|
Advertisements:
GovernmentCountry name
Conventional long form Kingdom of the Netherlands
Conventional short form Netherlands Local long form Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Local short form Nederland Government type
Constitutional monarchy
Capital
Name Amsterdam
Geographic coordinates 52 21 N, 4 55 E Time difference UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) Daylight saving time +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October Note The Hague is the seat of government; time descriptions apply to the continental Netherlands only, not to the Caribbean components Administrative divisions
12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Fryslan (Friesland), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant (North Brabant), Noord-Holland (North Holland), Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (Zealand), Zuid-Holland (South Holland) Dependent areas
Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten
Independence
23 January 1579 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries conclude the Union of Utrecht breaking with Spain; on 26 July 1581 they formally declared their independence with an Act of Abjuration; however, it was not until 30 January 1648 and the Peace of Westphalia that Spain recognized this independence) National holiday
Queen's Day (Birthday of deceased Queen-Mother JULIANA and accession to the throne of her oldest daughter BEATRIX), 30 April (1909 and 1980) Constitution
Adopted 1815; amended many times Legal system
Civil law system based on the French system; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General International law organization participation
Accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch
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 Mark RUTTE (since 14 October 2010); Deputy Prime Minister Maxime VERHAGEN (since 14 October 2010) note - Mark RUTTE tendered his resignation 23 April 2012; new elections will probably be held on 12 September 2012 Cabinet Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch Elections The monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch Note There is also a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councilors that provides consultations to the cabinet on legislative and administrative policy Legislative branch
Bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils to serve four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve at most four-year terms) Elections First Chamber - last held on May 2011 (next to be held in May 2015); Second Chamber - last held on 9 June 2010 (next to be held by 12 September 2012)due to the resignation of Mark RUTTE Election results First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VVD 16, PvdA 14, CDA 11, PVV 10, SP 8, D66 5, GL 5, other 6; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - VVD 20.5%, PvdA 19.6%, PVV, 15.4%, CDA 13.6%, SP 9.8%, D66 6.9%, GL 6.7%, CU 3.2%, other 4.3%; seats by party - VVD 31, PvdA 30, PVV 24, CDA 21, SP 15, D66 10, GL 10, CU 5, other 4 Judicial branch
Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch) Political parties and leaders
Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Sybrand VAN HAERSMA BUMA]; Christian Union or CU [Arie SLOB]; Democrats 66 or D66 [Alexander PECHTOLD]; Green Left or GL [Jolande SAP]; Labor Party or PvdA [Job COHEN]; Party for Freedom or PVV [Geert WILDERS]; Party for the Animals or PvdD [Marianne THIEME]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Stef BLOK] (Liberal); Reformed Political Party of SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ]; Socialist Party of SP [Emile ROEMER]; plus a few minor parties Political pressure groups and leaders
Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Jaap SMIT]; Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Bernard WIENTJES]; Federation for Small and Medium-sized businesses or MKB [Loek HERMANS]; Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Agnes JONGERIUS]; Social Economic Council or SER [Alexander RINNOOY KAN]; Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel or MHP [Richard STEENBORG] International organization participation
ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Diplomatic representation in the us
Chief of mission Ambassador Rudolf Simon BEKINK
Chancery 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 Telephone [1] (202) 244-5300, [1] 877-388-2443 FAX [1] (202) 362-3430Consulate(s) general Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, New York Consulate(s) BostonDiplomatic representation from the us
Chief of mission
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Edwin NOLAN Embassy Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague Mailing address PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715Telephone [31] (70) 310-2209 FAX [31] (70) 361-4688 Consulate(s) general Amsterdam 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; the colors were those of WILLIAM I, Prince of Orange, who led the Dutch Revolt against Spanish sovereignty in the latter half of the 16th century; originally the upper band was orange, but because it tended to fade to red over time, the red shade was eventually made the permanent color; the banner is perhaps the oldest tricolor in continuous use National symbol(s)
Lion
National anthem
Name "Het Wilhelmus" (The William)
Lyrics/music Philips VAN MARNIX van Sint Aldegonde (presumed)/unknown Note Adopted 1932, in use since the 17th century, making it the oldest national anthem in the world; also known as "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe" (William of Nassau), it is in the form of an acrostic, where the first letter of each stanza spells the name of the leader of the Dutch Revolt
Comments
Add a new comment: |
Advertisement
Members area
Netherlands (Amsterdam):
GPS points from Netherlands (Amsterdam)
Schuilingsoord Drenthe
Brug North Brabant
Damsterdiep Provincie Groningen
Elft North Brabant
De Kieviet South Holland
Valleikanaal Provincie Utrecht
Gemeente Klimmen Limburg
Jonas Provincie Gelderland |