| Netherlands |
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| National Motto | "Je maintiendrai"(French)
"Ik zal handhaven"(Dutch)
"I shall endure" |
| National Anthem | "Het Wilhelmus" |
| Official languages | Dutch |
| Ethnic groups | 80.9% Ethnic Dutch
19.1% various others |
| Demonym | Dutch |
| Capital | Amsterdam |
| Largest city | capital |
| Geocode | 52°19'N 05°33'E |
| Government | Info |
| Government | Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy |
| Monarch | HM Queen Beatrix |
| Prime Minister | Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) |
| Area (km2) | 41,526 |
| General | Info |
| Area (sq mi) | 16,033 (135th) |
| Water (%) | 18.41 |
| Population estimate | 16,558,674 |
| Population estimate year | 2009 |
| Pop. Est. Rank | 61st |
| Population | |
| Density (sq mi) | 1,025 (24th) |
| GDP (PPP) | $677.490 billion (2008) (20th) |
| GDP (PPP) per Capita | $40,558 (9th) |
| GDP | $876.970 billion (2008) (16th) |
| GDP per capita | $52,499 (9th) |
| Independence | Info |
| Independence | Independence |
| Independence From | through the Eighty Years' War from the Spanish Empire |
| Declared | 26 July 1581 |
| Recognized | 30 January 1648 |
| EU accession | 25 March 1957 |
| HDI | (+) 0.964 (2007) (6th) (very high) |
| Currency | Euro (-) (EUR) |
| Country code | NLD |
| Timezone | CET |
| Timezone UTC | +1 |
| Timezone DST | CEST |
| Timezone (DST) UTC | +2 |
| Internet TLD | .nl |
| Drives On | right |
| Calling code | 31 |
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The Netherlands (;, ) is a constituent country in Northwestern Europe of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, comprising the majority of its territory. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.
The Netherlands is often called Holland, a pars pro toto, as North and South Holland are actually two of its twelve provinces (see terminology of "the Netherlands"). The word Dutch is used to refer to the people, the language, and anything pertaining to the Netherlands. This lexical difference between the noun and the adjective is a peculiarity of the English language and does not exist in the Dutch language. The adjective 'Dutch' is derived from the language that was spoken in the area, called 'Diets', which equals Middle Dutch.
Being one of the first parliamentary democracies, the Netherlands was a modern country from its inception. Among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, OECD, WTO, and has signed the Kyoto protocol. With Belgium and Luxembourg it forms the Benelux economic union. The country is host to five international 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. The first four are situated in The Hague as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol and judicial co-operation agency Eurojust. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capital".
The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 27% of its area and 60% of its population located below sea level. Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts.
The Netherlands is a densely populated country. It is known for its windmills, tulips, clogs, delftware, gouda cheese, visual artists, bicycles, traditional values, and civil virtues such as its social tolerance. The country has more recently become known for its liberal policies toward drugs, prostitution, immigration, homosexuality, euthanasia and abortion.
The Netherlands has a capitalist market-based economy, ranking 12th of 157 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom.
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Outside science academies to review warming panel - The Associated Press 
The Associated Press--The InterAcademy Council is a -Netherlands--based organization of the science academies of 15 nations. "They will run the review themselves," said a scientist ...
Date : Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:28:42 GMT+00:00
Outside science academies to review warming panel - The Associated Press
The Associated Press--The -Netherlands--based organization of 15 national science councils will pick the scientists for the review. Details will be announced Wednesday at the ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:10:52 GMT+00:00
NuStar GP Holdings, LLC's 2009 Schedule K-1 Tax Packages Now Available - MarketWatch (press release)
MarketWatch (press release)---...- terminal operator in the nation with operations in the United States, the -Netherlands- Antilles, Canada, Mexico, the -Netherlands- and the United Kingdom. ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:41:32 GMT+00:00
The Netherlands makes it - The Hindu
The Hindu--New Delhi: Defending champion Germany and the -Netherlands- joined England and Australia to complete the semifinal line-up in the Hero Honda hockey World Cup ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:02:57 GMT+00:00
The Netherlands makes it - The Hindu
The Hindu--New Delhi: Defending champion Germany and the -Netherlands- joined England and Australia to complete the semifinal line-up in the Hero Honda hockey World Cup ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:38:16 GMT+00:00
Netherlands delighted to reach semifinals - The Hindu
The Hindu--Notwithstanding its 1-2 defeat to Korea in the last pool match on Tuesday, the -Netherlands- team was happy that it made the semifinals of the hockey World ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:37:42 GMT+00:00
Dutch airport knew of security weak link - WLOS
WLOS--THE HAGUE, -Netherlands- (AP) -- A spokeswoman for Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport says the airport knew about a possible weak link in its security before it was ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:50:40 GMT+00:00
The Netherlands makes it - The Hindu
The Hindu--Photo: Rajeev Bhatt Defending champion Germany and the -Netherlands- joined England and Australia to complete the semifinal line-up in the Hero Honda hockey ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:40:12 GMT+00:00
Hundreds allege clerical sex abuse in the Netherlands - Ireland Online
Ireland Online--The Catholic Church in the -Netherlands- is asking an independent commission to look into reports of alleged sexual abuses by priests. ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:49:05 GMT+00:00
Dutch church orders inquiry into sex abuse allegations - BBC News
BBC News--Allegations first centred on a school in the eastern -Netherlands-, with people saying they were abused by Catholic priests, which prompted dozens more ...
Date : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:30:32 GMT+00:00
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