Frederik Hermans.
Anne Frank's
Diary of a Young Girl was published after she died in the Holocaust and translated from Dutch to all major languages.
See also: List of museums in the Netherlands,
Sport in the Netherlands,
Music of the Netherlands,
List of Dutch people,
Public holidays in the NetherlandsReplicas of Dutch buildings can be found in Huis ten Bosch,
Nagasaki,
Japan. A similar Holland Village is being built in
Shenyang,
China.
Windmills,
tulips,
wooden shoes, and
Delftware pottery are among the items associated with the Netherlands.
Efteling is a famous amusement park in the Netherlands.
Miscellaneous topics
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