Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling;
signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Law of the Sea
Note:
located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or
Meuse, Schelde)

@Netherlands, People

Population:
15,367,928 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.58% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
12.62 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
8.5 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
1.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
6.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
77.75 years
male:
74.69 years
female:
80.97 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.58 children born/woman (1994 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%
male:
NA%
female:
NA%
Labor force:
6.7 million (1991)
by occupation:
services 50.1%, manufacturing and construction 28.2%, government
15.9%, agriculture 5.8% (1986)

@Netherlands, Government

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
Executive branch:
chief of state:
Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent
WILLEM-ALEXANDER, Prince