The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EC (now the EU), and participated in the introduction of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999.
Full Name: Kingdom of the Netherlands
Area: 41,526 sq km (land: 33,883 sq km, water: 7,643 sq km)
Population: 16,570,613 (July 2007 est.)
Capital City: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government
People: Dutch 83%, other 17% (of which 9% are non-western origin mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese and Indonesians) (1999 est.)
Language: Dutch (official language), Frisian (official language)
Religion: Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed 13%, Calvinist 7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 2.5%, none 41% (2002)
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Chief of State Queen BEATRIX (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), son of the monarch
Head of Government:Prime Minister Jan Peter BALKENENDE (since 22 July 2002); Deputy Prime Ministers Wouter BOS (since 22 February 2007) and Andre ROUVOET (since 22 February 2007)
GDP: $US 529.6 billion (2006 est.)
GDP per Capita: $US 32,100 (2006 est.)
Inflation: 1.4% (2006 est.)
Unemployment: 5.5% (2006 est.)
Industries: Agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Member of EU: Yes
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