Netherlands from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia This Article Is About the Constituent Country Within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
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Netherlands From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For other uses, see Netherlands (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Holland (disambiguation). Netherlands Nederland (Dutch) Flag Coat of arms Motto: "Je maintiendrai" (French) "Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch) "I will uphold"[a] Anthem: "Wilhelmus" (Dutch) "'William" MENU 0:00 Location of the European Netherlands (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) Location of the Dutch special municipalities (green) Capital Amsterdam[b] and largest city 52°22′N 4°53′E Official languages Dutch Recognised West Frisian,Limburgish, Dutch Low regional languages Saxon, English,Papiamento[c] Ethnic groups(2014[1]) 78.6% Dutch 5.9% other EU 2.4% Turks 2.2% Indonesians 2.2% Moroccans 2.1% Surinamese 0.9% Caribbean 5.7% others Demonym Dutch Sovereign state Kingdom of the Netherlands Government Unitary parliamentaryconstitutional monarchy - Monarch Willem-Alexander - Prime Minister Mark Rutte Legislature States General - Upper house Senate - Lower house House of Representatives Area - Total 41,543 km2 (134th) 16,039 sq mi - Water (%) 18.41 Population - 2014 estimate 16,912,640[2] (63rd) - Density 406.7/km2 (24th) 1,053.4/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate - Total $798.106 billion[3] (27th) - Per capita $47,365 (13th) GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate - Total $880.394 billion[3] (16th) - Per capita $52,249 (10th) Gini (2011) 25.8[4] low · 111th HDI (2013) 0.915[5] very high · 4th Euro (EUR) Currency US dollar (USD)[d] Time zone CET (UTC+1)[e] AST (UTC-4) - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2) AST (UTC-4) Date format dd-mm-yyyy Drives on the right +31 Calling code +599[f] ISO 3166 code NL [g] Internet TLD .nl The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a small, densely populated country, lying mainly in Western Europe, but also including three islands in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany. The largest and most important cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of government and parliament The port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe – as large as the next three largest combined. With a population density of 406 people per km² – 497 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is a very densely populated country for its size. Only Bangladesh, South Korea and Taiwan have both a larger population and a higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of food and agriculture products, after the United States. The Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to have an elected parliament, and since 1848 it has been governed as aparliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, organised as a unitary state. The Netherlands has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberal country. The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD, WTO and a part of the trilateral Benelux economic union. The country is host to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europoland judicial co- operation agency Eurojust. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capitalThe Netherlands is also a part of the Schengen Area. The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund. In 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the fourth happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. Contents Etymology The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as the much older designation "Holland", though this strictly refers only to North andSouth Holland, two of the nation's twelve provinces, that were created out of the former County of Holland. That county was economically and politically the most important county in the region. Historically, Holland often served as a metonym for the entire country. Referring to the Netherlands as Holland is an example of pars pro toto and is considered either technically incorrect or informal, depending on the context, but is more acceptable when referring to the national football team.[22] De Lage landen (The Low Countries) is a geographical designation of the general area of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and is also known for the more geopolitical term Benelux. World Wars and beyond (1890–present) Main articles: History of the Netherlands (1900–present) and Netherlands in World War II Dutch civilians celebrating the arrival of the I Canadian Corps in Utrecht as the Canadian Armyliberates the Netherlands from Nazi occupation Rotterdam after German air raids in 1940. The Netherlands were able to remain neutral during World War I. In part, because the import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival, until the blockade by the British Royal Navy in 1916.] That changed in World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The Rotterdam Blitz forced the main element of the Dutch army to surrender 4 days later. During the occupation, over 100,000 Dutch Jews] were rounded up and transported to Nazi extermination camps of whom only a few survived. Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany, civilians who resisted were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and the countryside was plundered for food. Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans, local fascists joined the Waffen SS, fighting on the Eastern Front. Political collaborators were members of the fascist NSB, the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands. On 8 December 1941, the Dutch government-in-exile in London declared war on Japan, but could not prevent the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). In 1944–45, the First Canadian Army, which included Canadian, British and Polish troops, was responsible for liberating much of the Netherlands. But soon after VE day, the Dutch fought a colonial war against the new republic of Indonesia. In 1954, the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands reformed the political structure of the Netherlands, which was a result of international pressure to carry out decolonisation. The Dutch colonies of Surinam and Curaçao and Dependencies and the European country became all constituent countries within the Kingdom, on a basis of equality. Before the reform was completed, Indonesia declared its independence in August 1945 (recognised in 1949), and thus has never been part of the Kingdom. Suriname followed in 1975. After the war the Netherlands left behind also an era of neutrality and gained closer ties with neighboring states. The Netherlands was one of the founding members of the Benelux, the NATO, and the European Coal and Steel Community, which would evolve into the EEC (Common Market) and later the European Union. Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Dutch people to leave the country after the war.[57] The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid ontzuiling (literally: depillarisation), a term that describes the decay of the old divisions along political and religious lines. Youths, and students in particular, rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women's rights, sexuality, disarmament and environmental issues. On 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved. Referendums were held on each island to determine their future status. As a result the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) were to obtain closer ties with the Netherlands. This led to the incorporation of these three islands into the country of the Netherlands as special municipalities upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. The special municipalities are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands. Geography of the Netherlands Main article: Geography of the Netherlands The European Netherlands[edit] A satellite overview of the Netherlands. The European area of the Netherlands lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N, and longitudes 3° and 8° E. The country is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast, up to a height of no more than 321 metres, and some low hill ranges in the central parts. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made, caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation. Since the late 16th century, large polder areas are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes, canals and pumping stations. Nearly 17% of the country's land area is reclaimed from the sea and from lakes. Much of the country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers: the Rhine (Rijn), the Meuse (Maas) and the Scheldt(Schelde), as well as their distributaries. The south-western part of the Netherlands is to this day a river delta of these three rivers, the Rhine- Meuse-Scheldt delta. The Netherlands is divided into north and south parts by the Rhine, the Waal, its main distributary branch, and the Meuse.