1993 Edition

Area

total area: 37,330 km2 land area: 33,920 km2 comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

Climate

temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters

Coastline

451 km

Environment

without an extensive system of dikes and dams, nearly one-half of the total area would be inundated by sea water

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

5,500 km2 (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 1,027 km, Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km

Land use

arable land: 26% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 32% forest and woodland: 9% other: 32%

Location

Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany

Map references

Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

continental shelf: not specified exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

natural gas, petroleum, fertile soil

Note

located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, Schelde)

Terrain

mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast

Birth rate

12.81 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

8.53 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Dutch 96%, Moroccans, Turks, and other 4% (1988)

Infant mortality rate

6.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

5.3 million by occupation: services 50.1%, manufacturing and construction 28.2%, government 15.9%, agriculture 5.8% (1986)

Languages

Dutch

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 77.55 years male: 74.48 years female: 80.78 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1979) total population: 99% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women) adjective: Dutch

Net migration rate

2.06 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

15,274,942 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.63% (1993 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic 36%, Protestant 27%, other 6%, unaffiliated 31% (1988)

Total fertility rate

1.59 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Administrative divisions

12 provinces (provincien, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland

Capital

Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government

Chief of State

Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER, Prince of Orange, son of Queen Beatrix (born 27 April 1967)

Constitution

17 February 1983

Dependent areas

Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Digraph

NL

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Johan Hendrick MEESMAN chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008 telephone: (202) 244-5300

Executive branch

monarch, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet, Cabinet of Ministers

FAX

(202) 362-3430 consulates general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila (Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands), New York

[31] (70) 361-4688 consulate general: Amsterdam

First Chamber

last held on 9 June l991 (next to be held 9 June 1995); results - elected by the country's 12 provincial councils; seats - (75 total) percent of seats by party NA

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

Head of Government

Prime Minister Ruud (Rudolph) F. M. LUBBERS (since 4 November 1982); Vice Prime Minister Willem (Wim) KOK (since 2 November 1989)

Independence

1579 (from Spain)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (De Hoge Raad)

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

Legislative branch

bicameral legislature (Staten Generaal) consists of an upper chamber or First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) and a lower chamber or Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer)

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Names

conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands conventional short form: Netherlands local long form: Koninkrijk de Nederlanden local short form: Nederland

National holiday

Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)

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 Interchurch Peace Council (IKV)

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Willem van VELZEN; Labor (PvdA), Wim KOK; Liberal (VVD), Frederick BOLKSTEIN; Democrats '66 (D'66), Hans van MIERIO; a host of minor parties

Second Chamber

last held on 6 September 1989 (next to be held in May 1994); results - CDA 35.3%, PvdA 31.9%, VVD 14.6%, D'66 7.9%, other 10.3%; seats - (150 total) CDA 54, PvdA 49, VVD 22, D'66 12, other 13

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

constitutional monarchy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Thomas H. GEWECKE embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, The Hague mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715 telephone: [31] (70) 310-9209

Agriculture

accounts for 4.6% of GDP; animal production predominates; crops - grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; shortages of grain, fats, and oils

Budget

revenues $109.9 billion; expenditures $122.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Currency

1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents

Economic aid

donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $19.4 billion

Electricity

22,216,000 kW capacity; 63,500 million kWh produced, 4,200 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

Netherlands guilders, gulden, or florins (f.) per US$1 - 1.8167 (January 1993), 1.7585 (1992), 1.8697 (1991), 1.8209 (1990), 2.1207 (1989), 1.9766 (1988)

Exports

$128.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: agricultural products, processed foods and tobacco, natural gas, chemicals, metal products, textiles, clothing partners: EC 77% (Germany 27%, Belgium-Luxembourg 15%, UK 10%), US 4% (1991)

External debt

$0

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

transit country for illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; European producer of illicit amphetamines and other synthetic drugs

Imports

$117.7 billion (f.o.b., 1992) 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)

Industrial production

growth rate 1.6% (1992 est.); accounts for 25% of GDP

Industries

agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3.5% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $259.8 billion (1992)

National product per capita

$17,200 (1992)

National product real growth rate

1.6% (1992)

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 5% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. 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.

Unemployment rate

5.3% (1992 est.)

Airports

total: 28 usable: 28 with permanent-surface runways: 20 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 11 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 6

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 1,000 metric ton capacity or larger

Merchant marine

344 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,762,000 GRT/3,675,649 DWT; includes 3 short-sea passenger, 193 cargo, 30 refrigerated cargo, 26 container, 13 roll-on/roll-off, 1 livestock carrier, 11 multifunction large-load carrier, 23 oil tanker, 22 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 6 bulk, 4 combination bulk; note - many Dutch-owned ships are also registered on the captive Netherlands Antilles register

Pipelines

crude oil 418 km; petroleum products 965 km; natural gas 10,230 km

Ports

coastal - Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Den Helder, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Terneuzen, Vlissingen; inland - 29 ports

Railroads

2,828 km 1.435-meter standard gauge operated by Netherlands Railways (NS) (includes 1,957 km electrified and 1,800 km double track)

Telecommunications

highly developed, well maintained, and integrated; extensive redundant system of multiconductor cables, supplemented by microwave radio relay microwave links; 9,418,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 3 (3 relays) AM, 12 (39 repeaters) FM, 8 (7 repeaters) TV; 5 submarine cables; 1 communication satellite earth station operating in INTELSAT (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean antenna) and EUTELSAT systems; nationwide mobile phone system

Branches

Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (including Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force, Royal Constabulary

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $7.8 billion, 3% of GDP (1992)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 4,183,167; fit for military service 3,677,445; reach military age (20) annually 104,263 (1993 est.)