$Unique_ID{COW02568} $Pretitle{433} $Title{Netherlands Statistical Profile of the Netherlands} $Subtitle{} $Author{Central Intelligence Agency} $Affiliation{United States Government} $Subject{km netherlands rate billion government party land products seats total} $Date{1990} $Log{National Anthem*60100010.aud Map of Netherlands*0256801.scf Flag of Netherlands*0256802.scf } Country: Netherlands Book: CIA World Factbook Author: Central Intelligence Agency Affiliation: United States Government Date: 1990 [Hear National Anthem] [See Map of Netherlands] [See Flag of Netherlands] Statistical Profile of the Netherlands Geography Total area: 41,500 km2; land area: 33,940 km2 Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of New Jersey Land boundaries: 1,027 km total; Belgium 450 km, FRG 577 km Coastline: 451 km Maritime claims: Contiguous zone: 12 nm Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast Natural resources: natural gas, crude oil, fertile soil Land use: 25% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 34% meadows and pastures; 9% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 15% irrigated Environment: 30% of the land area is below sea level and protected from the North Sea by dikes Note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, Schelde) People Population: 14,790,125 (July 1989), growth rate 0.5% (1989) Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1989) Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1989) Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1989) Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1989) Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1989) Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1989) Nationality: noun--Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women); adjective--Dutch Ethnic divisions: 99% Dutch, 1% Indonesian and other Religion: 40% Roman Catholic, 31% Protestant, 24% unaffiliated, 5% none Language: Dutch Literacy: 99% Labor force: 5,300,000; 50.1% services, 28.2% manufacturing and construction, 15.9% government, 5.8% agriculture (1986) Organized labor: 29% of labor force Government Long-form name: Kingdom of the Netherlands Type: constitutional monarchy Capital: Amsterdam, but government resides at The Hague Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincien, singular--provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles Independence: 1579 (from Spain) Constitution: 17 February 1983 Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; judicial review in the Supreme Court of legislation of lower order rather than Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938) Branches: executive (Queen and Cabinet of Ministers), which is responsible to bicameral parliament (States General) consisting of a First Chamber (75 indirectly elected members) and a Second Chamber (150 directly elected members); independent judiciary; coalition governments are usual Leaders: Chief of State Head of Government BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard, Queen (since April 1980); Ruud LUBBERS, Prime Minister (since November 1982) Suffrage: universal over age 18 Elections: must be held at least every four years for lower house (last held in May 1986); following an amendment to the Constitution that took effect in 1983, elections are held for the upper house every four years (most recent August 1983) Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Willem van Velzen; Labor (PvdA), Wim Kok; Liberal (VVD), Leendert Ginjaar and Joris Voorhoeve; Democrats '66 (D'66), Saskia van der Loo; Communist (CPN), Henk Hoekstra; Pacifist Socialist (PSP), Marko Mazeland; Political Reformed (SGP), H. Slagboom; Reformed Political Union (GPV), J. Blokland; Radical Party (PPR), Janneke van der Plaat; Democratic Socialist '70 (DS'70), Z. Hartog; Rightist Peoples Party (RVP), Hendrik Koekoek; Reformed Political Federation (RPF), P. Lamgeler; Center Party (CP), H. Janmatt; Evangelical People's Party (EVP), J. Renes; Party for Better Housing (PVA), J. H. Borsboom; Roman Catholic Party of the Netherlands (RKPN), Klaas Beuker; Netherlands Christian Democrats (NCD), J. A. Tacx Voting strength: (May 1986 election) CDA 54 seats, PvdA 52 seats, VVD 27 seats, D'66 9 seats, SGP 3 seats, PPR 2 seats, PSP 1 seat, GPV 1 seat, RPF 1 seat; two members of the CDA were expelled from the party in 1984 and are now serving as independents Communists: about 6,000 Other political or pressure groups: large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and IKV--Interchurch Peace Council Member of: ADB, Benelux, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECE, EIB, EMS, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INRO, INTELSAT, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council (with respect to interests of the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname), NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Richard H. FEIN; Chancery at 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244-5300; there are Dutch Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador John S. SHAD; Embassy at Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ The Hague (mailing address APO New York 09159); telephone [31] (70) 62-49-11; there is a US Consulate General in Amsterdam Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg which uses a lighter blue and is longer Economy Overview: The economy is highly developed and based on private enterprise. The government makes its presence felt, however, through the many regulations and permit requirements affecting most aspects of economic activity. The country maintains a high standard of living with a GNP per capita in excess of $15,000. The trade and financial services sector contributes over 50% of GNP. Industrial activity, including construction, provides about 25% of GNP, and is led by the food-processing, oil-refining, and metal-working industries. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 6% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. An unemployment rate of over 11% and a high government budget deficit are currently the most serious economic problems. GNP: $223.3 billion, per capita $15,170; real growth rate 4.0% (1988) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.0% (1988) Unemployment rate: 11.1% (1988) Budget: revenues $78.6 billion; expenditures $91.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $8.7 billion (1988) Exports: $92.4 billion (f.o.b., 1987); commodities--agricultural products, processed foods and tobacco, natural gas, chemicals, metal products, textiles, clothing; partners--EC 74.9% (FRG 28.3%, Belgium-Luxembourg 14.2%, France 10.7%, UK 10.2%), US 4.7% Imports: $91.3 billion (c.i.f., 1987); commodities--raw materials and semifinished products, consumer goods, transportation equipment, crude oil, food products; partners--EC 63.8% (FRG 26.5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 23.1%, UK 8.1%), US 7.9% External debt: none Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1988) Electricity: 21,931,000 kW capacity; 63,409 million kWh produced, 4,310 kWh per capita (1988) Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics Agriculture: animal husbandry predominates; horticultural crops, grains, potatoes, sugar beets; food shortages--grains, fats, oils Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-86), $14.0 billion Currency: Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (plural--guilders, gulden, or florins); 1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents Exchange rates: Netherlands guilders, gulden, or florins (f.) per US $1--2.0666 (January 1989), 1.9766 (1988), 2.0257 (1987), 2.4500 (1986), 3.3214 (1985) Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Railroads: Netherlands Railways (NS) operates 2,871 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 3,080 km total track; 1,871 km electrified, 1,800 km double track; 166 km privately owned Highways: 108,360 km total; 92,525 km paved (including 2,185 km of limited access, divided highways); 15,835 km gravel, crushed stone Inland waterways: 6,340 km, of which 35% is usable by craft of 900 metric ton capacity or larger Pipelines: 418 km crude oil; 965 km refined products; 10,230 km natural gas Ports: Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Den Helder, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Terneuzen, Vlissingen, 1 secondary, and 5 minor maritime; 25 inland Merchant marine: 344 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,670,428 GRT/3,765,800 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 193 cargo, 41 refrigerated cargo, 23 container, 7 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 livestock carrier, 12 multifunction heavy-lift carrier, 17 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 28 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 10 bulk, 1 combination bulk Civil air: 98 major transport aircraft Airports: 28 total, 28 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m Telecommunications: highly developed, well maintained, and integrated; extensive system of multiconductor cables, supplemented by radio relay links; 9,418,000 telephones; stations--6 AM, 41 FM, 96 TV; 5 submarine cables; 1 communication satellite ground station operating in INTELSAT and EUTELSAT systems Defense Forces Branches: Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy/Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force Military manpower: males 15-49, 4,105,631; 3,641,914 fit for military service; 117,282 reach military age (20) annually Military budget: $6.78 billion, 9.3% of central government budget (1988 est.)