Netherlands

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Netherlands

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Semi-protected

For other uses, see Netherlands (disambiguation).

Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Flag of the Netherlands Coat of arms of the Netherlands

Flag Coat of arms

Motto: "Je maintiendrai" (French)

"Ik zal handhaven" (Dutch)

"I shall stand fast"1

Anthem: "Het Wilhelmus"

Location of the Netherlands

Location of Netherlands (dark green)

вЂ" on the European continent (light green & dark grey)

вЂ" in the European Union (light green) вЂ" [Legend]

Capital

(and largest city) Amsterdam2

[show location on an interactive map] 52Ð'o21′N, 04Ð'o52′E

Official languages Dutch3

Ethnic groups 80.9% Dutch

19.1% various others

Demonym Dutch

Government Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy

- Monarch Queen Beatrix

- Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA)

Independence through the Eighty Years' War from Philip II of Spain

- Declared July 26, 1581

- Recognised January 30, 16484

EU accession March 25, 1957

Area

- Total 41,526 kmÐ'І (135th)

16,033 sq mi

- Water (%) 18.41

Population

- 2008 estimate 16,408,557 (61st)

- Density 395/kmÐ'І (25th)

1,023/sq mi

GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate

- Total 670,929 Billion (16th)

- Per capita $35,078 (10th)

GDP (nominal) 2005 estimate

- Total $625.271 billion (16th)

- Per capita $38,618 (10th)

HDI (2005) в-І 0.953 (high) (9th)

Currency Euro (€)5 (EUR)

Time zone CET (UTC+1)

- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Internet TLD .nl6

Calling code +31

1 The literal translation of the motto is "I will maintain". Here "maintain" is taken to mean to stand fast or to hold ground.

2 While Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, The Hague is the seat of the government.

3 West Frisian is also an official language in the Netherlands, although only spoken in Friesland; Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish are officially recognised as regional languages.

4 Peace of Westphalia.

5 Before 2002: Dutch guilder.

6 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland (helpÐ'*info), IPA: [Л?ne:dЙ™rlЙ'nt]) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean. The Netherlands is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.

The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country's twelve provinces. Still, many Dutch people colloquially refer to their country as Holland in this way, as a synecdoche. For more on this and other naming issues see terminology of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying and densely populated country. It is popularly known for its traditional windmills, tulips, cheese, clogs (wooden shoes), delftware and gouda pottery, for its bicycles, its dikes and surge barriers, and, on the other hand, traditional values and civil virtues such as its classic social tolerance. An old parliamentary democracy, the country is more recently known for its rather liberal policies toward recreational drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, and euthanasia.

The Netherlands has an international outlook; among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, the OECD, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands is one of three member nations of the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international (ised) 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. All of these courts (except the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), as well as the EU's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), are situated in The Hague, which has led to the city being referred to as "the world's legal capital."[1]

A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is its flatness. Hilly landscapes can be found only in the south-eastern tip of the country on the foothills of the Ardennes, the central part and where the glaciers pushed up several hilly ridges such as the Hondsrug in Drenthe, the stuwwallen (push moraines) near Arnhem and Nijmegen, Salland, Twente and the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

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