1 Political structure
| Head of state |
Queen Beatrix |
| Cabinet Chairman |
Prime Minister: Jan Peter Balkenende |
| Form of government |
Constitutional monarchy |
| Official language |
Dutch |
| Capital |
Amsterdam |
| Population |
736,045 |
| Government seat |
The Hague |
| Population |
463,826 |
| Number of municipalities |
483 (2004) |
| Number of provinces |
12 |
| Province: |
Provincial capital: |
| Groningen |
Groningen |
| Friesland |
Leeuwarden |
| Drenthe |
Assen |
| Overijssel |
Zwolle |
| Gelderland |
Arnhem |
| Utrecht |
Utrecht |
| Noord-Holland |
Haarlem |
| Zuid-Holland |
The Hague |
| Zeeland |
Middelburg |
| Noord-Brabant |
’s-Hertogenbosch |
| Limburg |
Maastricht |
| Flevoland |
Lelystad |
2 Geography
| Surface area: |
41,528 km² |
| 7,745 km² water |
|
| 33,783 km² land |
|
| Geographic location (Western Europe): |
53°33’22’’N.L. |
| 50°45’4’’N.L. |
|
| 3°21’30”E.L. |
|
| 7°13’42”E.L. |
|
| Highest point: Vaalserberg (Limburg) |
323 m |
| Lowest point: Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel (Zuid-Holland) |
-6,7 m |
| Land beneath average sea level: |
24% |
| Climate |
Moderate maritime climate |
| Average temperature in July |
17.4 °C |
| Average temperature in January |
2.8°C |
| Hours of sunshine, national annual average |
1,524 |
| Precipitation, national annual average |
797 mm |
3 Population
| Number of citizens (03/2004) |
16.3 million |
| Number of citizens per km² land |
480 |
| Population increase as compared with 2001 |
3.9% |
| Average life expectancy |
|
| Men |
76.0 years |
| Women |
80.9 years |
| Population by age |
|
| 0-19 years |
24.5% |
| 20-39 years |
28.0% |
| 40-64 years |
33.7% |
| 65 years and older |
13.8% |
| Population of 18 years and older according to religion (2001) |
|
| Roman Catholic |
31% |
| Protestant |
21% |
| Muslim |
5.5% |
| Other |
2.7% |
| Not church affiliated |
40% |
| Computer and Internet (2001) |
|
| Persons with a PC at home |
79% |
| Persons with an Internet connection at home |
615% |
4 Economy
| Currency |
Euro |
| Euro exchange rate |
EUR 1.- = US$ 1.22 (03/2004) |
| Macro-economic figures |
|
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) |
EUR 453 billion |
| GDP per capita |
> EUR 27.900 |
| Economic growth GDP |
-0.8% |
| Inflation percentage in 2003 |
2.1% |
| Unemployment (2003) |
5.3 % |
| Total employed population (15-64 years) |
7.5 million |
| Employed population (15-64 years) |
7.1 million |
| Distribution of employed population over economic sectors (2004) |
|
| Agriculture |
3.0% |
| Industry |
22.0% |
| Trade |
39.0% |
| Services |
33.0% |
| Government |
3.0% |
| Contribution of economic sectors to GDP (2004) |
|
| Agriculture and Fisheries |
2.2% |
| Mining |
2.4% |
| Industry |
15% |
| Trade |
11.4% |
| Transport and communications |
6.5% |
| Other services (building industry, healthcare sector, hotel and catering industry, financial services) |
43.7% |
| Government |
11.1% |
| Export share of the economic sectors (2004) |
|
| Machinery and transport equipment |
32.2% |
| Chemical products |
16.7% |
| Manufactured goods |
21.6% |
| Foodstuffs, drinks and tobacco |
15.1% |
| Raw materials |
6.1% |
| Fuels |
8.3% |
| Geographic spread of Dutch exports to (in 2004) |
|
| Germany |
24% |
| Belgium/Luxembourg |
12% |
| France |
10% |
| United Kingdom |
10% |
| Other EU countries |
19% |
| East Europe |
5% |
| Other European countries |
4% |
| Asia |
7% |
| United States |
5% |
| Other countries |
4% |
| Dutch foreign investment in 2004 (in millions of euro) |
|
| European Union |
15.239 |
| Japan |
-143 |
| United States |
3.387 |
| East Europe |
2.937 |
| Other countries |
6.186 |
| Total |
27.606 |
| Foreign investment in the Netherlands in 2004 (in millions of euro) |
|
| European Union |
15.449 |
| Japan |
988 |
| United States |
-3.329 |
| Other European countries |
1.044 |
| Other countries |
2.707 |
| Total |
16.859 |
| Main airport |
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol |
| Transport in 2003: |
|
| Number of passengers |
39.8 million |
| Amount of cargo |
1.3 million tons |
| Main port |
Rotterdam |
| Amount of cargo/tonnage in 2002 |
327 million tons |
5 Public holidays in 2004
| New Years Day |
1 January |
| Good Friday |
25 March |
| Easter |
27 and 28 March |
| The Queen's Birthday |
30 April |
| Remembrance Day |
4 May |
| National Liberation Day |
5 May |
| Ascension Day |
5 May |
| Whitsun |
15 and 16 May |
| Christmas Day |
25 and 25 December |
The aforementioned key figures apply to 2004, unless stated otherwise.