Netherlands
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| Kingdom of the Netherlands | |||||
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| National information | |||||
| National motto: | "I will maintain" | ||||
| National anthem: | Wilhelmus | ||||
| About the people | |||||
| Official languages: | Dutch. Some people in the North of the Netherlands also speak Frisian. | ||||
| Population: (# of people) | |||||
| - Total: | 16,318,199 (ranked 59) | ||||
| - Density: | 393 per km² | ||||
| Geography / Places | |||||
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| Capital city: | Amsterdam. But the Queen and the parliament are in The Hague. | ||||
| Largest city: | Amsterdam | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total: | 41,526 (ranked 131) | ||||
| - Water: | n/a km² (18.41%) | ||||
| Politics / Government | |||||
| Established: | Union of Utrecht (1579) Oath of Abjuration ( 1581) |
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| Leaders: | Queen Beatrix Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende |
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| Economy / Money | |||||
| Currency: (Name of money) |
Euro (€) | ||||
| International information | |||||
| Time zone: | +01:00 | ||||
| Telephone dialing code: | 31 | ||||
| Internet domain: | .NL | ||||
The Netherlands is a country in Europe. More than 16 million people live there. To the north and west of the Netherlands lies the North Sea. To the east is the country Germany and to the south is the country Belgium. The Netherlands is one of the countries that started the European Union. People who live in the Netherlands are called "Dutch".
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[change] Name
"The Netherlands" means "the low lands". The land is very flat, and only rises a little bit above the sea level. One third of the land is below sea level. The Netherlands is also sometimes called Holland. Holland was a very rich area in the western part of the Netherlands. Some people who do not live in the western part of the Netherlands do not like it when people call the country Holland. Holland means "wooded land" because the Holland area used to be covered with forests.
[change] History
At the end of the Middle Ages the dukes of Burgundy, a country that is now part of France, united seventeen areas. Those areas were called the Netherlands. When the daughter of a duke married the king of Spain, the Netherlands became part of Spain. In the 16th century many Dutch people became Protestant. The king of Spain did not like it, he wanted all Dutch to be Roman Catholic. He decided that all Protestants should be killed. Of course the Dutch people did not like this, and in 1568 they started a war against Spain. The war lasted until 1648, therefore it is called the Eighty Years' War. An important leader of the Dutch in this war was William the Silent.
In 1648 the Netherlands and Spain signed peace. The Dutch people were allowed to keep all the areas they conquered. The part of the Netherlands that was not conquered by the Dutch stayed part of Spain. Later this part became the country Belgium.
When the Netherlands became independent, it was a very special country. That time almost all countries in Europe were ruled by a king, but the Netherlands was not. The Netherlands was made up of seven provinces, that were ruled by civilians. Together those provinces were ruled by a stadtholder, but he did not have much power. In the 17th century the Netherlands was the richest and one of the most powerful countries in the world. Therefore the Dutch call the 17th century the Golden Age. They had possessions all around the world. The most important possession were the East Indies, a country that is now called Indonesia. The Dutch also founded the city New York, but they called it New Amsterdam. In 1628 they sold it for 60 gilder. The Netherlands often fought wars against other European countries, especially against England. Michiel de Ruyter, a Dutch admiral, became a Dutch hero when he defeated the English navy close to London.
In the 18th century the Netherlands became poorer. Many people thought this was the fault of the stadtholders. Many thought they had too much power and wanted them to get away. In 1789 the French people deposed their king. French armies attacked other countries to depose their leaders too. In 1795 they attacked the Netherlands. Stadtholder William V had to flee to England. The Netherlands were renamed to Batavian Republic and became a democracy. But the French were not content with the Dutch ruler, so in 1806 the French emperor Napoleon made his brother Louis Bonaparte king of the Netherlands. Louis became popular in the Netherlands, but the emperor was again not content with him, so in 1810 the Netherlands became a part of France.
In 1815 Napoleon was defeated, and the Netherlands became independent again. The rulers of European countries thought it was a good idea to make the Netherlands stronger, to make them able to resist another French invasion. Therefore Belgium and Luxembourg were added to the Netherlands. William I, the son of stadtholder William V, became king. The Belgians were not happy with the Dutch king. In 1830 they revolted. William sent an army, but it was defeated by the Belgians. In 1831 the Belgians chose their own king, and Belgium became an independent country.
Some people thought the Dutch king had too much power. They wanted to give him less power and vote for the government themselves. In 1848 there were violent revolts against the kings of many European countries. The Dutch king was afraid the same would happen in the Netherlands. Therefore he allowed Johan Rudolf Thorbecke to write a constitution. From then on people were allowed to vote. At first only rich men were allowed to vote. From 1919 on everyone was allowed to vote.
In World War I, the Netherlands did not fight. The Dutch wanted to stay neutral in World War II as well, but in 1940 the country was invaded and occupied by Germany. Just like in other countries they had occupied, the Germans started to kill Jews. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived in the Netherlands. She died in a German concentration camp. When she and her family were hiding for the Germans, she wrote a diary. After the war her diary became very famous. In 1944 the American, Canadian, Polish and English armies liberated the south of the Netherlands from the Germans. They wanted to cross the Rhine river to liberate the rest of the country, but they were defeated by the Germans. It took until May 1945 before the entire country was liberated. During the five years of German occupation, 250,000 people had died in the Netherlands.
Shortly after the war, Indonesia declared its independence. The Dutch sent soldiers to Indonesia. During the war the Dutch realized how it is to be occupied by another country, so some people thought the Dutch should not do the same to the Indonesians. After other countries, including the United States, told the Dutch to leave Indonesia, they finally did so (1949).
After the war the Netherlands became one of the richest countries in the world. In 2004 the United Nations said the Netherlands were the 5th best country to live in.
[change] Politics
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. That means the country has a king or queen, but the real power is in hands of a parliament, chosen by the Dutch people. All Dutch people who are 18 or older are allowed to vote. There are elections every four years. After the elections, parties that have had a majority of the votes create a cabinet. The cabinet consists of a prime minister and several other ministers.
The following political parties are in the parliament:
- CDA, Christian-Democratic Appeal. The CDA is the largest party. CDA members are mostly Christian. The current prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende is a CDA member.
- PvdA, Party of Laborers. The PvdA is a social-democrat party. It's the second largest party. The previous prime minister, Wim Kok, is a PvdA member.
- VVD, People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. The VVD is a liberal party.
- SP, Socialist Party. The SP used to be communist, but now it is a socialist party.
- LPF, Pim Fortuyn Party. The LPF was founded by Pim Fortuyn. Fortuyn was killed in 2002. The LPF was a conservative party. It dissolved itself on 1 January 2008
- GroenLinks, Green Left. GroenLinks is a social-democrat party that pays special attention to the environment.
- D66, Democrats 66. D66 was founded in 1966. Just like the VVD, it is a liberal party. But D66 is more progressive than the VVD.
- ChristenUnie, Christian Union. The ChristenUnie is a Christian party.
- SGP, Stately Reformed Party. The SGP is a very conservative Christian party.
The Netherlands is known for tolerance in politics. The Netherlands is the only country where soft drugs are not entirely considered illegal. Furthermore the Netherlands is one of the few countries that allow same-sex marriages, euthanasia and prostitution to a certain extent.
[change] Provinces
In the Netherlands there are 12 provinces:
- Groningen. The capital of Groningen is Groningen.
- Friesland, Leeuwarden. The Frisian name for Friesland is Fryslân. The Frisian name for Leeuwarden is Ljouwert.
- Drenthe, Assen
- Overijssel, Zwolle
- Guelders (Gelderland), Arnhem
- Utrecht, Utrecht
- North Holland (Noord-Holland), Haarlem
- South Holland (Zuid-Holland), The Hague (Den Haag)
- Sealand, (Zeeland), Middelburg
- North Brabant (Noord-Brabant), Bois-le-Duc ('s-Hertogenbosch)
- Limburg, Maastricht
- Flevoland, Lelystad
Apart from these provinces the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are also part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
[change] Geography
In fact a large part of Holland was created by the sand that came from the many rivers flowing through it. Notable Dutch rivers are the Rhine, the Maas, the IJssel and the Scelt. A large part of the Netherlands is below sea level. This is because the Dutch have made many lakes and parts of the sea dry, creating polders. Therefore there is a saying in the Netherlands "God created the earth, except the Netherlands. Because the Netherlands were created by the Dutch themselves." This makes the Netherlands very flat. In the very south-east of the Netherlands, in Limburg, there are some hills. Therefore, this region is a tourist-attraction for many Dutch people. The highest point in the Netherlands, the Vaalserberg, is 321 metres above sea level.
[change] People
The Netherlands is a small country, but many people live there. It is one of the most densely populated countries of the world.
Most people in the Netherlands speak Dutch. In Friesland about 200,000 people speak Frisian. Frisian is the language with the most similarities to English. Some Dutch people speak dialects. The Saxon dialects spoken in the north eastern part of the Netherlands are somewhat similar to Lower German.
According to a survey done in 2006, 25% of the Dutch people are Christian and 3% believe in an other organised religion, like Judaism, Islam or Hinduism etc. 26% are 'unbounded spiritual' (have their own beliefs and are not tied to a religion). The other 44% are not religious.
[change] See also
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| Countries | Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Azerbaijan1 - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus2 - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Georgia1 - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Republic of Macedonia - Romania - Russia1 - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey1 - Ukraine - United Kingdom - Vatican City |
| Dependencies | Akrotiri and Dhekelia2 - Faroe Islands - Gibraltar - Guernsey - Jan Mayen - Jersey - Isle of Man - Svalbard |
| Unrecognised | Abkhazia |
| 1. Country partly in Asia. 2. Geographically in Asia, but often counted as part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons. | |
| European Union countries | |
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| Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom |  |
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| Members | Belgium · Bulgaria · Canada · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States |
| Candidates | Albania · Croatia · Georgia · Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) · * |
