I.

Introduction

Netherlands, also known unofficially as Holland, constitutional monarchy of north-western Europe, bordered on the north and west by the North Sea, on the east by Germany, and on the south by Belgium. With Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands forms the Low Countries or Benelux. The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, self-governing island territories in the Caribbean, are part of the kingdom. The Netherlands has a total area of 41,526 sq km (16,033 sq mi), of which 33,939 sq km (13,104 sq mi) is land surface and some 6,500 sq km (2,500 sq mi) is reclaimed land, or polder. The country’s capital and largest city is Amsterdam.

In the late 16th century a Dutch revolt against the authority of the King of Spain, at the time ruler of what now constitutes the Low Countries, succeeded in the northern provinces, which later became the Netherlands. The Dutch Republic, officially established in 1648, fell in 1795 when the armies of revolutionary France imposed a pro-French government. In 1810 France annexed the Netherlands, but with the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 to 1815 the present Dutch state, officially called the Kingdom of the Netherlands, came into being. Originally Belgium was part of this new kingdom, but it seceded in 1830 and formed an independent country. The present boundaries of the Netherlands are essentially those established after the secession of Belgium.

II.

Land and Resources

The word “Netherlands” (Dutch Nederlanden) means low-lying lands, and much of the north and western part of the country is below sea level. This region, known as the Low Netherlands, is covered with clay and peat soils, and intersected by canals, rivers, and sea inlets. To the east and south is the High Netherlands, where the land lies slightly above sea level and is flat to gently rolling. Elevations in the High Netherlands rarely exceed 50 m (164 ft), except in the extreme south-east where altitudes over 107 m (350 ft) are frequent.

“God created the world, but the Dutch created Holland” is an old Dutch saying. The dykes, canals, dams, sluices, and windmills which characterize so much of the landscape of the Netherlands are part of a water drainage system that dates from medieval times. This system has enabled the Dutch to increase their country’s land area by almost one fifth. More importantly, without constant drainage, and the protection of the coastal dunes, almost half of the Netherlands would be inundated—mainly by the sea, but also by the many rivers which cross it. The country’s vulnerability to flooding has been forcefully demonstrated twice in the past five decades. On February 1, 1953, a spring tide and fierce gales caused the North Sea to breach the coastal dykes and dunes in the south-western province of Zeeland. Some 162,000 hectares (400,000 acres) were inundated, killing more than 1,800 people. Exactly 42 years later, more than 250,000 people were evacuated from the east and centre of the country. Torrential rains in France and Germany had caused the Rhine and Meuse rivers to flood, and it was feared that the dykes on the Lek, Maas, and Waal rivers, their tributaries in the Netherlands, would be breached by the pressure of draining floodwater. The dykes held, but following the emergency it was announced that a US$1.2 billion programme to reinforce more than 800 km (500 mi) of river dykes, originally due to be completed in 2008, would be speeded up.

The North Sea coastline of the Netherlands consists mostly of dunes. In the south-west are gaps in the dunes formed by river mouths, creating a delta of islands and waterways. In the north, the sea broke through the dunes, creating the West Frisian Islands and behind them a tidal sea called the Waddenzee. Inland of the coastal dunes is an area lying below sea level that is protected by dykes and kept dry by continuous mechanical pumping. The former Zuider Zee, originally an estuary of the Rhine, and later an inland sea, is being reclaimed. A dyke separating it from the Waddenzee and North Sea was completed in 1932, when work was begun to drain about 225,000 hectares (556,000 acres) to form polders such as the South and East Flevoland polders and the North East Polder. About three quarters of the area had been reclaimed by the early 1980s. In 1986 the Netherland’s 12th province, Flevoland, was created from the two Flevoland polders and the North East polder. The remainder of the Zuider Zee was transformed into a freshwater lake called the IJsselmeer.

The islands of the south-western delta region are also undergoing change. After the disastrous flood of 1953, the Delta Plan was launched to protect the region by building a series of massive dams and dykes to block off the sea inlets from the North Sea. The project, which was completed in 1986, created freshwater lakes and joined some of the islands together.

Most of the eastern half of the Netherlands consists of low-lying land covered by sandy alluvial soils deposited by glaciers and rivers. Hilly country (the foothills of the Ardennes) and loamy soils are found only in the southern part of Limburg Province in the border area with Belgium. Vaalserberg (321 m/1,053 ft), the highest point in the Netherlands, is in this area.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The Netherlands’ major rivers are the Rhine, flowing from Germany, and its several tributaries, including the Waal and Lek; the Maas (a branch of the Meuse) and the Schelde, both flowing from Belgium. These rivers and their tributaries flow east to west through the centre of the country; at the coast they form the delta with its many islands. Together with numerous canals, the rivers give ships access to the interior of Europe.

There are many small lakes in the northern and western portions of the Netherlands. Nearly all the larger natural lakes have been pumped dry, but the delta redevelopment programme and the reclamation of the Zuider Zee have created numerous new freshwater lakes, the largest being the IJsselmeer.

B.

Climate

The Netherlands shares the temperate maritime climate common to much of northern and western Europe. The average January temperature is 1.7° C (35° F), and the mean July temperature is 17° C (63° F). Average annual precipitation is about 760 mm (30 in). Cloudless days are uncommon, as is prolonged frost. Because the Netherlands has few natural barriers, such as high mountains, the climate varies little from region to region.

C.

Natural Resources

The Netherlands was long thought to be poor in mineral resources. Peat, used as fuel, was dug in several regions, and southern Limburg Province was known to contain coal deposits. Salt was also produced. In the 1950s and 1960s large natural gas reserves were discovered in Groningen Province. Smaller deposits of crude oil are located in the north-eastern and western parts of the country.

The Netherlands’ environment is vulnerable, particularly to pollution. A number of national parks and nature reserves have been established to protect portions of the natural landscape. Conservation groups have lobbied to prevent land reclamation and the building of dykes in an effort to preserve threatened habitats. The success of their efforts was alleged to have contributed to the February 1995 flood emergency, by causing delays to the river dyke reinforcement programme. The country is also active in international efforts to clean up the waters of the River Rhine.

D.

Plants and Animals

The natural landscape of the Netherlands has been altered by humans in many ways over the centuries. Because land is scarce and fully exploited, areas of natural vegetation are limited. The tall grasses of the dunes and the heather of the heaths continue to provide habitats for rabbits, but larger wildlife, such as deer, have disappeared except in parks. The remnants of oak, beech, ash, and pine forests are carefully managed. Land reclamation projects have created new habitats for many species of migratory birds.

E.

Environmental Concerns

The Netherlands is one of the most proactive environmental countries in Europe; it was the first to produce a national strategy for sustainable development, targeting sectors such as agriculture and transport. This action was in response to significant pollution throughout the country, not all of its own making. One result of this strategy was a significant rise in the cost of fuel.

Acid rain has affected a large proportion of the country’s trees, and much of this acid pollution originates elsewhere, particularly in Germany and the United Kingdom. This situation should improve, however, as the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Sulphur Protocols and European Union (EU) directives on combustion plants are implemented. Although fertilizer consumption has decreased over the past few years, the country still depends heavily on the use of fertilizer, and significant nitrate pollution in water has occurred in the Netherlands. Three heavily industrialized rivers—the Rhine, Schelde, and Meuse—converge on Rotterdam, the world’s largest port. Sixty per cent of the population currently lives below sea level, making the Netherlands particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise induced by climate change. Consequently, the country has been at the forefront of calls for reductions in fossil fuel use and deforestation. It contributes less than 1 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.

III.

Population

The Netherlands is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. The Dutch make up the great majority of the population; they are mostly descended from Franks, Frisians, and Saxons. Fearing overpopulation, the government encouraged Dutch emigration after World War II, and some 500,000 people left. But an even larger number of people entered the Netherlands—Europeans, and Asians from the former Netherlands Indies dependency (now part of Indonesia); industrial workers from Turkey, Morocco, and other Mediterranean countries; and, more recently, residents of Suriname, also a former Dutch dependency, and the Netherlands Antilles. Consequently, the country’s population, particularly in the large cities, now includes several ethnic minorities.

A.

Population Characteristics

The Netherlands has a population of 16,570,613 (2007 estimate), giving an overall population density of about 489 people per sq km (1,267 per sq mi). The nation is heavily urbanized; about 67 per cent of the population lives in towns and cities. The largest cities are Amsterdam, the country’s capital, with a population of 739,300 (2004 estimate); Rotterdam, population 596,100 (2004 estimate), one of the world’s leading seaports; The Hague, 468,400 (2004 estimate), the seat of government and of justice; and Utrecht, 275,800 (2004 estimate), a manufacturing centre. Sixteen other cities have between 100,000 and 200,000 inhabitants. Many of them are located in the western provinces of North Holland, South Holland, and Utrecht, which comprises the urban heartland of the Netherlands, or Randstad Holland.

B.

Political Divisions

The Netherlands is made up of 12 provinces—Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant, North Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, and South Holland.

C.

Religion

Roman Catholics constitute about 30 per cent and Protestants 20 per cent of the Dutch population. Muslims constitute about 4 per cent and the country also has a small Jewish community. About 39 per cent of the population has no religious affiliation. The Roman Catholic population is concentrated in the southern part of the country. There are several Protestant denominations, the largest being the Dutch Reformed Church. The Netherlands has no official religion, but the Reformed Church has had a close association with the state since the founding of the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century. All the country’s monarchs have been members of the Reformed Church.

D.

Language

Dutch is the official language of the Netherlands, while Western Frisian holds co-official status in Friesland Province, where it is the first language of the majority of the population. Dutch, a Germanic language, is spoken by the majority of the population. Frisian is also from the Germanic family, and is a mother tongue for around 700,000 citizens in Friesland and other parts of the Netherlands; most speakers are bilingual in Dutch. Fourteen other languages, nearly all Germanic, are native to the country, including Flemish, Gronings, and Vlax Romani (an Indo-Iranian language).

E.

Education

Since the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, the Netherlands has enjoyed a high level of basic education and comparatively high literacy rates. In the 19th century efforts were made to systematize education and to secure adequate financing for schools. As the state became more deeply involved in education, a dispute arose concerning the fate of non-public, mainly Church-related, schools. The so-called school struggle became a major political issue and was not fully settled until 1917, when a constitutional amendment was passed guaranteeing equal state support for both public and non-public schools. Today, about one third of elementary and secondary schools are public, and about two thirds are non-public, mainly Roman Catholic or Protestant. School attendance is compulsory for children from 5 until 16 years of age. Pupils attend a primary school for six years and then enter one of several types of secondary schools, which offer either academic or vocational training. In 2000 1.28 million pupils attended primary, or basic, schools, and about 1.40 million students were enrolled in secondary, vocational, and teacher-training schools. In 2002–2003, 5.2 per cent of gross national product (GNP) was devoted to education.

The number of students enrolled in institutions of higher education increased dramatically in the 1960s, and by 2001–2002 some 516,769 students attended colleges and universities. The Netherlands has 15 university and university-level institutions, including the University of Amsterdam (founded 1632) and the state universities of Groningen (1614), Leiden (1575), and Utrecht (1636). There are also several technical universities and schools of fine arts.

F.

Culture

The Dutch writer, scholar, and humanist Desiderius Erasmus was a major influence in northern Europe during the 16th century, and the country’s cultural life as a whole achieved an international reputation in the 17th century, which is often called the Dutch Golden Age. Among the influential Dutch figures of that time were the jurist Hugo Grotius, the scientists Christiaan Huygens and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the cartographers Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Jodocus Hondius, the writers Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft and Joost van den Vondel, the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and numerous theologians. In addition, foreigners lived in Holland to enjoy its tolerant atmosphere, the most famous being the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes and the English philosopher John Locke. Well-known figures of the Golden Age include the great 17th-century Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen. The Dutch artistic tradition continued to be vigorous in more recent centuries—producing such noted and influential painters as Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, and Karel Appel—and lives on today, particularly in Amsterdam, where artists from many countries work. See Baroque Art and Architecture; Dutch Literature; Frisian Literature; Renaissance Art and Architecture.

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam has an international reputation, and there is also a major symphony orchestra in Rotterdam. The country’s main libraries are those of the State University of Leiden, the University of Amsterdam, and the Royal Library in The Hague. In addition, the country has many public libraries. Of the country’s numerous museums the most famous are those displaying the work of Dutch painters. These include the Rijksmuseum (state museum), the Rembrandt-Huis Museum, the Vincent van Gogh National Museum, and the Stedelijk (municipal) Museum, all in Amsterdam; the Royal Picture Gallery (Mauritshuis), in The Hague; the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, in Rotterdam; and the Kröller-Müller National Museum, in Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo.

The organization of cultural activity and social life in the Netherlands began to change significantly in the 1960s. Until then, most facets of Dutch life were organized systematically in what are called pillars, or groups. In education, politics, the media, medicine, the trade unions, and other segments of Dutch life, institutions were specifically Protestant, Roman Catholic, or public (non-denominational) and were represented on committees at all levels of government. As the country underwent change, socialist and liberal non-sectarian groups joined the denominational ones, and some institutions became independent of the pillar system. By the 1980s most people had become less firmly attached to a specific pillar.

IV.

Economy

The Netherlands has played a special role in the European economy for many centuries. Since the 16th century, shipping, fishing, trade, and banking have been leading sectors of the economy, and trade with the Dutch Empire was important in the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. Since the independence of Indonesia in the late 1940s, the Dutch economy has been redirected from colonial trade to trade with European nations; a diversified manufacturing base was created as employment in agriculture fell; and the country became a major energy exporter as large deposits of natural gas were discovered. In all these changes, the national government played a major role, particularly through its economic planning. The government’s influence is great, even though most firms are privately owned, because it distributes nearly half the country’s national income. Also important in the economic growth of the Netherlands are the activities of a number of large private firms.

In 2004 the GNP of the Netherlands was estimated at US$523 billion, giving an average income per capita of US$39,340 (World Bank estimate). In 2005 the gross domestic product (GDP) was measured at US$624 billion. Between 1980 and 1990 the country’s GDP grew at an average yearly rate of 1.9 per cent. About 27 per cent of GDP is produced by manufacturing, construction, and energy-related activities, while agriculture contributes about 3 per cent. However, the service sector, including the financial and public sectors, is the dominant contributor to the economy, accounting for 73.6 per cent (2005) of GDP.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

The Netherlands’ small size and its dense population means that agriculture is highly intensive. The sector is highly productive and a major generator of exports. The export value of meat, flowers, vegetables, butter, cheese, and other dairy products substantially exceeds the value of imported grain, tropical products, and animal fodder. Most farms are small family units. Meadows and pastures occupy about 50 per cent of the agricultural land; 40 per cent is devoted to crops; and the remainder primarily to market gardening, and bulb and flower cultivation. Annual crop production in 2005 (in tonnes) included sugar beet, 6 million; potatoes, 6.84 million; and wheat, 1.25 million. There were about 3.80 million cattle, 11.3 million pigs, and 87.9 million chickens.

Because so little of the Netherlands is forested, timber production is of minor importance. Fishing, however, is a traditional activity that continues to be significant despite the reduction of fish stocks resulting partly from pollution in the North Sea. Herring, cod, plaice, sole, mackerel, mussels, and shrimp are leading components of the annual catch, which totalled 600,561 tonnes in 2004.

B.

Mining

The industrial structure of the Netherlands is closely related to the country’s sources of energy. For centuries the Dutch relied heavily on windmills and peat for energy. As new technologies emerged, coal increased in importance. Deposits in Limburg Province supplied a part of Dutch needs, but most coal was imported. Petroleum and natural gas became increasingly important after World War II; these fuels also were imported, and the port of Rotterdam became a leading centre for receiving and refining petroleum. In the 1950s and 1960s the Dutch discovered large natural gas reserves in Groningen Province. Production rose rapidly, permitting the last domestic coal mines to be closed in 1973 and making the Netherlands a major exporter of natural gas.

C.

Manufacturing

The Dutch manufacturing sector is highly diversified, and much of it is of recent origin; industrial production was relatively unimportant until after World War II. Heavy industry, such as the manufacture of steel, transport equipment, and large machinery, is much less important in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries. The rapid post-1945 growth of manufacturing has been led by the chemical and electronics industries. Also important to the manufacturing sector are the production of processed food and beverages, tobacco items, construction materials, ships, refined petroleum, rubber and plastic products, and printed materials.

D.

Energy

In 2003 the annual output of crude petroleum was 17.1 million barrels, and of natural gas, 73.1 billion cu m (2,583 billion cu ft). The output of electricity totalled 91 billion kWh. During the 1990s wind power has experienced a renaissance, encouraged by environmental concerns about pollution. In 1994 more than 700 modern windmills were installed, able to produce 238 million kWh.

E.

Currency and Banking

The basic monetary unit was formerly the guilder (Dutch gulden) of 100 cents, but as part of the Netherlands’ commitment to the European single currency it adopted Euro notes and coins as from January 1, 2002. As at early 2007, 0.77 Euros equalled US$1. It is issued and regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank (1814), the state-owned central bank.

F.

Commerce and Trade

The Dutch economy is extremely open to world trade. Much of the flow of goods into its ports is intended for trans-shipment to other countries, mainly other members of the EU. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s the value of Dutch exports generally exceeded that of its imports; in 1995, for example, the country’s imports cost about US$133 billion, and its exports earned about US$146 billion. Major imports are manufactured goods (about 25 per cent of total imports), machinery and transport equipment (44 per cent), crude petroleum and petroleum products (7 per cent), food and live animals (8 per cent), and chemicals (8 per cent). Leading exports are mineral fuels and petroleum (about 11 per cent of total exports); food, beverages, and tobacco (20 per cent); chemicals (14 per cent); machinery and transport equipment (30 per cent); and manufactured items (about 18 per cent). Fellow members of the EU account for the majority of both imports and exports. Germany is the Netherlands’ most important single trading partner, accounting for more than 26 per cent of all trade. Natural gas exports have helped increase foreign exchange earnings, as has the growth of tourism. More than 4 million foreigners visit the Netherlands every year, attracted by its bulb and flower fields, by boating on its rivers and lakes, by historical, artistic, and cultural heritage, and by its relaxed, tolerant society. The Dutch are themselves eager travellers, however, and they sometimes spend more money abroad than foreigners spend in the Netherlands. In 1994 receipts from tourism were US$172 million, and expenditure by nationals abroad was US$112 million.

G.

Labour

Of the approximately 8.61 million employed workers, about 73 per cent work in trade and services, 20 per cent are employed in manufacturing and industry,, and 3 per cent work in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Approximately 29 per cent belong to trade union organizations, the largest of which are the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation and the Christian National Federation of Trade Unions in the Netherlands. The government systematically enters into negotiations between employers and unions in order to secure collective bargaining agreements that are consistent with its economic plans.

H.

Transport

Because the Dutch economy is internationally oriented, good transport facilities have long been essential to its prosperity. Rotterdam is one of the world’s leading seaports; Amsterdam is also a major port. Both owe their importance to the canals and rivers that link the North Sea with the interior of Europe.

The New Waterway links Rotterdam to the North Sea, which is connected to Amsterdam by the North Sea Channel. A comprehensive system of inland waterways, with a total length of 5,046 km (3,135 mi) serves almost all of the country; 2,647 km (1,644 mi) of these waterways are navigable by vessels up to 1,000 gross tons. The Dutch ocean-going merchant fleet comprised 3.4 million deadweight tonnes in the early 1990s, and some 5,500 commercial vessels plied the inland waterways.

The state-owned railway network of some 2,813 km (1,748 mi) of track, about 70 per cent of which is electrified, covers the whole country and provides frequent passenger train services. Barge competition, however, prevents the railways from being major freight carriers.

About 2,320 km (1,440 mi) of limited-access highways and numerous bridges, tunnels, and ferries help to speed the flow of Dutch motor-vehicle traffic. In 1999 there were about 383 passenger vehicles per 1,000 people . Bicycle use continues to be important for local travel, and many roads have separate bicycle lanes.

The Netherlands’ busiest international airport is Schiphol, near Amsterdam; smaller airports serve Groningen, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven. Domestic air travel is of little importance. Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is the country’s leading carrier.

I.

Communications

In addition to the many regional and local newspapers, the Netherlands has six nationally distributed daily newspapers, each tending to be associated with a particular political or social grouping. For example, the NRC-Handelsblad (published in Rotterdam) is liberal and non-sectarian, the Volkskrant (Amsterdam) has Roman Catholic ties, Trouw (Amsterdam) is close to the Reformed Church, and Het Vrije Volk (Rotterdam) is linked to the Socialist Party. The daily with the largest circulation is the independent De Telegraaf of Amsterdam. Under the Media Act of 1988, two national organizations coordinate radio and television broadcasting: an independent consortium provides production facilities, while a firm representing both government and the private sector transmits general-interest programming. Most programmes are produced by non-profit-making associations that are given funds raised by taxing radio- and television-receiver owners and are allocated air time according to the number of members they have. The major producers include VARA (socialist), NCRV (Protestant), KRO (Roman Catholic), and AVRO and TROS (both non-sectarian). The country has many smaller producers, making Dutch radio and television pluralistic even though private transmission facilities are not permitted. In 1997 some 9 million television receivers were licensed; there were an estimated 15 million radio sets.

V.

Government

The Netherlands is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. It is governed under a constitution, first promulgated in 1814, and revised several times since, most recently in 1983. According to the constitution, the kingdom consists of the Netherlands, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. Their relationship is regulated by a statute of December 1954, whereby they are united on a footing of equality.

A.

Executive and Legislature

The head of state of the Netherlands is the hereditary monarch, who has had little real power since the constitution was revised in 1848. Queen Beatrix succeeded to the throne in May 1980, on the abdication of Queen Juliana, her mother; Juliana died in March 2004. The principal executive official is the prime minister, who is appointed by the monarch and heads a Cabinet that is responsible to the legislature, the States-General (Dutch Staten-Generaal).

The States-General has two chambers. The First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) is composed of 75 members elected to terms of up to four years by the provincial legislatures: the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) is made up of 150 deputies popularly elected to terms of up to four years under a system of proportional representation. Either or both chambers may be dissolved by the monarch on condition that new elections be held within 40 days. The Second Chamber is by far the more important of the two; the First Chamber has little more than a rarely exercised veto power over the legislative process. The Netherlands has universal suffrage for all citizens over the age of 18.

B.

Political Parties

The Netherlands uses systems of proportional representation in electing municipal, provincial, and national assemblies. This allows even small political parties to win seats. In the 1994 Second Chamber elections, for example, some 25 parties took part and 9 won seats. On the national level, the Netherlands has always been governed by coalitions of parties, the formation of which has often proved difficult.

The largest political parties are the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA; Christen Democratisch Appèl), a conservative group; the left-of-centre Labour Party (PvdA; Partij van de Arbeid); the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD; Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie), a right-of-centre business-oriented party; Democrats 66 (D66; Democraten 66), a centre-left party seeking greater direct citizens’ participation in the political system; the Green Left party (GL; Groen Links); and the Socialist Party (SP; Socialistische Partij). A populist, anti-immigration party, List Pim Fortuyn (LPF), established in March 2002, unexpectedly took 26 seats in the Second Chamber election that year, making it the second largest grouping in the legislature. Its leader, Pim Fortuyn, was assassinated shortly prior to the elections. In the 2003 elections support for the LPF fell away. Of the many smaller parties, most are more to the extreme left or right.

C.

Judiciary

The judicial system of the Netherlands includes four main levels of courts. The highest tribunal is the High Court of the Netherlands, which sits in The Hague. Other major judicial bodies are Courts of Appeal, district courts of justice, and canton courts. All Dutch judges are appointed for life by the monarch.

D.

Local Government

The political identity of each of the Netherlands’ 12 provinces can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Today each is governed by a commissioner appointed by the crown and a popularly elected legislature (Provincial States). The country is further divided into more than 600 municipalities, ranging from the largest city to the smallest village. Each is governed by a popularly elected council and a burgemeester (mayor) appointed by the crown. These lower levels of government have only limited powers of taxation and depend on the central government for most of their finances.

E.

Health and Welfare

The Dutch government administers one of Europe’s most comprehensive welfare states. Taxes and social security premiums together give the government command over nearly half the national income. Much of this revenue is spent on education, health, employment stimulation, and social welfare. Participation in the health insurance system is compulsory for everyone earning less than a certain wage (about 70 per cent of the population). The Dutch are also protected by unemployment benefits; sick pay; a guaranteed income for those physically unable to work; pensions for widows, orphans, and the elderly; minimum-wage regulations; and family allowances. One of the results is that the Netherlands has one of the world’s best health records. Infant mortality in 2007 was 5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy was about 77 years for men and 82 years for women. In 1997, 15 per cent of government expenditure was allocated to health spending.

F.

Defence

The military defence of the Netherlands is secured by the participation of its army, navy, and air force in NATO. In 1993 the government announced plans to cut the period of compulsory male military service from 12-15 months to 9 months, and its abolition was announced in August 1996. In 2004 the armed forces comprised some 53,130 personnel, of which 23,150 were in the army; 12,130 in the navy; and 11,050 in the air force. Women comprised 2,600 of the total.

G.

International Organizations

The Netherlands has long advocated European integration and international cooperation. Consequently, in 1960 it helped establish the Benelux Economic Union, with Belgium and Luxembourg, to replace the 1948 customs union between the three states. The Netherlands was a founder member of the European Economic Community (EEC, now the European Union) in 1957, and of the other European organizations. In 1991 it played host to the finalization of the Treaty of European Union, or the Treaty of Maastricht, which aims at establishing a common internal market and monetary system. The Netherlands is also a charter member of the United Nations (UN), the Western European Union, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and is a major contributor to programmes furthering the economic development of poor countries.

VI.

History

Historical accounts of the Netherlands date from the 1st century bc, when Roman forces led by Julius Caesar conquered most of the present area of the country. At the time the region was inhabited by Frisians, a Germanic people that lived in the north, and by other Germanic and minor Celtic peoples.

A.

Roman Era

Before the conquest, the Romans had annexed lands to the south-east extending beyond the River Rhine. They penetrated the Netherlands region mainly to control the several mouths of the Rhine, which were then farther to the north than they are now. Under Roman rule, general peace and prosperity prevailed for more than 250 years. Roman traders entered the area freely, selling products from Italy and Gaul. The Romans built temples, established a number of large farms, and introduced their civilization to the region.

About ad 300 the Roman hold began to weaken, and non-indigenous German peoples pushed into the area from the east. The Frisians, in the north, held their ground, but Saxons occupied the eastern part of the region, and the Franks moved into the west and south.

B.

Middle Ages

The Franks were the most powerful of the invaders. Their lands extended southward into what is now northern France and eastward across the Rhine. Eventually, the Frankish kings subjugated the Frisians and Saxons, and converted them to Christianity. By 800 the entire territory of the Netherlands was part of Charlemagne’s realm. After Charlemagne died, his empire disintegrated, and in 843 the Treaty of Verdun trisected it. The Netherlands initially became part of Lotharingia (Lorraine) and then, in 925, part of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time a Dutch nation did not exist, and the immediate loyalties of the inhabitants were to local lords. Gradually, over the next centuries the whole region, including present-day Belgium, came to be called the Low Countries, or Netherlands.

During the 9th and 10th centuries Scandinavian raiders, called Vikings, frequently invaded the coastal areas, sailing far up the rivers in search of booty. The need for a stronger system of defences against such marauders gradually led to an increase in the power of the local rulers and their vassals, the nobles, who were largely a warrior class. Concurrently, the towns began to grow in importance, as artisans and merchants settled in them and improved their defences. The gradual development of powerful towns was a notable feature of Dutch history during the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, and the area became an important trading centre. Under the leadership of wealthy merchants, the towns began to challenge the power of the nobles who ruled the countryside. The merchants often supported regional rulers in their campaigns against unruly vassals, at the same time exacting from them privileges designed to promote commerce and to strengthen the towns and the position of the merchant class.

In the early Middle Ages, such political entities as the counties of Flanders and Holland, the bishopric of Utrecht, and the duchies of Brabant and Gelderland were established. In the far north, however, the Frisians did not submit to a regional ruler but continued to obey their local headmen. The association of the Netherlands with the Holy Roman Empire remained largely nominal throughout the Middle Ages. Some trade was conducted with German coastal cities to the east, such as Bremen and Hamburg, but the major cultural influence came from France.

C.

Renaissance

Through marriage, war, and political manoeuvring, most of the region comprising the present-day Netherlands—Holland, Utrecht, North Brabant, and Gelderland—came into the hands of the dukes of Burgundy during the 15th and early 16th centuries. By the mid-16th century this area, including the land of the Frisians, was under the benevolent control of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who was a member of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs and also King of Spain. In 1555, however, Charles resigned both Spain and the Netherlands to his son, Philip II of Spain, who was Spanish by birth and education and had little liking for his northern European territories. His oppressive rule led to the epochal wars of independence waged from 1568 to 1648 by the Dutch against Spain, then the most powerful nation in Europe.

D.

Struggle for Independence

The political disaffection between the Low Countries and Spain coincided with the Protestant revolt against the Roman Catholic Church, which was the state Church of Spain. Calvinism, a Protestant movement, rapidly gained ground during this period. Its adherents in the Low Countries established a well-organized Church that was prepared to challenge the power of the Roman Catholic Church, and in particular the Inquisition. In 1566 riots, in which mobs destroyed images in Catholic churches, spread across the country. In response, a wrathful Philip sent Spanish troops to the Netherlands commanded by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva. The excessively harsh policies of the duke and of the Inquisition resulted in open revolt in the Low Countries. The revolt was led by William I, the Silent, Prince of Orange, and one of the region’s principal noblemen. Initially unsuccessful, the Dutch then concentrated their efforts in the north. After William’s naval supporters, called the Sea Beggars, seized the Holland port of Brill (Brielle) in 1572, the rebels took control of most northern towns, which became the bases of the revolt. William tried to maintain the unity of north and south, but was unable to hold the north against the brilliant campaigns of reconquest led by a new Spanish commander, Alessandro Farnese.

In 1579 the Union of Utrecht, an anti-Spanish alliance of all northern and some southern territories, was formed. In addition to its political implications, the union signified the final divergence of the northern part of the Low Countries, which came under Protestant domination and later became the Netherlands, from the southern part, which was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic and later became Belgium. In 1581 the Dutch provinces within the Union of Utrecht proclaimed their independence from Spain. Subsequently, the new nation suffered a series of reverses in the war with Spain, sustaining a major loss when William the Silent was assassinated in 1584. By 1585 the Spanish had reconquered practically all the south, including the important port of Antwerp. Eventually, however, the tide of war turned in favour of the Dutch. From 1585 to 1587 English troops were sent overseas to aid the insurgent cause, and in 1588 the English destroyed the great Spanish Armada, a victory that drastically curtailed the ability of Spain to wage war abroad. The seven provinces in the Union of Utrecht were cleared of Spanish troops by 1600.

From 1609 to 1621 a truce was in effect between the Spanish and the Dutch. The war subsequently dragged on until 1648, when the Spanish signed the Treaty of Münster, by which the sovereignty of the Dutch Republic of the United Provinces was recognized. The Dutch thus severed all theoretical ties with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire and became one of the great powers on mainland Europe, a republic in the midst of monarchies.

E.

Golden Age

In the early 17th century, when eventual Dutch independence was assured, an era of great commercial prosperity began, as did the so-called Golden Age of Dutch art, led by such painters as Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer. By the mid-17th century the Netherlands was the foremost commercial and maritime power of Europe, and Amsterdam was the financial centre of the Continent.

E.1.

Exploration and Colonization

About 1600 a Dutch merchant expedition of three vessels sailed from Amsterdam to Java. This was the first of numerous journeys that left Dutch geographical names scattered over the globe, from Spitsbergen to Cape Horn and from Staten Island to Tasmania. These voyages resulted in the establishment or acquisition of many trading stations in Africa, south-eastern Asia, and the Americas.

In 1602 the Dutch parliament granted the Dutch East India Company a charter giving it a trading monopoly with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and west of the Strait of Magellan in South America. The charter also conferred many sovereign powers upon the company, including the right to wage war and to conclude peace. The West India Company, founded in 1621, established colonies in the West Indies, Brazil, and North America.

The East India Company established itself first in the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, and later on West Java, where Batavia (modern Jakarta) became the centre of the company’s enterprises. These enterprises were devoted mostly to trade and to the establishment of trading posts, and did not generally take on governmental responsibilities. Subsequently, pressed by the necessity of maintaining a peaceful trading environment, Dutch rule was imposed on the Netherlands Indies, the territories now called Indonesia.

E.2.

Internal Developments

William the Silent had been succeeded by his son Maurice, who in turn was followed by his brother Frederick Henry. These men governed in conjunction with the States-General, an assembly composed of representatives of each of the seven provinces but usually dominated by the largest and wealthiest province, Holland. William and his successors became the “first servants of the Republic”, and held the title “Stadtholder”. The stadtholder’s power varied, depending on his individual qualities of leadership, and the office eventually became hereditary in the House of Orange.

Under Maurice, the republic was divided by a religio-political conflict between the Arminians (Remonstrants) and the Gomarists (High Calvinists), two factions within the Reformed (Calvinist) Church. The Arminian cause was championed by the province of Holland under its leader, Jan van Olden Barneveldt; the other provinces and Maurice sided with the Gomarists, who prevailed. The dispute ended with Olden Barneveldt’s execution for treason in 1619.

Frederick Henry’s son, William II of Orange, became involved in a bitter quarrel with the province of Holland, and after his death no stadtholder was appointed in Holland and four other provinces for more than 20 years. William III of Orange, who held the title of Stadtholder from 1672 until his death in 1702, was also King of England after 1689.

F.

Decline of the Dutch Republic

Inevitably, the commercial rivalry between the Dutch and the English, the leading maritime trading nations of the world, erupted into military conflict. The issues between the two countries were contested, but not settled, by the two Anglo-Dutch Wars, the first waged from 1652 to 1654 and the second from 1664 to 1667. As a result of the latter conflict, the Dutch lost New Amsterdam (renamed New York) in North America but acquired Dutch Guiana (now Suriname). Other wars, costly in men and money, followed against France as well as England.

After the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), in which the Dutch were allies of the government of the newly created United Kingdom against the French, the economic and political power of the Netherlands began to decline. Eventually the Dutch Republic was overshadowed by the expanding power of the United Kingdom on the sea and France on land.

When William III died without heirs in 1702, a distant relative of his, John William Friso, successfully claimed the Orange title. In 1747 his son became Stadtholder in all seven provinces as William IV.

In the late 18th century a struggle broke out between the party of the House of Orange, which had become conservative, and the Patriot Party, which desired democratic reforms. The Orange party enjoyed a brief triumph with the help of an invading Prussian army in 1787, but in 1795 French troops and a force consisting of self-exiled Dutch citizens replaced the republic of the seven United Provinces with the Batavian Republic, which was modelled on the revolutionary French Republic.

G.

Napoleonic Era and Union with Belgium

The Batavian Republic survived only until 1806, when Napoleon transformed the country into the Kingdom of Holland. In 1810 he incorporated it into the French Empire. While the Dutch were under French rule, the British seized Dutch colonial possessions. After the fall of Napoleon, the independence of the Netherlands was restored in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna. In addition, the territory now comprising Belgium was made part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

This forced reunion of the two regions was not a happy one, for they had become widely disparate in politics, tradition, religion, language, and economy. In 1830 the Belgians revolted and established their independence as a sovereign state. A conference in London of the major European powers formulated the conditions of separation in 1831. The stipulations were accepted by the Dutch king, but when they were later revised by the conference in favour of the Belgians, a Dutch army invaded Belgium and routed the opposing forces. The conditions of separation were again revised and were finally accepted by both countries in 1839.

H.

Development of Parliamentary Democracy

The second half of the 19th century was marked by a liberalization of the Netherlands’ government under the impact of the revolutions that swept Europe during the 1840s. The seeds of reform were contained in the new constitution of 1848, which became the foundation of the present democracy. Under its provisions, arbitrary personal rule by the monarch was no longer possible. The members of the First Chamber of parliament, who had formerly been appointed by the king, were thereafter elected by the provincial states (assemblies). Members of the states and of the Second Chamber of parliament were chosen by all males paying taxes in excess of a stipulated minimum. The almost solidly Roman Catholic southern provinces of Limburg and North Brabant, treated as conquered territories under the republic, had been given equal status with other provinces under the monarchy. However, it remained for the constitution of 1848 to remove the religious restrictions against their citizens. Thus a powerful Roman Catholic political party was able to form and to contend with the Liberal group and the emerging conservative Protestant parties. During the late 19th century, suffrage was gradually extended, and agitation for social reform increased markedly. The rise of a strong Labour Party and the organization of workers into trade unions resulted in further social reforms.

Administration of the colonies was also reformed. In Indonesia, the area under Dutch control was increased, burdensome taxation was gradually abandoned, and, after 1877, no financial surpluses from the colony were transferred to the treasury of the Netherlands.

From about 1880 to 1914 the Netherlands enjoyed an era of economic expansion. This period ended with World War I. The country remained militarily neutral, but the Dutch economy was hard hit by the loss of trade caused by the Allied blockade of the Continent. The Netherlands’ principal post-war problems were also economic, and were aggravated by the depression of the 1930s.

I.

World War II and After

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Netherlands again declared its neutrality. However, in 1940 the country was overrun by Nazi forces, following an aerial bombardment that destroyed the greater part of Rotterdam. Much destruction was also wrought in other parts of the country, not only by the Germans, but also by the Dutch resistance, who opened many dykes as desperate defence measures, and later by the Allies in aerial assaults on German-held positions. The Germans occupied the country until they were ousted during 1944 and 1945.

The years following World War II were marked by intensive efforts to rebuild the country and to restore its trade and industry. In 1945 the Netherlands became a charter member of the UN. In 1948 it received funds through the European Recovery Programme. The Netherlands joined with Belgium, France, Britain, and Luxembourg to form the Brussels Treaty Organization in 1948, and was a founder member of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952. The country joined NATO in 1949, the European Defence Community Treaty in 1952, and the London-Paris Accords in 1955, thus becoming a full member of the western European multinational defence establishment. The late 1940s and early 1950s were also a time of rising prices, generally unfavourable trade balances, and governments dominated by the Labour Party.

The 1940s also saw the Netherlands lose a war against Indonesian nationalists in the East Indies, and in 1949 the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty in the East Indies (excluding Netherlands New Guinea) to the Indonesian government. Netherlands New Guinea remained under Dutch rule until 1962. Also, in 1954, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles became equal members of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

J.

Recent History

The Roman Catholic People’s Party came to power in 1959 and maintained its dominance in the lower house after the elections of 1963 and 1967. However, the governing coalitions that the party formed in the 1960s proved unstable. Unrest in the Netherlands Antilles in 1969 led to marines being dispatched to assist police in riot control. The inflation of the 1960s continued into the 1970s as a major economic and political problem. Wage and price controls were imposed in 1970, and taxes increased in 1971. In the elections of 1971 the four-party governing coalition lost its majority; two months of negotiations followed before a coalition headed by the Anti-Revolutionary Party emerged to form a government. This Cabinet fell in 1972, however, and a caretaker government ruled until May 1973, when Joop den Uyl, leader of the Labour Party, was sworn in as prime minister of a five-party coalition. When Suriname attained full independence in 1975, the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of Surinamese immigrants added to the problems of the Dutch economy.

In 1977, following parliamentary elections in the spring, den Uyl’s governing coalition fell apart over proposed reforms. A new prime minister, Christian Democrat Andreas van Agt, was sworn in later in the year. In 1980 Princess Beatrix succeeded to the throne on the abdication of her mother, Queen Juliana. Van Agt’s Cabinet lost its parliamentary majority in May 1981, but he formed a new coalition that lasted from September 1981 to May 1982. Parliamentary elections were held in September 1982, after which van Agt unexpectedly resigned the Christian Democrat leadership. His successor as party head was Ruud Lubbers, who formed a new coalition in November 1982 and remained in power until 1994.

At a 1983 constitutional conference it was agreed that, from 1986, Aruba would no longer be part of the Netherlands Antilles, but would become a separate territory within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This separate status was due to last for ten years; from 1996 Aruba was to have become fully independent. However, in 1994 it was decided that Aruba would remain within the kingdom after 1996. The year previously, the Netherlands had become the first country to allow doctors to practise euthanasia at the request of terminally ill patients, within strict guidelines. Official statistics released in early 1995, indicated that since 1993 some 3,000 people had taken advantage of the new legislation to end their lives.

The May 1994 general elections brought defeat for the Christian Democrats. The party’s heavy losses were attributed in part to rising unemployment and to substantial cutbacks in social welfare spending since the late 1980s. The Labour Party was the largest single parliamentary group, although it had also suffered some losses. After almost four months of wrangling, the Labour Party leader and the new prime minister, Wim Kok, put together a coalition with the right-wing People’s Party and the centre-left Democrats 66; for the first time in more than 20 years the Christian Democrats were not part of the government. The new coalition’s policy proposals included more cuts in social welfare benefits, as well as large-scale reductions in defence spending.

February 1995 resurrected the spectre of the 1953 flood disaster. More than 250,000 people were evacuated from the east of the country amid fears that the region’s river dykes would not withstand the huge pressure of floodwaters coming down the Rhine and Meuse rivers from Germany and France. The dykes held and the people returned to their homes, while the government announced that the river dyke reinforcement programme would be speeded up. In March 1996 the flagship Dutch aviation company Fokker collapsed, bringing the largest mass industrial redundancy in the country’s history. The legislature voted in April to tighten the country’s liberal policy on the sale of marijuana, and to extend marriage rights to homosexual couples; the latter motion was passed by 81 votes to 60, but with no legislative effect. Abolition of conscription was announced in August. In January 1998 a law giving wider civil rights to homosexual couples came into force. The reform embraced property and pension rights, allowed for the same tax treatment as married couples, alimony on separation, and allowed for adoption rights. This legislation was significantly extended in December 2000 when the Dutch senate voted in favour of full equality with heterosexual couples, giving homosexual couples in the Netherlands the broadest support of civil rights anywhere in Europe, including those of marriage and child adoption. The first marriage ceremony, for three same sex couples, took place on April 1, 2001.

A general election in May 1998 to the Second Chamber, the lower house of the bicameral legislature, gave a clear endorsement to Prime Minister Wim Kok and his Labour Party. In April 1999, two Libyan men who were suspected of bombing the Pan American jet that exploded over Lockerbie in Scotland were taken to the Netherlands for trial, which commenced in May 2000. Their arrival was the culmination of lengthy negotiations and followed a ruling of the International Court of Justice in the Hague concerning the Court's jurisdiction over the case. The trial was conducted on a former military base, Camp Zeist, near Utrecht, that was considered Scottish territory for the duration of the trial, in order that the case could be tried under the jurisdiction of Scottish law. On January 31, 2001, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was found guilty in a unanimous decision by the special Scottish three-judge court. His co-defendant, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was found not guilty.

In November 2000 the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize a code of practice for euthanasia and assisted suicide. Since a declaration by the Dutch Supreme Court in 1984, voluntary euthanasia had been partly decriminalized but not legalized. The Dutch parliament endorsed the new law in April 2001. In a second landmark development, in April the world’s first homosexuals were legally married in a ceremony in Amsterdam. In January 2002, the Netherlands adopted Euro notes and coins in line with 11 other European nations.

The UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia started in the Hague in February 2002 with the high-profile indictments against the former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević. There are expected to be up to 100 other individuals charged with crimes arising from the conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s.

In April 2002, a month before parliamentary elections, Wim Kok and his Cabinet resigned following a report, published by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, which blamed the Dutch government, the army, and the UN for their failure to protect the “safe haven” of Srebrenica, in Bosnia, during the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian War. Elections to the Second Chamber of the States-General, held in May, were marred by the assassination of anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn a few days beforehand. The Christian Democratic Appeal party won 43 seats (28 per cent), the populist List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) party took 26 seats (17 per cent), the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy won 24 seats (15.4 per cent), and the Labour Party—23 seats (15.1 per cent). Jan Peter Balkenende, leader of Christian Democrats, was sworn in in July as prime minister.

The new coalition government, however, held together for only three months before in-fighting within the LPF led to the collapse of Balkenende’s government. In new elections in January 2003, the ruling CDA’s support held steady but the LPF lost 18 seats; the beneficiary was the Labour Party. Balkenende again sought to put together a viable coalition government with representation from the CDA, the VVD (the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy), and Democrats 66.

In April 2003, Volkert van der Graaf was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Pim Fortuyn. An animal rights activist, van der Graaf claimed that he had assassinated the right-wing politician to protect vulnerable members of society.

Balkenende supported the proposed constitution for the European Union drawn up by a convention headed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former president of France. However, when the constitution was put before the Dutch voters in a referendum held in June 2005, it was resoundingly rejected. Balkenende’s coalition government collapsed in late June over an immigration issue concerning the citizenship of a Somali-born former MP but was re-formed the following month without the participation of the D-66 party, which had raised the original issue. Elections previously scheduled for May 2007 were brought forward to November 2006 in response.

In the general election the CDA secured 41 seats in the 150-seat assembly with the Labour Party gaining 33 and the Socialists 25. Balkenende was expected to be able to put together a coalition but it was not until February 2007 that a three-party coalition, comprising the Christian Democrats, the Christian Union, and the Labour Party, was constructed.