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Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
Map references: Europe
Area:
total area: 37,330 sq km
land area: 33,920 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
Land boundaries: total 1,027 km, Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km
Coastline: 451 km
Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, fertile soil
Land use:
arable land: 26%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 32%
forest and woodland: 9%
other: 32%
Irrigated land: 5,500 sq km (1989 est.)
Population: 15,452,903 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (female 1,382,057; male 1,445,451)
15-64 years: 68% (female 5,184,224; male 5,369,018)
65 years and over: 14% (female 1,238,336; male 833,817)(July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.52% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 12.42 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 8.48 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.95 years
male: 74.9 years
female: 81.17 years (1995est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.56 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women)
adjective: Dutch
Ethnic divisions: Dutch 96%, Moroccans, Turks, and other 4% (1988)
Religions: Roman Catholic 34%, Protestant 25%, Muslim 3%, other 2%, unaffiliated 36% (1991)
Languages: Dutch
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1979 est.)
total population: 99%
Labor force: 6.4 million (1993)
by occupation: services 71.4%, manufacturing and construction 24.6%, agriculture 4.0%
(1992)
Names:
conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands
conventional short form: Netherlands
local long form: Koninkrijk de Nederlanden
local short form: Nederland
Digraph: NL
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Amsterdam;The Hague is the seat of government
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)
National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)
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 the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Overview: This highly developed and affluent economy is based on private enterprise. The government makes its presence felt, however, through many regulations, permit requirements, and welfare programs affecting most aspects of economic activity. The trade and financial services sector contributes over 50% of GDP. Industrial activity provides about 25% of GDP and is led by the food-processing, oil-refining, and metalworking industries. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 4% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. Indeed the Netherlands ranks third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. High unemployment and a sizable budget deficit are currently the most serious economic problems. Many of the economic issues of the 1990s will reflect the course of European economic integration.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $275.8 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $17,940 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (December 1994)
Unemployment rate: 8.8% (December 1994)
Budget:
revenues: $109.9 billion
expenditures: $122.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports: $153 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: metal products, chemicals, processed food and tobacco, agricultural
products
partners: EC 77% (Germany 27%, Belgium-Luxembourg 15%, UK 10%), Central and Eastern
Europe 10%, US 4% (1991)
Imports: $137billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: raw materials and semifinished products, consumer goods, transportation
equipment, crude oil, food products
partners: EC 64% (Germany 26%, Belgium-Luxembourg 14%, UK 8%), US 8% (1991)
External debt: $0
Industrial production: growth rate -1.5% (1993 est.); accounts for 25% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 17,520,000 kW
production: 72.4 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 5,100 kWh (1993)
Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics
Agriculture: accounts for 4.6% of GDP; animal production predominates; crops - grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; shortages of grain, fats, and oils
Currency: 1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 2,757 km
standard gauge: 2,757 km km 1.435-m gauge (1,991 km electrified; 1,800 km double track)
(1994)
Highways:
total: 104,831 km
paved: 92,251 km (2,118 km of expressway)
unpaved: gravel, crushed stone 12,580 km (1992)
Inland waterways: 6,340 km, of which 35% is usable by craft of 1,000 metric ton capacity or larger
Pipelines: crude oil 418 km; petroleum products 965 km; natural gas 10,230 km
Ports: Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Groningen, Haarlem, Ijmuiden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Utrecht
Merchant marine:
total: 343 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,629,578 GRT/3,337,307 DWT
ships by type: bulk 2, cargo 195, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 3, container
33, liquefied gas tanker 12, livestock carrier 1, multifunction large-load
carrier 1, oil tanker 37, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 18, roll-on/roll-off
cargo 14, short-sea passenger3, specialized tanker 2
note: many Dutch-owned ships are also registered on the Netherlands Antilles
register
Airports:
total: 29
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3
with paved runways under 914 m: 8
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3