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

Administrative divisions 12 provinces (provincien, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland

Dependent areas Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Independence 1579 (from Spain)

National holiday Queen's Day, 30 April

Constitution adopted 1814; amended many times, last time 17 February 1983

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

Executive branch
chief of state: Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), Prince of Orange, son of Queen BEATRIX
head of government: Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 22 August 1994) and Vice Prime Ministers Hans DIJKSTAL (since 22 August 1994) and Hans VAN MIERLO (since 22 August 1994)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the queen
elections: none; the queen is a hereditary, constitutional monarch; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the queen; vice prime ministers appointed by the queen
note: there is a Council of State composed of the queen, crown prince, and councillors consulted by the executive 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 for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: First Chamber - last held 9 June 1995 (next to be held 9 June 1999); Second Chamber - last held 3 May 1994 (next to be held 6 May 1998)
election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VVD 23, CDA 19, PvdA 14, D'66 7, other 12; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - PvdA 24.3%, CDA 22.3%, VVD 20.4%, D'66 16.5%, other 16.5%; seats by party - PvdA 37, CDA 34, VVD 31, D'66 24, other 24

Judicial branch Supreme Court or Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the crown

Political parties and leaders Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Jaap DE HOOP SCHEFFER]; Labor Party or PvdA [Wim KOK]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD [Hans F. DIJKSTAL]; Democrats '66 or D'66 [Els BORST]; a host of minor parties

Political pressure groups and leaders large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and Interchurch Peace Council or IKV

International organization participation AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Joris M. VOS (appointed 9 October 1997)
chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 244-5300
FAX: [1] (202) 362-3430
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Kirk Terry DORNBUSH
embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague
mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715
telephone: [31] (70) 310-9209
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

NOTE: The information regarding Netherlands on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands Government 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands Government 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.