Facts and figures: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Form of government

Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy

Head of state

Queen Beatrix

Administrative regions

12 provinces; Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland.

AdministrativeStructure

Twelve provinces and the overseas territories of Aruba, Curacao and St. Martin. The overseas islands of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, all three of which are situated in the Caribbean, are ‘special municipalities of the Netherlands’

Currency

Euro

Location

Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany

Capital

Amsterdam

Largest cities

Amsterdam: 779,808 inhabitants (2011)
Rotterdam: 610,386 inhabitants
The Hague: 495,083 inhabitants
Utrecht: 311,367 inhabitants

Area

Total: 41,526 square kilometres
Land: 33,883 square kilometres
Water: 7,643 square kilometres

Land boundaries

Total: 1,027 kilometres
Belgium: 450 kilometres, Germany: 577 kilometres

Coastline

451 kilometres

Climate

Temperate; maritime; cool summers and mild winters

Terrain

Mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders)

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Zuidvlaspolder - 7m below sea level
Highest point: Vaalserberg - 322m above sea level

Natural resources

Natural gas; petroleum; peat; limestone; salt; sand and gravel; arable land

Population

16,730,329 (December 2011)

Age structure

 0  - 20 years: 23.4

20 - 50 years: 40.3
50 - 60 years: 13.8

60- 65 years : 6.4
65 -80 years: 12

80-years and over:4.1

Population growth

70,103 (2011)

Ethnic groups

Dutch: 79%, other: 21% (of which 55% are non-Western origin; mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese and Indonesians (2011)

Religions

Roman Catholic: 27%, Protestant: 17%,  other: 12%, none: 44% (2009)

Languages

Dutch (official), Frisian (official)

GDP

588,414 billion - Millions of Euros (2010)

GDP per capita

Purchasing power parity:
42,475 US Dollars (2010)

Economic growth

1.5 % (2006-2010)

Working  population

7.8 million (2010)

Unemployed

419,000 (5.4%) (2011)

Inflation rate

1.5 (2006-2010)

International trade

Exports: 574,307 million US dollars (2010, goods)
Imports: 517,781 million US dollars (2010, goods)

Export commodities

Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, agricultural products, foodstuffs

Import commodities

Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing

Export partners

Germany 24.3%; Belgium 11%; France 8.6%; UK 8%; Italy 5%; US 4,5% (2010)

Import partners

Germany: 17.8%; Belgium: 9.6%; China: 9.3%; US: 7.5%; UK: 6.7%; France: 4.3% (2009)