Lachenburg
19-02-2006, 04:25
Factbook
Geography
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is the flatness of the country. About half of its surface area is less than 1 m above sea level, and large parts of it are actually below sea level. An extensive range of dikes and dunes protects these areas from flooding. Numerous massive pumping stations keep the ground water level in check. The highest point, the Vaalserberg, in the south-eastern most point of the country, is 321 m above sea level. A substantial part of the Netherlands, for example, all of Flevoland (the largest man-made island in the world) and large parts of Holland, has been reclaimed from the sea. These areas are known as polders. This has led to the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."
o guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. In the first millennium, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. (The water bodies are still around today performing the exact same function.) As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. In the 13th century, windmills came into use to pump water out of the areas by now below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders.
Map of the Kingdom:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/images/nl-map.jpg
Area:
Total: 41,526 km²
Land: 33,883 km²
Water: 7,643 km²
Climate: Temperate; Marine; cool summers and mild winters
History
After the Napoleonic era the Netherlands were put back on the map of Europe. The country had always been part of the precarious balance of power that had kept France in check. Particularly the Russian tsar wanted the Netherlands to resume this role and wanted the colonies to be returned. A compromise was struck with Britain at the Congress of Vienna, whereby only Indonesia was returned, but the North and South of the Netherlands reunited. In 1815 the country became a monarchy, with the son of the last stadtholder, William V, the Prince of Orange as King William I. In addition, King William I became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. William's United Kingdom of the Netherlands originally consisted of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium, but the French-speaking Belgian ruling minority soon began feeling like second-class citizens. The primary factors that contributed to this feeling were religious (the predominantly Catholic South versus the mostly Protestant North), economic (the South was industrialising, the North had always been a merchants' nation) and linguistic (the French-speaking South was not just Wallonia, but also extended to the French-speaking bourgeoisie in the Flemish cities). In 1830 the situation exploded, the Belgians revolted and declared independence from the North. King William sent an army in 1831, but it was forced to retreat after a few days when the French army was mobilised. The North refused to recognise Belgium until 1839.
In 1848 unrest broke out all over Europe. Although there were no major events in the Netherlands, these foreign developments persuaded King William II to agree to liberal and democratic reform. That same year the liberal Johan Rudolf Thorbecke was asked by the king to rewrite the constitution, turning the Netherlands into a constitutional monarchy. The new document was proclaimed valid on November 3 of that year. It severely limited the King's powers (making the cabinet accountable only to an elected parliament), and it protected civil liberties.
Now, as a new Imperialist age dawns across the world, the Netherlands has mostly withdrawn itself from the affairs of Europe, concentrating primarily on its colonies in Indonesia and Guyana.
Government & Politics
Politics of the Netherlands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy and a constitutional monarchy, where the prime minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the council of ministers, and of a pluriform multi-party system with about 15 parties at national elections. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Offical Long Name: The Kingdom of the Netherlands
Offical Short Name: The Netherlands
Flag of the Monarchy:
http://www.4freepack.com/images/netherlands-flag-small.gif
Seat of Power: Amsterdam
Current Head of State: King William III
Current Head of Government: Prime Minister Floris Adriaan baron van Hall
Legislature: The parliament consists of two houses. The 150 members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber) are elected every four years in direct elections. The provincial assemblies are directly elected every four years as well. The members of the provincial assemblies elect every two years a third of the members of the less important Senate (the Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber that is hereby fully indirectly elected within six years), that can merely reject laws, not propose or amend them. Together, the First and Second Chamber are known as the Staten-Generaal, the States General.
Judiciary: The judiciary comprises 19 district courts (rechtbanken), five courts of appeal (gerechtshoven), two administrative courts (Centrale Raad van Beroep and the College van beroep voor het bedrijfsleven) and a Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) which has 24 justices. All judicial appointments are made by the Crown. Judges nominally are appointed for life.
Foreign Relations
Belgium: Belligerent
Prussia: Indifferent
Denmark: Indifferent
Russia: Indifferent
Spain: Indifferent
Norway-Sweden: Indifferent
Great Britain: Friendly
Ottoman Empire: Cordial
Austria: Indifferent
German Confederation: Indifferent
Papal States: Indifferent
Sardinia-Piedmont: Indifferent
Kingdom of Two Sicilies: Indifferent
France: Friendly
United States: Indifferent
Economics
The economic circumstances of the Low Countries are disguised by political boundaries. Economically the crucial aspect of the Low Countries is that they are at the mouth of the Rhine River. This gives them, particularly Holland, access to the Rhine River Valley, but they also have access to the coastal trade of the English Channel, the North Sea and beyond. This strategic location is evidenced in the fact that the busiest port of Europe is Rotterdam.
The riverine nature of the Netherland is revealed in the names of the major cities, Rotterdam, the dam on the Rot River; Amsterdam, the dam on the Amster River.
Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world. In early modern Europe it featured the wealthiest trading city (Amsterdam) and the first full-time stock exchange. The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as such less benign phenomena as the boom-bust cycle, the world's first asset-inflation bubble, the tulip mania of 1636-1637, and according to Murray Sayle, the world's first bear raider - Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount.
However, during the 18th and early 19th Centuries, the loss of valuble colonies to the British, along with incompetent leadership at home and the subsequent formation of the Batvian Republic under Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually drained the Dutch of their wealth and left them in economic obscurity.
Yet recently, things have taken a turn for the better. Under William III the Netherlands enjoyed a period of commercial expansion and internal development with factories and railways being expanded each day. Further south, in Luxembourg, a large surplus of Iron Ore allows the Dutch Kingdom (whose metropolitan territories are devoid of Coal or Iron) to continue on at a fast pace.
GDP per Capita (1820): $1,561.00 USD (highest in the world)
Major Industries:
Argiculture
Tulips
Steel
Fishing
Chemicals
Farm Machinery
Major Trading Partners:
Great Britain
Prussia
France
Belgium
The United States
Currency: Guilder (ƒ )
Society
Population: 3,929,000 citizens
Ethnicity: The Dutch people are historically affiliated to all West Germanic peoples, such as the English and German peoples, and less so to North Germanic peoples (Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders). Ethnic affiliation is strongest between the Dutch people and the Flemish and Frisian peoples. The Frisian people, who speak their own language and live in Friesland (a province of the Netherlands), have had some influence on Dutch culture, especially in the western Netherlands. Flemish culture has had some influence on Dutch culture in the southern Netherlands.
Culture: The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters" such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and many others.
The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza, and all of Descartes' major work was done there. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock.
In the Dutch Golden Age, literature flowered as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P. C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the 19th century, Multatuli wrote about the bad treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies.
Languages:
The official language is Dutch, which is spoken by practically all inhabitants. Another official language is Frisian, which is spoken in the northern province of Friesland and has a strong resemblance to English, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Frisian is co-official only in the province of Friesland, although with a few restrictions. Several dialects of Low German are spoken in much of the north and are recognised by the Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. To the south, the Dutch language shifts into other varieties of Low Franconian and German, which may or may not be best classified as Dutch, most notably West Flemish.
Religion:
Since the 16th Century, the Netherlands has typically been a Protestant-dominated nation with most citizens following either the Dutch Reformed Church or other Calvinist sects. Despite this, a large majority of Dutchmen and women are of the Roman Catholic faith, as The Netherlands is historically a nation of religious tolerance. And as with the rest of Europe, the Protestants are mostly found in the northern Reigions of the Netherlands while the Roman Catholics inhabit the south.
Also, a significant Jewish minority presides in the Netherlands, usually grouped together in close-knit, urban communities.
Geography
A remarkable aspect of the Netherlands is the flatness of the country. About half of its surface area is less than 1 m above sea level, and large parts of it are actually below sea level. An extensive range of dikes and dunes protects these areas from flooding. Numerous massive pumping stations keep the ground water level in check. The highest point, the Vaalserberg, in the south-eastern most point of the country, is 321 m above sea level. A substantial part of the Netherlands, for example, all of Flevoland (the largest man-made island in the world) and large parts of Holland, has been reclaimed from the sea. These areas are known as polders. This has led to the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands."
o guard against floods, a series of defences against the water were contrived. In the first millennium, villages and farmhouses were built on man-made hills called terps. Later, these terps were connected by dikes. In the 12th century, local government agencies called "waterschappen" (English "water bodies") or "hoogheemraadschappen" ("high home councils") started to appear, whose job it was to maintain the water level and to protect a region from floods. (The water bodies are still around today performing the exact same function.) As the ground level dropped, the dikes by necessity grew and merged into an integrated system. In the 13th century, windmills came into use to pump water out of the areas by now below sea level. The windmills were later used to drain lakes, creating the famous polders.
Map of the Kingdom:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/images/nl-map.jpg
Area:
Total: 41,526 km²
Land: 33,883 km²
Water: 7,643 km²
Climate: Temperate; Marine; cool summers and mild winters
History
After the Napoleonic era the Netherlands were put back on the map of Europe. The country had always been part of the precarious balance of power that had kept France in check. Particularly the Russian tsar wanted the Netherlands to resume this role and wanted the colonies to be returned. A compromise was struck with Britain at the Congress of Vienna, whereby only Indonesia was returned, but the North and South of the Netherlands reunited. In 1815 the country became a monarchy, with the son of the last stadtholder, William V, the Prince of Orange as King William I. In addition, King William I became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. William's United Kingdom of the Netherlands originally consisted of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium, but the French-speaking Belgian ruling minority soon began feeling like second-class citizens. The primary factors that contributed to this feeling were religious (the predominantly Catholic South versus the mostly Protestant North), economic (the South was industrialising, the North had always been a merchants' nation) and linguistic (the French-speaking South was not just Wallonia, but also extended to the French-speaking bourgeoisie in the Flemish cities). In 1830 the situation exploded, the Belgians revolted and declared independence from the North. King William sent an army in 1831, but it was forced to retreat after a few days when the French army was mobilised. The North refused to recognise Belgium until 1839.
In 1848 unrest broke out all over Europe. Although there were no major events in the Netherlands, these foreign developments persuaded King William II to agree to liberal and democratic reform. That same year the liberal Johan Rudolf Thorbecke was asked by the king to rewrite the constitution, turning the Netherlands into a constitutional monarchy. The new document was proclaimed valid on November 3 of that year. It severely limited the King's powers (making the cabinet accountable only to an elected parliament), and it protected civil liberties.
Now, as a new Imperialist age dawns across the world, the Netherlands has mostly withdrawn itself from the affairs of Europe, concentrating primarily on its colonies in Indonesia and Guyana.
Government & Politics
Politics of the Netherlands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy and a constitutional monarchy, where the prime minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the council of ministers, and of a pluriform multi-party system with about 15 parties at national elections. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Offical Long Name: The Kingdom of the Netherlands
Offical Short Name: The Netherlands
Flag of the Monarchy:
http://www.4freepack.com/images/netherlands-flag-small.gif
Seat of Power: Amsterdam
Current Head of State: King William III
Current Head of Government: Prime Minister Floris Adriaan baron van Hall
Legislature: The parliament consists of two houses. The 150 members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber) are elected every four years in direct elections. The provincial assemblies are directly elected every four years as well. The members of the provincial assemblies elect every two years a third of the members of the less important Senate (the Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber that is hereby fully indirectly elected within six years), that can merely reject laws, not propose or amend them. Together, the First and Second Chamber are known as the Staten-Generaal, the States General.
Judiciary: The judiciary comprises 19 district courts (rechtbanken), five courts of appeal (gerechtshoven), two administrative courts (Centrale Raad van Beroep and the College van beroep voor het bedrijfsleven) and a Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) which has 24 justices. All judicial appointments are made by the Crown. Judges nominally are appointed for life.
Foreign Relations
Belgium: Belligerent
Prussia: Indifferent
Denmark: Indifferent
Russia: Indifferent
Spain: Indifferent
Norway-Sweden: Indifferent
Great Britain: Friendly
Ottoman Empire: Cordial
Austria: Indifferent
German Confederation: Indifferent
Papal States: Indifferent
Sardinia-Piedmont: Indifferent
Kingdom of Two Sicilies: Indifferent
France: Friendly
United States: Indifferent
Economics
The economic circumstances of the Low Countries are disguised by political boundaries. Economically the crucial aspect of the Low Countries is that they are at the mouth of the Rhine River. This gives them, particularly Holland, access to the Rhine River Valley, but they also have access to the coastal trade of the English Channel, the North Sea and beyond. This strategic location is evidenced in the fact that the busiest port of Europe is Rotterdam.
The riverine nature of the Netherland is revealed in the names of the major cities, Rotterdam, the dam on the Rot River; Amsterdam, the dam on the Amster River.
Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country in the world. In early modern Europe it featured the wealthiest trading city (Amsterdam) and the first full-time stock exchange. The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as such less benign phenomena as the boom-bust cycle, the world's first asset-inflation bubble, the tulip mania of 1636-1637, and according to Murray Sayle, the world's first bear raider - Isaac le Maire, who forced prices down by dumping stock and then buying it back at a discount.
However, during the 18th and early 19th Centuries, the loss of valuble colonies to the British, along with incompetent leadership at home and the subsequent formation of the Batvian Republic under Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually drained the Dutch of their wealth and left them in economic obscurity.
Yet recently, things have taken a turn for the better. Under William III the Netherlands enjoyed a period of commercial expansion and internal development with factories and railways being expanded each day. Further south, in Luxembourg, a large surplus of Iron Ore allows the Dutch Kingdom (whose metropolitan territories are devoid of Coal or Iron) to continue on at a fast pace.
GDP per Capita (1820): $1,561.00 USD (highest in the world)
Major Industries:
Argiculture
Tulips
Steel
Fishing
Chemicals
Farm Machinery
Major Trading Partners:
Great Britain
Prussia
France
Belgium
The United States
Currency: Guilder (ƒ )
Society
Population: 3,929,000 citizens
Ethnicity: The Dutch people are historically affiliated to all West Germanic peoples, such as the English and German peoples, and less so to North Germanic peoples (Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and Icelanders). Ethnic affiliation is strongest between the Dutch people and the Flemish and Frisian peoples. The Frisian people, who speak their own language and live in Friesland (a province of the Netherlands), have had some influence on Dutch culture, especially in the western Netherlands. Flemish culture has had some influence on Dutch culture in the southern Netherlands.
Culture: The Netherlands has had many well-known painters. The 17th century, when the Dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "Dutch Masters" such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and many others.
The Netherlands is the country of philosophers Erasmus of Rotterdam and Spinoza, and all of Descartes' major work was done there. The Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) discovered Saturn's moon Titan and invented the pendulum clock.
In the Dutch Golden Age, literature flowered as well, with Joost van den Vondel and P. C. Hooft as the two most famous writers. In the 19th century, Multatuli wrote about the bad treatment of the natives in Dutch colonies.
Languages:
The official language is Dutch, which is spoken by practically all inhabitants. Another official language is Frisian, which is spoken in the northern province of Friesland and has a strong resemblance to English, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Frisian is co-official only in the province of Friesland, although with a few restrictions. Several dialects of Low German are spoken in much of the north and are recognised by the Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. To the south, the Dutch language shifts into other varieties of Low Franconian and German, which may or may not be best classified as Dutch, most notably West Flemish.
Religion:
Since the 16th Century, the Netherlands has typically been a Protestant-dominated nation with most citizens following either the Dutch Reformed Church or other Calvinist sects. Despite this, a large majority of Dutchmen and women are of the Roman Catholic faith, as The Netherlands is historically a nation of religious tolerance. And as with the rest of Europe, the Protestants are mostly found in the northern Reigions of the Netherlands while the Roman Catholics inhabit the south.
Also, a significant Jewish minority presides in the Netherlands, usually grouped together in close-knit, urban communities.