Netherlands (2002) | World (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 12 provinces (provincien, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland | 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 18.3% (male 1,502,687; female 1,437,141)
15-64 years: 67.9% (male 5,548,188; female 5,362,412) 65 years and over: 13.8% (male 913,020; female 1,304,306) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2003 est.) note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure |
Agriculture - products | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock | - |
Airports | 28 (2001) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 21
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2002) |
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Area | total: 41,526 sq km
land: 33,883 sq km water: 7,643 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | 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 a brutal 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 EC, and participated in the introduction of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 11.58 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 20.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $134 billion
expenditures: $134 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
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Capital | Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government | - |
Climate | temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 451 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | adopted 1814; amended many times, last time 17 February 1983 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands
conventional short form: Netherlands local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden local short form: Nederland |
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Currency | euro (EUR); Netherlands guilder (NLG)
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 |
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Death rate | 8.67 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.) |
Dependent areas | Aruba, Netherlands Antilles | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Clifford M. SOBEL
embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715 telephone: [31] (70) 310-9209 FAX: [31] (70) 361-4688 consulate(s) general: Amsterdam |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Boudewijn J. VAN EENENNAAM
chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 244-5300 FAX: [1] (202) 362-3430 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York consulate(s): Boston |
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Disputes - international | none | Globally, there are over 250,000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states, along with 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea. On land, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries. All of these factors have contributed to a wide array of boundary, borderland, and territorial disagreements that vary in intensity from unresolved or dormant to outright war. Territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural animosities, or they may be brought on by resource competition. Ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for territorial fragmentation around the world. Undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and political confrontation over boundary allocations. Other sources of contention include the use of water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, dams, and nuclear power plants. Many islands or island groups are also disputed, including those at sea and in streams. Nonetheless, many nations are actively cooperating to clarify, delineate, and demarcate their international borders. The tragic aspect of international discord is the impact on the sustenance and welfare of populations caught in the conflict. It is frequently left to members of the world community to cope with enormous refugee situations, and the resultant hunger, disease, and impoverishment that they create. |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $3.5 billion (2000 est.) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion |
Economy - overview | The Netherlands is a prosperous and open economy depending heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate 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 4% 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 2001-02, as part of the global economic slowdown, but for the four years before that, annual growth averaged nearly 4%, well above the EU average. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001 and 2.7% in 2002. The causes: sluggishness in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (19% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.2% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second-largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 8% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 4% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2002, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 100.71 billion kWh (2000) | 13.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.) |
Electricity - exports | 4.031 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 22.946 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 87.953 billion kWh (2000) | 14.85 trillion kWh (2001 est.) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 90%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 4% other: 5% (2000) |
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Zuidplaspolder -7 m
highest point: Vaalserberg 322 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
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 | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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Ethnic groups | Dutch 83%, other 17% (of which 9% are non-western origin mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese and Indonesians) (1999 est.) | - |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); Netherlands guilders per US dollar - 1.9837 (1998), 1.9513 (1997) | - |
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 Vice Prime Ministers Johan REMKES (since NA 2002) and Roelf DE BOER (since NA 2002) 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 prime minister on legislative and administrative policy |
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Exports | $221.9 billion f.o.b. (2002) | 703.9 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | EU 77.6% (Germany 25.6%, Benelux 11.8%, UK 11.1%, France 10.3%, Italy 6.2%) (2001) | US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
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 | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $434 billion (2002 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $49 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 26% services: 71% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $26,900 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.3% (2002 est.) | 2.7% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 52 30 N, 5 45 E | - |
Geography - note | located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde) | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
Heliports | 1 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 116,500 km
paved: 104,850 km (including 2,235 km of expressways) unpaved: 11,650 km (1999) |
total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25% (1994) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | major European producer of illicit amphetamine 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 | cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 205,450 hectares - almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2002 is estimated at 938 metric tons (or 1,200 metric tons of export quality cocaine at an average of 78% purity); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and 292 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2002; consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 875 metric tons
opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 141,213 hectares in 2002 and potentially produced 2,183 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 238 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the annual average for opiates seized worldwide over the past five years (1998-2002) has been 45 metric tons of pure heroin equivalent; estimates for average annual consumption over this time period are 315 metric tons pure heroin equivalent |
Imports | $201.1 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs, clothing | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | EU 54.6% (Germany 18.4%, Benelux 9.2%, UK 8.9%, France 5.8%), US 9.9% (2001) | US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002) |
Independence | 1579 (from Spain); note - the northern provinces of the Low Country concluded the Union of Utrecht, but it was 1648 before Spain finally recognized their independence | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 2% (2002 est.) | 3% (2002 est.) |
Industries | agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 4.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 51.38 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.81 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (2002 est.) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 52 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 5,650 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch) | - |
Labor force | 7.2 million (2000) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | services 73%, industry 23%, agriculture 4% (1998 est.) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 1,027 km
border countries: Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 26.53%
permanent crops: 1.03% other: 72.44% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1% other: 88.42% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Dutch | Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
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 | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
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 1999 (next to be held 15 May 2003); Second Chamber - last held 22 January 2003 (next to be held NA January 2007) election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - CDA 20, VVD 19, PvdA 15, D66 4, other 17; 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 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.58 years
male: 75.7 years female: 81.59 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 63.95 years
male: 62 years female: 70.23 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (2000 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77% male: 83% female: 71% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany | - |
Map references | Europe | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
Merchant marine | total: 622 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,587,662 GRT/5,251,529 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 380, chemical tanker 46, container 64, liquefied gas 16, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large-load carrier 15, passenger 9, petroleum tanker 28, refrigerated cargo 34, roll on/roll off 18, short-sea passenger 2, specialized tanker 5 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 1, Canada 1, Denmark 5, Finland 5, Germany 55, Ireland 12, Norway 12, Sweden 17, United Kingdom 33, United States 12 (2002 est.) |
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Military branches | Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (including Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force, Royal Constabulary | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6.5 billion (FY00/01 est.) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.5% (FY00/01 est.) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 4,077,917 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 3,546,030 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age (note - age 17 for cadets and midshipmen) (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 96,082
note: Netherlands has an all-volunteer, 74,100 force in 2001 (2002 est.) |
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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 | - |
Nationality | noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women)
adjective: Dutch |
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Natural hazards | flooding | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | natural gas, petroleum, arable land | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 2.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
Pipelines | crude oil 418 km; petroleum products 965 km; natural gas 10,230 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Jan Peter BALKENENDE]; Christian Union Party [M. VAN DAALEN]; Democrats 66 or D66 [Thom DE GRAAF]; Green Party [Femke HALSEMA]; Labor Party or PvdA [Wouter BOS]; List Pim Fortuyn [Mat HERBEN]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD [Gerrit ZALM]; Socialist Party [Jan MARIJNISSEN]; a host of minor parties | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; Interchurch Peace Council or IKV; large multinational firms; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises | - |
Population | 16,067,754 (July 2002 est.) | 6,302,309,691 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.53% (2002 est.) | 1.17% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Groningen, Haarlem, Ijmuiden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Utrecht, Vlissingen | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 4, FM 58, shortwave 3 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 15.3 million (1996) | - |
Railways | total: 2,808 km
standard gauge: 2,808 km 1.435-m gauge (2,061 km electrified) (2001) |
total: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 31%, Protestant 21%, Muslim 4.4%, other 3.6%, unaffiliated 40% (1998) | Christians 32.79% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.51%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.6%, Hindus 13.31%, Buddhists 5.88%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.83%, non-religious 12.53%, atheists 2.44% (2001 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
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: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: highly developed and well maintained
domestic: the existing system of multi-conductor cables is gradually being replaced by fiber-optic cables; the density of cellular telephone traffic is rapidly increasing and further modernization of the system is expected in 2001, with the introduction of the third generation of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) international: 5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (1996) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 9,132,400 (1999) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 4,081,891 (April 1999) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 21 (plus 26 repeaters) (1995) | NA |
Terrain | mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 1.65 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3% (2002 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment |
Waterways | 5,046 km (of which 3,745 km are canals)
note: 47% of total route length is usable by craft of 1,000-metric-ton capacity or larger |
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