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| Location: | Western Europe, in Netherlands 52° 35' N 4° 90' E | |
| Time: | ||
| Climate: | The weather is generally mild, rarely dropping below freezing in the winter or becoming too hot in the summer. | |
| Weather: | Amsterdam Intellicast Weather The Weather Channel - Amsterdam | |
| Population: | 724,000 (1994) | |
| Currency: | 1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents | |
| Exchange rates and converter | ||
| Amsterdam - the capital city of Netherlands, one of Europe's leading destinations, popular as a business location and entertainment centre. Plenty of restaurants and nightclubs make this place the ideal for cool people and just for those who need to be entertained. Amsterdam has a reputation for hospitality, history and a long menu of cultural goodies. From a floating flower market to ancient churches and old masters, open-air cafés, street organs and buskers. |
 | NETHERLANDS NEWS |  |  |  |
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| People | |
|---|---|
| Population: | 15,731,112 (July 1998 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.5% (1998 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 11.62 births/1,000 population (1998 est.) |
| Death rate: | 8.69 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth:1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years:1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years:1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over:0.68 male(s)/female (1998 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | 5.17 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.49 children born/woman (1998 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population:78.01 years male:75.14 years female:81.03 years (1998 est.) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population:99% (1979 est.) male:NA% female:NA% |
| Religions: | Roman Catholic 34%, Protestant 25%, Muslim 3%, other 2%, unaffiliated 36% (1991) |
| Nationality: | noun:Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women) adjective:Dutch |
| Languages: | Dutch |
| Government | |
|---|---|
| Country name: | conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands conventional short form: Netherlands local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden local short form: Nederland |
| Data code: | NL |
| Government type: | constitutional monarchy |
| National capital: | Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government |
| Independence: | 1579 (from Spain) |
| National holiday: | Queen's Day, 30 April |
| Legal system: | civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court or Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the crown |
| Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer |
| Economy | |
|---|---|
| GDP: | purchasing power parity-$343.9 billion (1997 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 3.25% (1997) |
| GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity-$22,000 (1997 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture:4% industry:18% services:78% (1996) |
| Inflation rate - consumer price index: | 2% (1997) |
| Labor force: | total:6.6 million (1997) by occupation: services 75%, manufacturing and construction 23%, agriculture 2% (1996) |
| Unemployment rate: | 6.9% (1997) |
| Budget: | revenues:$103.4 billion expenditures:$112.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 draft) |
| Industries: | agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 3.75% (1997) |
| Agriculture - products: | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock |
| Exports: | total value:$203.1 billion (f.o.b., 1997) commodities:manufactures and machinery, chemicals; processed food and tobacco, agricultural products partners:EU 80% (Germany 29%, Belgium-Luxembourg 13%, UK 10%), Central and Eastern Europe 4%, US 3% (1996) |
| Imports: | total value:$1.791 trillion (c.i.f., 1997) commodities:raw materials and semifinished products, consumer goods, transportation equipment, crude oil, food products partners:EU 64% (Germany 22%, Belgium-Luxembourg 11%, UK 10%), Central and Eastern Europe 4%, US 8% (1996) |
| Debt - external: | $0 |
| Energy Information: | Country Analysis Briefs - Netherlands |
| Communications | |
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| Telephones: | 8.272 million (1983 est.) |
| Telephone system: | domestic:nationwide cellular telephone system; microwave radio relay international:5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations-3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean Regions) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 3 (relays 3), FM 12 (repeaters 39), shortwave 0 |
| Radios: | 13.755 million (1992 est.) |
| Televisions: | 7.4 million (1992 est.) |
| Transportation | |
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| Railways: | total:2,739 km |
| Highways: | total:127,000 km |
| Pipelines: | crude oil 418 km; petroleum products 965 km; natural gas 10,230 km |
| Merchant marine: | total: 453 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,141,630 GRT/3,597,975 DWT ships by type:bulk 2, cargo 269, chemical tanker 33, combination bulk 2, container 44, liquefied gas tanker 16, livestock carrier 1, multifunction large-load carrier 7, oil tanker 28, passenger 6, refrigerated cargo 28, roll-on/roll-off cargo 11, short-sea passenger 3, specialized tanker 3 |
| Ports and harbors: | Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Groningen, Haarlem, Ijmuiden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Utrecht |
| Transnational Issues | |
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| Disputes - international: | none |
| Illicit drugs: | important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; European producer of illicit amphetamines and other synthetic drugs |
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